Groundwork

Food and drink · County · California

Sit-down restaurants in Sierra County, CA

How Sierra County, CA compares with other counties and the U.S. for sit-down restaurants: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score

Not scored

Counties under 10,000 people aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.

Listings
11
1 chain location (9%)
Official establishments
7
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$4.3M
On food away from home · $3,491 a household
Spending per listing
$387K
42% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
90.2
47% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
3,098
−4.0% since 2020

See the sit-down restaurants around any address in Sierra County

The site report maps the sit-down restaurants 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 Sierra County. 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

Households in Sierra County spend about $4.3M a year on food away from home, or $3,491 per household, 14% below the U.S. average. That works out to $387K per restaurant, 42% below the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.

Sierra County has 11 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. One of them (9%) is a chain location, against 29% across the U.S. That comes to 90.2 for every 10,000 households, 47% above the U.S. rate of 61.3.

Official counts show 7 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in Sierra County in 2023. That is one for every 174 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

Population estimates show Sierra County declined 4.0% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. Counties under 10,000 people aren’t given a market score, since a few businesses can swing their figures.

How Sierra County compares

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

Sit-down restaurants in Sierra County, CA compared with California and the U.S.
MeasureSierra CountyCaliforniaU.S.
Listings per 10k households90.273.961.3
Spending per listing$387K$617K$664K
Households per official establishment174432500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−1.9%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025−4.0%−0.4%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,491$4,559$4,070
Median household income$63,355$99,122$80,734
Groundwork market scoreNot scored34

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
5 → 7
Employees, 2023
24
Annual payroll, 2023
$628K
One-person businesses, 2023
0Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
111 chain location
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
6The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
0
Amount
$0

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in Sierra County, 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 Sierra County

Population, 2025 estimate
3,098−4.0% since 2020
Households
1,219
Median age
54.9
Homes lived in by their owners
72%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
953 sq. mi.
People per square mile
3
Median household income
$63,355
Average household income
$81,457
Median home value
$331,900
Jobs located here
532
Daytime population
2,187Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in Sierra County?

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 sit-down restaurants on map listings by name and distance.

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

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Sit-down restaurants across California

Every California market ranked →

The highest-scoring counties in California for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in California, with Sierra County marked.

Top counties in California

Counties in California ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Yuba County, CA8610135.3$1.1M+8.2%#55 of 2,405
2San Benito County, CA7211355.0$891K+8.6%#326 of 2,405
3San Joaquin County, CA691,32153.9$797K+5.5%#413 of 2,405
4Riverside County, CA644,47657.7$748K+5.0%#582 of 2,405
5Madera County, CA6424754.4$705K+7.4%#590 of 2,405
6Merced County, CA6340647.2$750K+5.1%#636 of 2,405
7Contra Costa County, CA622,36857.1$906K+0.3%#652 of 2,405
8Placer County, CA601,05766.9$734K+8.9%#758 of 2,405
9Solano County, CA5987155.3$816K+0.6%#777 of 2,405
10Lassen County, CA583335.7$980K−13.1%#800 of 2,405
Sierra County, CANot scored1190.2$387K−4.0%

Other business types in Sierra County

None has a Groundwork market score here. Counties under 10,000 people aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.

Questions

How many sit-down restaurants are in Sierra County, CA?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 11 sit-down restaurants in Sierra County. One of them (9%) is a chain location. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 7 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023.

How much do households in Sierra County, CA spend on food away from home?

About $4.3M a year, or $3,491 per household. That is 14% below the U.S. average (an index of 86, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 11 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $387K per restaurant. That spending covers all food away from home, which sit-down restaurants share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,219 households in Sierra County and national spending patterns by income.

How does Sierra County, CA compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

Sierra County has 90.2 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 47% above the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $387K, 42% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Sierra County would have about 6, against 11 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 174 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

How fast is Sierra County, CA growing?

Population estimates put Sierra County at 3,098 people in 2025, down 4.0% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,219 households. Median household income in Sierra County is $63,355, 22% 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 score leaves out counties under 10,000 people, where a handful of businesses would swing it.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Sierra County. It maps the sit-down restaurants 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 sit-down restaurants · All 56 business types in Sierra County

Screening a site or an acquisition in Sierra County?

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 Sierra County. 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.