Market rankings · Food and drink
Top markets for restaurants and cafes
Every U.S. metro area, small-town market and county, ranked by the Groundwork market score for restaurants and cafes. The score weighs household spending per restaurant, households per business, population growth and spending power.
- Listings in the U.S.
- 1,418,317
- 481,141 chain locations (34%)
- Official establishments
- 618,476
- +6.0% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $525.9B
- On food away from home
- Listings per 10k households
- 109.8
- Spending per listing: $371K
A site report maps the restaurants and cafes on map listings around the address by name and distance, and the spending within reach.
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
There are 1,418,317 restaurants and cafes on map listings in the U.S. as of September 2026. 481,141 of them (34%) are chain locations. That is 109.8 per 10,000 households.
At $4,070 per household, households in the U.S. spend about $525.9B a year on food away from home. That works out to $371K per restaurant.
In 2023, official counts showed 618,476 businesses with payroll in the U.S. classed as restaurants and other eating places, up 6.0% from 2019. They employ 11,406,584 people, with $276.9B in annual payroll. Official counts also show 147,945 one-person businesses without payroll.
The Greeley, CO metro area has the highest market score for restaurants and cafes among 387 scored metro areas, at 95. In the 10 highest-scoring metro areas, the median spending per restaurant is 41% above the U.S. figure, and the median rate of listings per household is 25% below the U.S. rate.
Top markets
These tables (CSV)Ranked by the Groundwork market score, which weighs household spending per competitor, households per business with payroll, population growth and spending power against every other market of the same kind. How the score works.
Top metro areas of 1 million people or more
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 85 | 12,367 | 83.7 | $552K | +2.6% |
| 20Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI | 79 | 3,903 | 88.6 | $462K | +2.8% |
| 29Raleigh-Cary, NC | 77 | 5,851 | 101.9 | $442K | +12.6% |
| 35Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 76 | 18,665 | 98.6 | $426K | +7.3% |
| 37Richmond, VA | 75 | 5,084 | 95.3 | $438K | +5.5% |
| 38Kansas City, MO-KS | 75 | 8,641 | 96.5 | $432K | +3.4% |
| 43Tucson, AZ | 73 | 3,686 | 84.2 | $442K | +2.8% |
| 50Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 71 | 25,241 | 106.4 | $483K | +3.3% |
| 55Columbus, OH | 71 | 8,578 | 99.2 | $421K | +4.7% |
| 61Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 70 | 13,384 | 109.6 | $427K | +4.1% |
| 62Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 70 | 10,543 | 98.0 | $419K | +10.1% |
| 68Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | 69 | 8,233 | 97.7 | $421K | +5.4% |
| 76Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 67 | 10,954 | 97.8 | $460K | +0.4% |
| 85Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 66 | 18,327 | 113.9 | $433K | +3.3% |
| 90Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 66 | 11,883 | 120.1 | $379K | +14.0% |
Top 50 metro areas
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Greeley, CO | 95 | 984 | 79.2 | $546K | +14.2% |
| 2Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 89 | 337 | 47.9 | $782K | +21.1% |
| 3Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 85 | 12,367 | 83.7 | $552K | +2.6% |
