Food and drink · Metro area · California
Pizza places in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area
The pizza places in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other metro areas.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 55 out of 100: Upper middle
Ranked #153 of 387 scored metro areas
#11 of 25 scored metro areas based in California
- Listings
- 819
- 391 chain locations (48%)
- Official establishments
- 3,086
- All limited-service restaurants · +5.9% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $5.5B
- On food away from home · $4,696 a household
- Spending per listing
- $6.7M
- 32% above the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 7.0
- 12% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 3,282,248
- −0.6% since 2020
See the pizza places around any address in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
The site report maps the pizza places on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
As of September 2026, map listings count 819 pizza places in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Of those, 391 are chain locations, or 48%, against 58% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 7.0, 12% below the U.S. rate of 8.0.
Household spending on food away from home in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area comes to about $5.5B a year: $4,696 per household, 15% above the U.S. average. That works out to $6.7M per pizza place, 32% above the U.S. figure of $5.1M. That spending covers all food away from home, which pizza places share with other businesses in the trade.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area was 3,086 in 2023, up 5.9% from 2019. That is one for every 380 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places: fast food and sandwich shops are counted too. Official counts list 456 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 91 SBA-backed loans worth $40.1M have gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area.
Population estimates show the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area declined 0.6% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. The Groundwork market score for pizza places in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area is 55 (upper middle), #153 of 387 scored metro areas and #11 of 25 scored metro areas based in California.
How the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area compares
The same measures for California and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all food away from home by the pizza places counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.
| Measure | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 7.0 | 6.9 | 8.0 |
| Spending per listing | $6.7M | $6.6M | $5.1M |
| Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants) | 380 | 392 | 478 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +5.9% | +6.5% | +6.1% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −0.6% | −0.4% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $4,696 | $4,559 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $106,268 | $99,122 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 55 | 55 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 3,086All limited-service restaurants · +5.9% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 55,315
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $1.4B
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 456All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 819391 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 1,082The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 91
- Amount
- $40.1M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3. These official figures cover all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places.
Population and households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 3,282,248−0.6% since 2020
- Households
- 1,171,278
- Median age
- 38.9
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 55%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 4,211 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 781
- Median household income
- $106,268+34.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $141,250
- Median home value
- $854,700
- Jobs located here
- 1,516,991
- Daytime population
- 3,269,716Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area?
These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the pizza places on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardPizza across California
Every California market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in California for pizza places, numbered among those based in California, with the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area marked.
Top metro areas in California
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Napa, CA | 74 | 32 | 6.4 | $7.6M | −3.3% | #34 of 387 |
| 2Vallejo, CA | 68 | 104 | 6.6 | $6.8M | +0.6% | #69 of 387 |
| 3Stockton-Lodi, CA | 68 | 159 | 6.5 | $6.6M | +5.5% | #70 of 387 |
| 4Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 68 | 145 | 7.6 | $6.2M | −0.4% | #72 of 387 |
| 5Yuba City, CA | 68 | 40 | 6.5 | $6M | +3.3% | #73 of 387 |
| 6San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 61 | 453 | 6.7 | $8.6M | −0.6% | #108 of 387 |
| 7Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 59 | 70 | 7.2 | $6.7M | −4.7% | #115 of 387 |
| 8Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 59 | 950 | 6.6 | $6.4M | +3.5% | #116 of 387 |
| 9San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 58 | 1,241 | 7.1 | $7.5M | −2.4% | #122 of 387 |
| 10Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 56 | 722 | 8.2 | $5.4M | +3.2% | #139 of 387 |
| 11San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 55 | 819 | 7.0 | $6.7M | −0.6% | #153 of 387 |
Other business types in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many pizza places are in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area?
The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area has 819 pizza places on map listings as of September 2026. 391 of them (48%) are chain locations. The listings count pizza restaurants. Official counts show 3,086 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 5.9% from 2019. That count covers all limited-service restaurants (fast food and sandwich shops included), not only pizza places. Official counts also show 456 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area spend on food away from home?
About $5.5B a year, or $4,696 per household. That is 15% above the U.S. average (an index of 115, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 819 pizza places on map listings, it comes to $6.7M per pizza place. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only pizza places. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,171,278 households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area compare with the U.S. for pizza places?
The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area has 7.0 pizza places per 10,000 households, 12% below the U.S. rate of 8.0. Spending per pizza place is $6.7M, 32% above the U.S. figure of $5.1M. At the national ratio of pizza places to household spending, the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area would have about 1,082, against 819 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 380 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 5.9% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.
How fast is the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area growing?
Population estimates put the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area at 3,282,248 people in 2025, down 0.6% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,171,278 households. The median household income in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area is $106,268 a year, 32% above the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 34.6% from the 2015–2019 survey, before inflation.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area scores 55 for pizza places (upper middle), #153 of 387 scored metro areas.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. It maps the pizza places on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for pizza places · All 56 business types in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.