Groundwork

Food and drink · County · Alaska

Restaurants and cafes in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK

How Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK compares with other counties and the U.S. for restaurants and cafes: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 72 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #351 of 2,405 scored counties
#2 of 9 scored counties in Alaska

Listings
375
85 chain locations (23%)
Official establishments
169
+15.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$170.8M
On food away from home · $4,283 a household
Spending per listing
$455K
23% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
94.1
14% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
118,666
+10.4% since 2020

See the restaurants and cafes around any address in Matanuska-Susitna Borough

The site report maps the restaurants and cafes 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 Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

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

What this means

At $4,283 per household (5% above the U.S. average), households in Matanuska-Susitna Borough spend about $170.8M a year on food away from home. Spread across 375 restaurants and cafes, that is $455K per restaurant, 23% above the U.S. figure of $371K.

There are 375 restaurants and cafes on map listings in Matanuska-Susitna Borough as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 23% of them, against 34% across the U.S. That comes to 94.1 for every 10,000 households, 14% below the U.S. rate of 109.8.

Official counts show 169 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in Matanuska-Susitna Borough in 2023, up 15.0% from 2019. That is one for every 236 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. Official counts also show 48 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $1.5M have gone to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Population estimates put the population change in Matanuska-Susitna Borough from 2020 to 2025 at +10.4%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for restaurants and cafes in Matanuska-Susitna Borough is 72 (upper middle), #351 of 2,405 scored counties and #2 of 9 scored counties in Alaska. That puts it in the top quarter of counties.

How Matanuska-Susitna Borough compares

The same measures for Alaska and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all food away from home by the restaurants and cafes counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Restaurants and cafes in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK compared with Alaska and the U.S.
MeasureMatanuska-Susitna BoroughAlaskaU.S.
Listings per 10k households94.1117.3109.8
Spending per listing$455K$368K$371K
Households per official establishment236196209
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+15.0%+3.8%+6.0%
Population growth, 2020–2025+10.4%+0.6%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$4,283$4,320$4,070
Median household income$94,031$92,788$80,734
Groundwork market score7241

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
147 → 169+15.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
2,495
Annual payroll, 2023
$61M
One-person businesses, 2023
48Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
37585 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
461The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
2
Amount
$1.5M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 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.

Population and households in Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Population, 2025 estimate
118,666+10.4% since 2020
Households
39,869
Median age
37.2
Homes lived in by their owners
77%
Vehicles per household
2.2
Land area
24,703 sq. mi.
People per square mile
5
Median household income
$94,031+24.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$115,954
Median home value
$346,600
Jobs located here
n/a
Daytime population
n/aResidents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in Matanuska-Susitna Borough?

These figures cover the whole county. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the restaurants and cafes on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Restaurants and cafes across Alaska

Every Alaska market ranked →

The highest-scoring counties in Alaska for restaurants and cafes, numbered among those based in Alaska, with Matanuska-Susitna Borough marked.

Top counties in Alaska

Counties in Alaska ranked for restaurants and cafes by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Bethel Census Area, AK761326.9$1.4M−1.5%#212 of 2,405
2Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK7237594.1$455K+10.4%#351 of 2,405
3North Slope Borough, AK5425109.6$417K−3.8%#1,006 of 2,405
4Anchorage Municipality, AK431,294119.2$385K−1.3%#1,486 of 2,405
5Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK42424116.6$362K−1.4%#1,533 of 2,405
6Kodiak Island Borough, AK4150107.8$375K−5.0%#1,568 of 2,405
7Juneau City and Borough, AK37171129.9$347K−1.8%#1,738 of 2,405
8Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK35374153.5$261K+5.1%#1,849 of 2,405
9Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK23107186.7$226K−2.6%#2,236 of 2,405

Other business types in Matanuska-Susitna Borough

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

Funeral services

Questions

How many restaurants and cafes are in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK?

As of September 2026, map listings count 375 restaurants and cafes in Matanuska-Susitna Borough. 85 of them (23%) are chain locations. The listings count every restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery and food truck. Official counts show 169 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in 2023, up 15.0% from 2019. Another 48 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK spend on food away from home?

About $170.8M a year, or $4,283 per household. That is 5% above the U.S. average (an index of 105, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 375 restaurants and cafes on map listings, it comes to $455K per restaurant. It is estimated from the incomes of the 39,869 households in Matanuska-Susitna Borough and national spending patterns by income.

How does Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK compare with the U.S. for restaurants and cafes?

Matanuska-Susitna Borough has 94.1 restaurants and cafes per 10,000 households, 14% below the U.S. rate of 109.8. Spending per restaurant is $455K, 23% above the U.S. figure of $371K. At the U.S. ratio of restaurants and cafes to household spending, Matanuska-Susitna Borough would have about 461, against 375 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 236 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. The official count rose 15.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.0% for the U.S.

How fast is Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK growing?

Population estimates put Matanuska-Susitna Borough at 118,666 people in 2025, up 10.4% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 39,869 households. Median household income in Matanuska-Susitna Borough is $94,031, 16% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 24.6%, 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. Matanuska-Susitna Borough scores 72 for restaurants and cafes (upper middle), #351 of 2,405 scored counties.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Matanuska-Susitna Borough. 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.

How the score works · Top markets for restaurants and cafes · All 56 business types in Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Screening a site or an acquisition in Matanuska-Susitna Borough?

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 Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Run a site report See plans
Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Screening many markets at once? Talk to us

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.