Food and drink · Small-town market · Vermont
Restaurants and cafes in the Brattleboro, VT area
How the Brattleboro, VT area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for restaurants and cafes: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 27 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #478 of 538 scored small-town markets
#4 of 4 scored small-town markets based in Vermont
- Listings
- 279
- 41 chain locations (15%)
- Official establishments
- 123
- +9.8% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $74.7M
- On food away from home · $3,778 a household
- Spending per listing
- $268K
- 28% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 141.0
- 28% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 45,204
- −1.4% since 2020
See the restaurants and cafes around any address in the Brattleboro 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 Brattleboro 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
The Brattleboro area scores 27 (lower middle) on the Groundwork market score for restaurants and cafes, ranking #478 of 538 scored small-town markets and #4 of 4 scored small-town markets based in Vermont. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.
Household spending on food away from home in the Brattleboro area comes to about $74.7M a year: $3,778 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. That works out to $268K per restaurant, 28% below the U.S. figure of $371K.
The Brattleboro area has 279 restaurants and cafes on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 41 are chain locations, or 15%, against 34% across the U.S. That is 141.0 per 10,000 households, 28% above the U.S. rate of 109.8.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Brattleboro area was 123 in 2023, up 9.8% from 2019. That is one for every 161 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $429K have gone to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Brattleboro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Brattleboro area declined 1.4%, against +3.1% for the U.S.
How the Brattleboro area compares
The same measures for Vermont 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 | Brattleboro area | Vermont | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 141.0 | 115.1 | 109.8 |
| Spending per listing | $268K | $349K | $371K |
| Households per official establishment | 161 | 227 | 209 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +9.8% | −1.2% | +6.0% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −1.4% | +0.3% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $3,778 | $4,013 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $72,217 | $81,203 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 27 | 40 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 123+9.8% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 1,329
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $35M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 20Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 27941 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 202The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 2
- Amount
- $429K
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Brattleboro 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 Brattleboro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 45,204−1.4% since 2020
- Households
- 19,784
- Median age
- 46.6
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 74%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.7
- Land area
- 786 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 58
- Median household income
- $72,217
- Average household income
- $99,781
- Median home value
- $279,600
- Jobs located here
- 21,744
- Daytime population
- 48,005Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Brattleboro 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 Brattleboro 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 Vermont
Every Vermont market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in Vermont for restaurants and cafes, numbered among those based in Vermont (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Brattleboro area marked.
Top small-town markets in Vermont
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lebanon-Claremont, NH-VT | 54 | 1,040 | 113.3 | $360K | +1.5% | #224 of 538 |
| 1Barre, VT | 54 | 312 | 120.7 | $334K | −0.2% | #229 of 538 |
| 2Rutland, VT | 30 | 318 | 125.6 | $290K | −1.4% | #458 of 538 |
| 3Bennington, VT | 29 | 219 | 146.1 | $264K | −1.8% | #469 of 538 |
| 4Brattleboro, VT | 27 | 279 | 141.0 | $268K | −1.4% | #478 of 538 |
Other business types in the Brattleboro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
- Restaurants and cafes27
- Sit-down restaurants29
- Fast food and sandwich shops58
- Pizza37
- Coffee shops and cafes28
- Bakeries and dessert shops31
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 Brattleboro, VT area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 279 restaurants and cafes in the Brattleboro area. 41 of them (15%) are chain locations. The listings count every restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery and food truck. Official counts show 123 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in 2023, up 9.8% from 2019. Official counts list 20 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the Brattleboro, VT area spend on food away from home?
About $74.7M a year, or $3,778 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 279 restaurants and cafes on map listings, it comes to $268K per restaurant. It is estimated from the incomes of the 19,784 households in the Brattleboro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Brattleboro, VT area compare with the U.S. for restaurants and cafes?
The Brattleboro area has 141.0 restaurants and cafes per 10,000 households, 28% above the U.S. rate of 109.8. Spending per restaurant is $268K, 28% below the U.S. figure of $371K. At the U.S. ratio of restaurants and cafes to household spending, the Brattleboro area would have about 202, against 279 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 161 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. The official count rose 9.8% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.0% for the U.S.
How fast is the Brattleboro, VT area growing?
Population estimates put the Brattleboro area at 45,204 people in 2025, down 1.4% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 19,784 households. Median household income in the Brattleboro area is $72,217, 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. 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 Brattleboro area scores 27 for restaurants and cafes (lower middle), #478 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 Brattleboro 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 Brattleboro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Brattleboro 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 Brattleboro 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.