Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Delaware

Pizza places in the Dover, DE metro area

How the Dover, DE metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for pizza places: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 48 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #215 of 387 scored metro areas
The only scored metro area based in Delaware

Listings
68
37 chain locations (54%)
Official establishments
137
All limited-service restaurants · +16.1% since 2019
Household spending a year
$265.5M
On food away from home · $3,717 a household
Spending per listing
$3.9M
23% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
9.5
19% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
194,786
+6.8% since 2020

See the pizza places around any address in the Dover 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 Dover metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Household spending on food away from home in the Dover metro area comes to about $265.5M a year: $3,717 per household, 9% below the U.S. average. That is about $3.9M of household spending for each pizza place on map listings, 23% below the U.S. figure of $5.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only pizza places.

The Dover metro area has 68 pizza places on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 54% of them, against 58% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 9.5, 19% above the U.S. rate of 8.0.

In 2023, official counts showed 137 businesses with payroll in the Dover metro area classed as limited-service restaurants, up 16.1% from 2019. That is one for every 521 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. That count covers all limited-service restaurants (fast food and sandwich shops included), not only pizza places. Official counts list 27 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 3 SBA-backed loans worth $1.6M have gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Dover metro area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Dover metro area grew 6.8%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Dover metro area scores 48 (lower middle) on the Groundwork market score for pizza places, ranking #215 of 387 scored metro areas and the only scored metro area based in Delaware.

How the Dover metro area compares

The same measures for Delaware 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.

Pizza in Dover, DE metro area compared with Delaware and the U.S.
MeasureDover metro areaDelawareU.S.
Listings per 10k households9.58.68.0
Spending per listing$3.9M$4.8M$5.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)521475478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+16.1%+10.0%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025+6.8%+6.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,717$4,092$4,070
Median household income$74,477$84,954$80,734
Groundwork market score4853

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
137All limited-service restaurants · +16.1% over the period
Employees, 2023
2,480
Annual payroll, 2023
$57.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
27All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
6837 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
52The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
3
Amount
$1.6M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Dover 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 Dover metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
194,786+6.8% since 2020
Households
71,424
Median age
39.6
Homes lived in by their owners
73%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
586 sq. mi.
People per square mile
320
Median household income
$74,477+22.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$92,801
Median home value
$316,600
Jobs located here
66,799
Daytime population
177,320Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Dover 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 Dover metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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The highest-scoring metro areas in Delaware for pizza places, numbered among those based in Delaware (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Dover metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Delaware

Metro areas in Delaware ranked for pizza places by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Dover, DE48689.5$3.9M+6.8%#215 of 387
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD452,55710.4$4.2M+1.4%#234 of 387

Other business types in the Dover metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many pizza places are in the Dover, DE metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 68 pizza places in the Dover metro area. 37 of them (54%) are chain locations. The listings count pizza restaurants. Official counts show 137 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 16.1% from 2019. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places: fast food and sandwich shops are counted too. Official counts also show 27 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Dover, DE metro area spend on food away from home?

About $265.5M a year, or $3,717 per household. That is 9% below the U.S. average (an index of 91, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 68 pizza places on map listings, it comes to $3.9M per pizza place. That spending covers all food away from home, which pizza places share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 71,424 households in the Dover metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Dover, DE metro area compare with the U.S. for pizza places?

The Dover metro area has 9.5 pizza places per 10,000 households, 19% above the U.S. rate of 8.0. Spending per pizza place is $3.9M, 23% below the U.S. figure of $5.1M. At the U.S. ratio of pizza places to household spending, the Dover metro area would have about 52, against 68 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 521 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 16.1% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Dover, DE metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Dover metro area at 194,786 people in 2025, up 6.8% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 71,424 households. Median household income in the Dover metro area is $74,477, 8% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 22.3%, 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 Dover metro area scores 48 for pizza places (lower middle), #215 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 Dover 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 Dover metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Dover 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 Dover 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.