| 4Ogden, UT | 85 | 1,777 | 83.1 | $536K | +5.3% |
| 5York-Hanover, PA | 85 | 1,502 | 82.7 | $488K | +3.6% |
| 6Lexington Park, MD | 84 | 623 | 82.1 | $618K | +2.1% |
| 7Logan, UT-ID | 84 | 383 | 77.6 | $507K | +8.8% |
| 8Bismarck, ND | 84 | 490 | 87.6 | $475K | +4.5% |
| 9Punta Gorda, FL | 84 | 703 | 77.6 | $463K | +15.5% |
| 10Fargo, ND-MN | 83 | 1,019 | 92.3 | $429K | +7.7% |
| 11Yuba City, CA | 81 | 464 | 74.9 | $520K | +3.3% |
| 12Sioux Falls, SD-MN | 81 | 1,153 | 94.1 | $434K | +9.5% |
| 13Lebanon, PA | 80 | 405 | 71.4 | $541K | +2.2% |
| 14Chambersburg, PA | 80 | 485 | 76.4 | $501K | +3.0% |
| 15Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV | 80 | 1,043 | 88.3 | $434K | +7.1% |
| 16Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 80 | 2,441 | 98.3 | $425K | +7.5% |
| 17Monroe, MI | 79 | 460 | 73.0 | $542K | +0.7% |
| 18Rochester, MN | 79 | 817 | 88.0 | $502K | +2.0% |
| 19Lancaster, PA | 79 | 1,883 | 88.5 | $467K | +1.9% |
| 20Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI | 79 | 3,903 | 88.6 | $462K | +2.8% |
| 21Homosassa Springs, FL | 78 | 480 | 67.3 | $486K | +11.1% |
| 22Worcester, MA | 78 | 3,064 | 91.2 | $486K | +3.7% |
| 23Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA | 78 | 1,051 | 88.4 | $484K | +2.8% |
| 24Gettysburg, PA | 78 | 355 | 86.9 | $461K | +3.6% |
| 25Ocala, FL | 78 | 1,226 | 74.4 | $446K | +17.3% |
| 26Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 78 | 2,394 | 82.7 | $423K | +19.8% |
| 27Midland, MI | 77 | 269 | 76.9 | $525K | +0.3% |
| 28Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT | 77 | 2,022 | 97.7 | $459K | +14.5% |
| 29Raleigh-Cary, NC | 77 | 5,851 | 101.9 | $442K | +12.6% |
| 30Helena, MT | 77 | 357 | 91.5 | $435K | +7.7% |
| 31Reading, PA | 77 | 1,484 | 90.9 | $434K | +2.7% |
| 32Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL | 77 | 643 | 90.8 | $422K | +7.7% |
| 33Huntsville, AL | 77 | 2,055 | 99.8 | $413K | +12.5% |
| 34Cheyenne, WY | 76 | 365 | 84.3 | $458K | +2.2% |
| 35Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 76 | 18,665 | 98.6 | $426K | +7.3% |
| 36Port St. Lucie, FL | 76 | 1,847 | 90.0 | $422K | +16.0% |
| 37Richmond, VA | 75 | 5,084 | 95.3 | $438K | +5.5% |
| 38Kansas City, MO-KS | 75 | 8,641 | 96.5 | $432K | +3.4% |
| 39Madison, WI | 74 | 3,057 | 101.4 | $426K | +4.1% |
| 40North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL | 74 | 3,949 | 101.5 | $396K | +13.2% |
| 41Longview-Kelso, WA | 73 | 369 | 84.0 | $450K | +3.5% |
| 42Dover, DE | 73 | 598 | 83.7 | $444K | +6.8% |
| 43Tucson, AZ | 73 | 3,686 | 84.2 | $442K | +2.8% |
| 44Winston-Salem, NC | 73 | 2,263 | 80.4 | $442K | +5.3% |
| 45Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI | 73 | 722 | 89.8 | $441K | +0.4% |
| 46Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 73 | 1,725 | 95.8 | $439K | +3.2% |
| 47Boise City, ID | 73 | 2,998 | 98.6 | $416K | +12.2% |
| 48Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 73 | 3,097 | 105.0 | $404K | +6.7% |
| 49St. Cloud, MN | 72 | 714 | 91.4 | $426K | +3.0% |
| 50Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 71 | 25,241 | 106.4 | $483K | +3.3% |
Top 25 small-town markets
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Hemlock Farms, PA | 94 | 181 | 74.6 | $534K | +7.2% |
| 2Blackfoot, ID | 93 | 115 | 71.3 | $530K | +6.4% |
| 3Shelton, WA | 91 | 191 | 73.4 | $545K | +7.8% |
| 4Anderson Creek, NC | 90 | 313 | 62.8 | $572K | +12.3% |
| 5Lewisburg, TN | 89 | 104 | 76.3 | $476K | +10.5% |
| 6Austin, MN | 88 | 94 | 59.8 | $630K | +2.3% |
