Food and drink · Small-town market · Minnesota
Restaurants and cafes in the Detroit Lakes, MN area
Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for restaurants and cafes in the Detroit Lakes, MN area, set against other small-town markets and the U.S.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 82 out of 100: High
Ranked #23 of 538 scored small-town markets
#4 of 18 scored small-town markets based in Minnesota
- Listings
- 120
- 37 chain locations (31%)
- Official establishments
- 41
- −4.6% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $54.6M
- On food away from home · $3,789 a household
- Spending per listing
- $455K
- 23% above the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 83.3
- 24% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 35,497
- +0.9% since 2020
See the restaurants and cafes around any address in the Detroit Lakes area
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 the Detroit Lakes 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
For restaurants and cafes, the Detroit Lakes area has a Groundwork market score of 82 (high): #23 of 538 scored small-town markets and #4 of 18 scored small-town markets based in Minnesota. That puts it in the top 10% of small-town markets for restaurants and cafes.
Household spending on food away from home in the Detroit Lakes area comes to about $54.6M a year: $3,789 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. That is about $455K of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 23% above the U.S. figure of $371K.
The Detroit Lakes area has 120 restaurants and cafes on map listings as of September 2026. 37 of them (31%) are chain locations, against 34% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 83.3, 24% below the U.S. rate of 109.8.
Official counts show 41 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Detroit Lakes area in 2023, down 4.6% from 2019. That is one for every 351 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 8 SBA-backed loans worth $1.5M have gone to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Detroit Lakes area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Detroit Lakes area grew 0.9%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Detroit Lakes area compares
The same measures for Minnesota 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.
| Measure | Detroit Lakes area | Minnesota | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 83.3 | 84.5 | 109.8 |
| Spending per listing | $455K | $512K | $371K |
| Households per official establishment | 351 | 260 | 209 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | −4.6% | +2.5% | +6.0% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +0.9% | +2.1% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $3,789 | $4,330 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $71,388 | $89,062 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 82 | 84 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 41−4.6% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 688
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $17.7M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 6Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 12037 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 147The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 8
- Amount
- $1.5M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Detroit Lakes 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.
Population and households in the Detroit Lakes area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 35,497+0.9% since 2020
- Households
- 14,410
- Median age
- 43.7
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 77%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.2
- Land area
- 1,315 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 27
- Median household income
- $71,388
- Average household income
- $100,022
- Median home value
- $291,000
- Jobs located here
- 13,787
- Daytime population
- 33,123Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Detroit Lakes area?
These figures cover the whole small-town market. 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 the Detroit Lakes area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardRestaurants and cafes across Minnesota
Every Minnesota market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in Minnesota for restaurants and cafes, numbered among those based in Minnesota (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Detroit Lakes area marked.
Top small-town markets in Minnesota
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Austin, MN | 88 | 94 | 59.8 | $630K | +2.3% | #6 of 538 |
| 2Faribault-Northfield, MN | 86 | 199 | 84.7 | $482K | +4.2% | #9 of 538 |
| 3Hutchinson, MN | 82 | 114 | 74.9 | $527K | −0.3% | #20 of 538 |
| 4Detroit Lakes, MN | 82 | 120 | 83.3 | $455K | +0.9% | #23 of 538 |
| 5Willmar, MN | 81 | 144 | 81.8 | $473K | +2.3% | #25 of 538 |
| 6Red Wing, MN | 81 | 171 | 86.7 | $464K | +1.3% | #26 of 538 |
| 7Grand Rapids, MN | 79 | 144 | 77.7 | $470K | +0.9% | #32 of 538 |
| 8Owatonna, MN | 76 | 131 | 86.5 | $466K | +0.2% | #46 of 538 |
| 9Bemidji, MN | 74 | 144 | 79.2 | $467K | +1.8% | #55 of 538 |
| Wahpeton, ND-MN | 73 | 90 | 94.7 | $404K | 0.0% | #62 of 538 |
Other business types in the Detroit Lakes area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
- Restaurants and cafes82
- Sit-down restaurants76
- Fast food and sandwich shops86
- Pizza71
- Coffee shops and cafes59
- Bakeries and dessert shops74
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 restaurants and cafes are in the Detroit Lakes, MN area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 120 restaurants and cafes in the Detroit Lakes area. 37 of them (31%) are chain locations. The listings count every restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery and food truck. Official counts show 41 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in 2023, down 4.6% from 2019. Official counts also show 6 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the Detroit Lakes, MN area spend on food away from home?
About $54.6M a year, or $3,789 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 120 restaurants and cafes on map listings, it comes to $455K per restaurant. It is estimated from the incomes of the 14,410 households in the Detroit Lakes area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Detroit Lakes, MN area compare with the U.S. for restaurants and cafes?
The Detroit Lakes area has 83.3 restaurants and cafes per 10,000 households, 24% 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, the Detroit Lakes area would have about 147, against 120 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 351 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. The official count fell 4.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.0% for the U.S.
How fast is the Detroit Lakes, MN area growing?
Population estimates put the Detroit Lakes area at 35,497 people in 2025, up 0.9% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 14,410 households. Median household income in the Detroit Lakes area is $71,388, 12% 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. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. 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 Detroit Lakes area scores 82 for restaurants and cafes (high), #23 of 538 scored small-town markets.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Detroit Lakes area. 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 the Detroit Lakes area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Detroit Lakes 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 Detroit Lakes 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.