Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · North Carolina

Pizza places in the Asheville, NC metro area

How the Asheville, NC 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 42 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #254 of 387 scored metro areas
#12 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina

Listings
131
68 chain locations (52%)
Official establishments
355
All limited-service restaurants · +5.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$602.5M
On food away from home · $3,736 a household
Spending per listing
$4.6M
9% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
8.1
In line with the U.S.
Population, 2025
422,345
+3.6% since 2020

See the pizza places around any address in the Asheville 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 Asheville 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 Asheville metro area comes to about $602.5M a year: $3,736 per household, 8% below the U.S. average. That works out to $4.6M per pizza place, 9% below the U.S. figure of $5.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only pizza places.

There are 131 pizza places on map listings in the Asheville metro area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 52% of them, against 58% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 8.1, in line with the U.S. rate of 8.0.

In 2023, official counts showed 355 businesses with payroll in the Asheville metro area classed as limited-service restaurants, up 5.0% from 2019. That is one for every 454 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 also show 33 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 12 SBA-backed loans worth $4.8M have gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Asheville metro area.

Population estimates show the Asheville metro area grew 3.6% from 2020 to 2025, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). For pizza places, the Asheville metro area has a Groundwork market score of 42 (lower middle): #254 of 387 scored metro areas and #12 of 15 scored metro areas based in North Carolina.

How the Asheville metro area compares

The same measures for North Carolina 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 Asheville, NC metro area compared with North Carolina and the U.S.
MeasureAsheville metro areaNorth CarolinaU.S.
Listings per 10k households8.17.48.0
Spending per listing$4.6M$5.1M$5.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)454504478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+5.0%+4.7%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025+3.6%+7.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,736$3,776$4,070
Median household income$71,838$72,388$80,734
Groundwork market score4253

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
355All limited-service restaurants · +5.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
7,011
Annual payroll, 2023
$157.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
33All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
13168 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
119The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
12
Amount
$4.8M

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

Population, 2025 estimate
422,345+3.6% since 2020
Households
161,264
Median age
44.6
Homes lived in by their owners
70%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
1,479 sq. mi.
People per square mile
280
Median household income
$71,838
Average household income
$100,473
Median home value
$370,900
Jobs located here
190,451
Daytime population
429,489Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

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

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Pizza across North Carolina

Every North Carolina market ranked →

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

Top metro areas in North Carolina

Metro areas in North Carolina ranked for pizza places by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Durham-Chapel Hill, NC821556.2$6.7M+7.5%#11 of 387
2Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC737396.9$6M+10.1%#45 of 387
3Raleigh-Cary, NC734598.0$5.6M+12.6%#46 of 387
4Winston-Salem, NC691595.6$6.3M+5.3%#66 of 387
5Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC63388.6$4.6M+10.3%#104 of 387
6Wilmington, NC621487.4$5.2M+15.9%#105 of 387
7Rocky Mount, NC50396.7$5M+2.8%#192 of 387
8Burlington, NC49507.1$4.9M+8.5%#204 of 387
9Greensboro-High Point, NC482267.1$5M+4.1%#213 of 387
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC475227.4$5.4M+0.9%#218 of 387
12Asheville, NC421318.1$4.6M+3.6%#254 of 387

Other business types in the Asheville metro area

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

Questions

How many pizza places are in the Asheville, NC metro area?

As of September 2026, map listings count 131 pizza places in the Asheville metro area. 68 of them (52%) are chain locations. The listings count pizza restaurants. Official counts show 355 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 5.0% from 2019. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places: fast food and sandwich shops are counted too. Another 33 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

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

About $602.5M a year, or $3,736 per household. That is 8% below the U.S. average (an index of 92, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 131 pizza places on map listings, it comes to $4.6M 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 161,264 households in the Asheville metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Asheville, NC metro area compare with the U.S. for pizza places?

The Asheville metro area has 8.1 pizza places per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 8.0. Spending per pizza place is $4.6M, 9% below the U.S. figure of $5.1M. At the U.S. ratio of pizza places to household spending, the Asheville metro area would have about 119, against 131 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 454 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 5.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Asheville, NC metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Asheville metro area at 422,345 people in 2025, up 3.6% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 161,264 households. Median household income in the Asheville metro area is $71,838, 11% below the U.S. median of $80,734.

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 Asheville metro area scores 42 for pizza places (lower middle), #254 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 Asheville 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 Asheville metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Asheville 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 Asheville 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.