| 7Brigham City, UT-ID | 87 | 161 | 75.0 | $521K | +12.6% |
| 8Holland, MI | 86 | 367 | 80.6 | $501K | +2.1% |
| 9Faribault-Northfield, MN | 86 | 199 | 84.7 | $482K | +4.2% |
| 10Jefferson, GA | 86 | 285 | 100.3 | $413K | +29.3% |
| 11Putnam, CT | 85 | 297 | 75.4 | $564K | +3.0% |
| 12Seneca, SC | 85 | 234 | 67.8 | $516K | +6.3% |
| 13Greencastle, IN | 85 | 113 | 79.9 | $472K | +3.2% |
| 14Bonham, TX | 85 | 117 | 91.6 | $404K | +9.2% |
| 15Los Alamos, NM | 84 | 61 | 74.0 | $747K | 0.0% |
| 16Bedford, IN | 84 | 110 | 57.5 | $615K | +1.2% |
| 17Fayetteville, TN | 84 | 107 | 72.1 | $481K | +4.3% |
| 18Lake of the Woods, VA | 82 | 119 | 80.1 | $535K | +10.1% |
| 19Mount Vernon, OH | 82 | 169 | 71.9 | $530K | +1.9% |
| 20Hutchinson, MN | 82 | 114 | 74.9 | $527K | −0.3% |
| 21Urbana, OH | 82 | 114 | 72.9 | $513K | +0.2% |
| 22Winchester, TN | 82 | 125 | 71.7 | $476K | +6.4% |
| 23Detroit Lakes, MN | 82 | 120 | 83.3 | $455K | +0.9% |
| 24Decatur, IN | 81 | 82 | 66.1 | $537K | +2.2% |
| 25Willmar, MN | 81 | 144 | 81.8 | $473K | +2.3% |
Top 25 counties
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Morgan County, UT | 97 | 16 | 42.3 | $1.2M | +8.1% |
| 2Elbert County, CO | 97 | 49 | 49.0 | $1.1M | +16.5% |
| 3Goochland County, VA | 96 | 56 | 54.1 | $930K | +17.4% |
| 4Fluvanna County, VA | 94 | 36 | 34.9 | $1.2M | +6.2% |
| 5Spencer County, KY | 94 | 31 | 42.4 | $1M | +7.7% |
| 6Lincoln County, SD | 94 | 182 | 65.3 | $694K | +17.5% |
| 7Sherburne County, MN | 93 | 168 | 47.3 | $983K | +6.8% |
| 8Camden County, NC | 93 | 19 | 47.4 | $851K | +8.8% |
| 9Caroline County, VA | 93 | 63 | 52.6 | $773K | +11.3% |
| 10Lincoln County, MO | 93 | 122 | 53.5 | $759K | +11.4% |
| 11Powhatan County, VA | 92 | 59 | 52.1 | $895K | +7.0% |
| 12New Kent County, VA | 92 | 57 | 61.5 | $783K | +21.2% |
| 13Pinal County, AZ | 92 | 831 | 51.3 | $753K | +25.4% |
| 14Louisa County, VA | 92 | 85 | 54.6 | $745K | +13.6% |
| 15Paulding County, GA | 92 | 351 | 58.5 | $737K | +12.7% |
| 16Harris County, GA | 92 | 80 | 61.4 | $713K | +6.8% |
| 17Union County, OH | 92 | 178 | 73.5 | $655K | +16.5% |
| 18King George County, VA | 91 | 66 | 65.1 | $731K | +10.5% |
| 19Fayette County, TN | 91 | 96 | 55.8 | $719K | +7.7% |
| 20Limestone County, AL | 91 | 237 | 57.9 | $697K | +18.0% |
| 21Oglethorpe County, GA | 90 | 24 | 44.4 | $827K | +10.4% |
| 22Sumter County, FL | 90 | 337 | 47.9 | $782K | +21.1% |
| 23Sandoval County, NM | 90 | 317 | 55.7 | $731K | +6.9% |
| 24Pike County, GA | 90 | 37 | 55.1 | $726K | +10.5% |
| 25Chatham County, NC | 90 | 215 | 65.1 | $687K | +11.0% |
Scored: 387 metro areas, 538 small-town markets and 2,405 counties, each with at least 5 restaurants and cafes on map listings (counties: 10,000 people or more). Spending per listing is all household spending on food away from home over the listings: demand for each competitor, not revenue. Each market has its own page, reached from its state below.
Excel · free with an account
Every market in one Excel file
Restaurants and cafes figures for all 387 metro areas, 538 small-town markets, 3,144 counties and 51 states: the Groundwork market score and rank, map listings and chains, household spending, businesses with payroll, employees and payroll, one-person businesses, SBA-backed loans, population, income and home value, each linked to its page. Sorted, filterable and ready to screen.
Restaurants and cafes by state
Every market in each state ranked, with the state’s highest-scoring metro area.
