Food and drink · Metro area · Wisconsin
Restaurants and cafes in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area
How the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for restaurants and cafes: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 62 out of 100: Upper middle
Ranked #114 of 387 scored metro areas
#10 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin
- Listings
- 684
- 194 chain locations (28%)
- Official establishments
- 279
- +3.0% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $276.2M
- On food away from home · $3,833 a household
- Spending per listing
- $404K
- 9% above the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 94.9
- 14% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 171,182
- +0.4% since 2020
See the restaurants and cafes around any address in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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
As of September 2026, map listings count 684 restaurants and cafes in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area. Chain locations make up 28% of them, against 34% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 94.9, 14% below the U.S. rate of 109.8.
Household spending on food away from home in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area comes to about $276.2M a year: $3,833 per household, 6% below the U.S. average. Spread across 684 restaurants and cafes, that is $404K per restaurant, 9% above the U.S. figure of $371K.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area was 279 in 2023, up 3.0% from 2019. That is one for every 258 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. Official counts list 25 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 21 SBA-backed loans worth $11.5M have gone to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area.
Population estimates put the population change in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +0.4%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). For restaurants and cafes, the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area has a Groundwork market score of 62 (upper middle): #114 of 387 scored metro areas and #10 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin.
How the La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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 | La Crosse-Onalaska metro area | Wisconsin | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 94.9 | 106.3 | 109.8 |
| Spending per listing | $404K | $373K | $371K |
| Households per official establishment | 258 | 242 | 209 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +3.0% | +4.2% | +6.0% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +0.4% | +1.3% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $3,833 | $3,959 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $73,340 | $77,485 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 62 | 55 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 279+3.0% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 5,802
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $102.9M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 25Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 684194 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 745The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 21
- Amount
- $11.5M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 171,182+0.4% since 2020
- Households
- 72,055
- Median age
- 40.6
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 68%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.8
- Land area
- 1,796 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 95
- Median household income
- $73,340
- Average household income
- $96,598
- Median home value
- $247,400
- Jobs located here
- 86,774
- Daytime population
- 175,958Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area?
These figures cover the whole metro area. 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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 metro areas 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro area marked.
Top metro areas in Wisconsin
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 85 | 12,367 | 83.7 | $552K | +2.6% | #3 of 387 |
| 1Madison, WI | 74 | 3,057 | 101.4 | $426K | +4.1% | #39 of 387 |
| 2Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI | 73 | 722 | 89.8 | $441K | +0.4% | #45 of 387 |
| 3Fond du Lac, WI | 70 | 379 | 87.6 | $436K | +0.5% | #60 of 387 |
| 4Wausau, WI | 68 | 529 | 91.4 | $427K | +1.0% | #72 of 387 |
| 5Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | 68 | 674 | 92.8 | $413K | +1.4% | #74 of 387 |
| 6Kenosha, WI | 67 | 668 | 96.9 | $420K | −0.4% | #80 of 387 |
| Duluth, MN-WI | 65 | 1,086 | 90.2 | $418K | +0.2% | #95 of 387 |
| 7Appleton, WI | 65 | 1,038 | 104.1 | $400K | +2.7% | #97 of 387 |
| 8Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | 63 | 6,604 | 100.6 | $402K | 0.0% | #107 of 387 |
| 10La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN | 62 | 684 | 94.9 | $404K | +0.4% | #114 of 387 |
Other business types in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
- Restaurants and cafes62
- Sit-down restaurants62
- Fast food and sandwich shops71
- Pizza65
- Coffee shops and cafes41
- Bakeries and dessert shops56
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 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area?
The La Crosse-Onalaska metro area has 684 restaurants and cafes on map listings as of September 2026. 194 of them (28%) are chain locations. The listings count every restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery and food truck. Official counts show 279 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in 2023, up 3.0% from 2019. Official counts also show 25 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area spend on food away from home?
About $276.2M a year, or $3,833 per household. That is 6% below the U.S. average (an index of 94, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 684 restaurants and cafes on map listings, it comes to $404K per restaurant. It is estimated from the incomes of the 72,055 households in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area compare with the U.S. for restaurants and cafes?
The La Crosse-Onalaska metro area has 94.9 restaurants and cafes per 10,000 households, 14% below the U.S. rate of 109.8. Spending per restaurant is $404K, 9% above the U.S. figure of $371K. At the national ratio of restaurants and cafes to household spending, the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area would have about 745, against 684 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 258 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. The official count rose 3.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.0% for the U.S.
How fast is the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN metro area growing?
Population estimates put the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area at 171,182 people in 2025, up 0.4% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 72,055 households. The median household income in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro area is $73,340 a year, 9% 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. 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro area scores 62 for restaurants and cafes (upper middle), #114 of 387 scored metro areas.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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 La Crosse-Onalaska metro 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.