Food and drink · Small-town market · Wisconsin
Restaurants and cafes in the Beaver Dam, WI area
How the Beaver Dam, WI 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 76 out of 100: High
Ranked #48 of 538 scored small-town markets
#1 of 13 scored small-town markets based in Wisconsin
- Listings
- 321
- 69 chain locations (21%)
- Official establishments
- 109
- +7.9% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $136M
- On food away from home · $3,786 a household
- Spending per listing
- $424K
- 14% above the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 89.4
- 19% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 89,097
- −0.3% since 2020
See the restaurants and cafes around any address in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam area scores 76 (high) on the Groundwork market score for restaurants and cafes, ranking #48 of 538 scored small-town markets and #1 of 13 scored small-town markets based in Wisconsin. That puts it in the top 10% of small-town markets for restaurants and cafes.
Household spending on food away from home in the Beaver Dam area comes to about $136M a year: $3,786 per household, 7% below the U.S. average. That works out to $424K per restaurant, 14% above the U.S. figure of $371K.
The Beaver Dam area has 321 restaurants and cafes on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 69 are chain locations, or 21%, against 34% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 89.4, 19% below the U.S. rate of 109.8.
Official counts show 109 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Beaver Dam area in 2023, up 7.9% from 2019. That is one for every 329 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 3 SBA-backed loans worth $1.1M have gone to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Beaver Dam area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Beaver Dam area declined 0.3%, against +3.1% for the U.S.
How the Beaver Dam area compares
The same measures for Wisconsin 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 | Beaver Dam area | Wisconsin | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 89.4 | 106.3 | 109.8 |
| Spending per listing | $424K | $373K | $371K |
| Households per official establishment | 329 | 242 | 209 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +7.9% | +4.2% | +6.0% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −0.3% | +1.3% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $3,786 | $3,959 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $75,929 | $77,485 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 76 | 55 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 109+7.9% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 1,406
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $23.8M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 19Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 32169 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 367The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 3
- Amount
- $1.1M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 89,097−0.3% since 2020
- Households
- 35,910
- Median age
- 43.7
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 71%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.0
- Land area
- 876 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 101
- Median household income
- $75,929+25.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $90,922
- Median home value
- $231,900
- Jobs located here
- 34,764
- Daytime population
- 79,179Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam 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 Wisconsin
Every Wisconsin market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in Wisconsin for restaurants and cafes, numbered among those based in Wisconsin (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Beaver Dam area marked.
Top small-town markets in Wisconsin
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Beaver Dam, WI | 76 | 321 | 89.4 | $424K | −0.3% | #48 of 538 |
| 2Menomonie, WI | 74 | 168 | 96.3 | $395K | +1.7% | #57 of 538 |
| 3Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI | 68 | 336 | 96.3 | $414K | +0.3% | #93 of 538 |
| 4Sparta, WI | 65 | 176 | 96.2 | $381K | +0.6% | #129 of 538 |
| 5Manitowoc, WI | 64 | 353 | 100.3 | $364K | +0.4% | #135 of 538 |
| 6Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI | 63 | 307 | 95.2 | $377K | −0.2% | #146 of 538 |
| 7Platteville, WI | 56 | 223 | 111.7 | $323K | +0.9% | #207 of 538 |
| 8Stevens Point-Plover, WI | 48 | 357 | 120.3 | $320K | +2.2% | #281 of 538 |
| 9Whitewater-Elkhorn, WI | 43 | 558 | 129.5 | $318K | +0.8% | #349 of 538 |
| Iron Mountain, MI-WI | 42 | 143 | 101.4 | $343K | +0.4% | #353 of 538 |
Other business types in the Beaver Dam area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
- Restaurants and cafes76
- Sit-down restaurants72
- Fast food and sandwich shops82
- Pizza78
- Coffee shops and cafes77
- Bakeries and dessert shops73
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 Beaver Dam, WI area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 321 restaurants and cafes in the Beaver Dam area. 69 of them (21%) are chain locations. The listings count every restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery and food truck. Official counts show 109 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in 2023, up 7.9% from 2019. Another 19 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the Beaver Dam, WI area spend on food away from home?
About $136M a year, or $3,786 per household. That is 7% below the U.S. average (an index of 93, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 321 restaurants and cafes on map listings, it comes to $424K per restaurant. It is estimated from the incomes of the 35,910 households in the Beaver Dam area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Beaver Dam, WI area compare with the U.S. for restaurants and cafes?
The Beaver Dam area has 89.4 restaurants and cafes per 10,000 households, 19% below the U.S. rate of 109.8. Spending per restaurant is $424K, 14% above the U.S. figure of $371K. At the U.S. ratio of restaurants and cafes to household spending, the Beaver Dam area would have about 367, against 321 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 329 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. The official count rose 7.9% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.0% for the U.S.
How fast is the Beaver Dam, WI area growing?
Population estimates put the Beaver Dam area at 89,097 people in 2025, down 0.3% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 35,910 households. Median household income in the Beaver Dam area is $75,929, 6% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 25.2%, 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. 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 Beaver Dam area scores 76 for restaurants and cafes (high), #48 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 Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam 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.