Food and drink · Metro area · Florida
Sit-down restaurants in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL metro area
Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for sit-down restaurants in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL metro area, set against other metro areas and the U.S.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 34 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #318 of 387 scored metro areas
#19 of 22 scored metro areas based in Florida
- Listings
- 1,159
- 335 chain locations (29%)
- Official establishments
- 380
- +16.9% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $486.4M
- On food away from home · $4,061 a household
- Spending per listing
- $420K
- 37% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 96.8
- 58% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 315,098
- +9.4% since 2020
See the sit-down restaurants around any address in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area
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 the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin 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
For sit-down restaurants, the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area has a Groundwork market score of 34 (lower middle): #318 of 387 scored metro areas and #19 of 22 scored metro areas based in Florida. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.
At $4,061 per household (in line with the U.S. average), households in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area spend about $486.4M a year on food away from home. That is about $420K of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 37% below the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.
The Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area has 1,159 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 29% of them, against 29% across the U.S. That comes to 96.8 for every 10,000 households, 58% above the U.S. rate of 61.3.
Official counts show 380 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area in 2023, up 16.9% from 2019. That is one for every 315 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 27 SBA-backed loans worth $24.1M have gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area. Population estimates put the population change in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +9.4%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area compares
The same measures for Florida 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.
| Measure | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area | Florida | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 96.8 | 66.0 | 61.3 |
| Spending per listing | $420K | $582K | $664K |
| Households per official establishment | 315 | 481 | 500 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +16.9% | +7.1% | +1.5% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +9.4% | +8.7% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $4,061 | $3,841 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $81,993 | $74,568 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 34 | 39 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 380+16.9% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 8,777
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $291.1M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 69Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 1,159335 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 733The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 27
- Amount
- $24.1M
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin 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 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 315,098+9.4% since 2020
- Households
- 119,773
- Median age
- 40.5
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 71%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 1,968 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 152
- Median household income
- $81,993+31.9% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $115,705
- Median home value
- $364,100
- Jobs located here
- 125,751
- Daytime population
- 308,702Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin 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 sit-down restaurants on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSit-down restaurants across Florida
Every Florida market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in Florida for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in Florida, with the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area marked.
Top metro areas in Florida
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 88 | 176 | 25.0 | $1.5M | +21.1% | #5 of 387 |
| 2Homosassa Springs, FL | 75 | 271 | 38.0 | $862K | +11.1% | #27 of 387 |
| 3Punta Gorda, FL | 74 | 404 | 44.6 | $806K | +15.5% | #31 of 387 |
| 4Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 73 | 1,340 | 46.3 | $756K | +19.8% | #35 of 387 |
| 5Sebring, FL | 67 | 192 | 41.0 | $767K | +9.7% | #69 of 387 |
| 6Ocala, FL | 67 | 739 | 44.8 | $740K | +17.3% | #71 of 387 |
| 7Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 61 | 1,096 | 54.4 | $699K | +6.5% | #109 of 387 |
| 8Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL | 54 | 370 | 52.2 | $733K | +7.7% | #155 of 387 |
| 9Port St. Lucie, FL | 54 | 1,084 | 52.8 | $719K | +16.0% | #157 of 387 |
| 10Jacksonville, FL | 54 | 3,943 | 59.5 | $667K | +10.7% | #162 of 387 |
| 19Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL | 34 | 1,159 | 96.8 | $420K | +9.4% | #318 of 387 |
Other business types in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
- Restaurants and cafes35
- Sit-down restaurants34
- Fast food and sandwich shops49
- Pizza45
- Coffee shops and cafes40
- Bakeries and dessert shops40
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 sit-down restaurants are in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL metro area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 1,159 sit-down restaurants in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area. 335 of them (29%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 380 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, up 16.9% from 2019. Another 69 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL metro area spend on food away from home?
About $486.4M a year, or $4,061 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 100, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 1,159 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $420K 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 119,773 households in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL metro area compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?
The Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area has 96.8 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 58% above the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $420K, 37% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area would have about 733, against 1,159 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 315 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count rose 16.9% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.
How fast is the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area at 315,098 people in 2025, up 9.4% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 119,773 households. Median household income in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area is $81,993, 2% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 31.9%, 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. 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 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area scores 34 for sit-down restaurants (lower middle), #318 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 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area. 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 the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin 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 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin 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.