- AlabamaTop metro area: Huntsville metro area · 77
- AlaskaTop metro area: Anchorage metro area · 56
- ArizonaTop metro area: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro area · 76
- ArkansasTop metro area: Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro area · 54
- CaliforniaTop metro area: Yuba City metro area · 81
- ColoradoTop metro area: Greeley metro area · 95
- ConnecticutTop metro area: Waterbury-Shelton metro area · 73
- DelawareTop metro area: Dover metro area · 73
- District of ColumbiaTop metro area: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro area · 71
- FloridaTop metro area: Wildwood-The Villages metro area · 89
- GeorgiaTop metro area: Hinesville metro area · 68
- HawaiiTop metro area: Urban Honolulu metro area · 26
- IdahoTop metro area: Boise City metro area · 73
- IllinoisTop metro area: Bloomington metro area · 66
- IndianaTop metro area: Fort Wayne metro area · 71
- IowaTop metro area: Des Moines-West Des Moines metro area · 73
- KansasTop metro area: Topeka metro area · 68
- KentuckyTop metro area: Louisville/Jefferson County metro area · 60
- LouisianaTop metro area: Alexandria metro area · 44
- MaineTop metro area: Bangor metro area · 69
- MarylandTop metro area: Lexington Park metro area · 84
- MassachusettsTop metro area: Worcester metro area · 78
- MichiganTop metro area: Monroe metro area · 79
- MinnesotaTop metro area: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area · 85
- MississippiTop metro area: Gulfport-Biloxi metro area · 26
- MissouriTop metro area: Kansas City metro area · 75
- MontanaTop metro area: Helena metro area · 77
- NebraskaTop metro area: Omaha metro area · 69
- NevadaTop metro area: Reno metro area · 62
- New HampshireTop metro area: Manchester-Nashua metro area · 70
- New JerseyTop metro area: Trenton-Princeton metro area · 54
- New MexicoTop metro area: Las Cruces metro area · 67
- New YorkTop metro area: Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area · 59
- North CarolinaTop metro area: Durham-Chapel Hill metro area · 80
- North DakotaTop metro area: Bismarck metro area · 84
- OhioTop metro area: Columbus metro area · 71
- OklahomaTop metro area: Tulsa metro area · 45
- OregonTop metro area: Albany metro area · 63
- PennsylvaniaTop metro area: York-Hanover metro area · 85
- Rhode IslandTop metro area: Providence-Warwick metro area · 45
- South CarolinaTop metro area: Sumter metro area · 60
- South DakotaTop metro area: Sioux Falls metro area · 81
- TennesseeTop metro area: Knoxville metro area · 71
- TexasTop metro area: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area · 66
- UtahTop metro area: Ogden metro area · 85
- VermontTop metro area: Burlington-South Burlington metro area · 55
- VirginiaTop metro area: Richmond metro area · 75
- WashingtonTop metro area: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro area · 78
- West VirginiaTop metro area: Huntington-Ashland metro area · 52
- WisconsinTop metro area: Madison metro area · 74
- WyomingTop metro area: Cheyenne metro area · 76
Related business types
- Sit-down restaurants792,466 listings
- Fast food and sandwich shops172,373 listings
- Pizza103,490 listings
- Coffee shops and cafes142,001 listings
- Bakeries and dessert shops126,921 listings
Questions
Which metro areas have the highest market score for restaurants and cafes?
The top 5 are Greeley, CO (95); Wildwood-The Villages, FL (89); Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (85); Ogden, UT (85); and York-Hanover, PA (85). The score compares each of 387 scored metro areas with the others for restaurants and cafes.
How many restaurants and cafes are in the U.S.?
As of September 2026, map listings count 1,418,317 restaurants and cafes in the U.S. 481,141 of them (34%) are chain locations. The listings count every restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery and food truck. Official counts show 618,476 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in 2023, up 6.0% from 2019. Another 147,945 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do U.S. households spend on food away from home?
About $525.9B a year, or $4,070 per household. Spread across the 1,418,317 restaurants and cafes on map listings, it comes to $371K per restaurant. It is estimated from the incomes of the 129,209,336 households in the U.S. and national spending patterns by income.
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. Markets with fewer than 5 map listings of the type, and counties under 10,000 people, aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address anywhere in the U.S. It maps the restaurants and cafes 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.
All business types and every U.S. market · How we measure
Screening a site or an acquisition?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
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.