Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Georgia

Sit-down restaurants in the Brunswick-St. Simons, GA metro area

How the Brunswick-St. Simons, GA metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for sit-down restaurants: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 23 out of 100: Low

Ranked #372 of 387 scored metro areas
#14 of 14 scored metro areas based in Georgia

Listings
399
145 chain locations (36%)
Official establishments
122
+5.2% since 2019
Household spending a year
$169.3M
On food away from home · $3,586 a household
Spending per listing
$424K
36% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
84.5
38% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
118,524
+4.4% since 2020

See the sit-down restaurants around any address in the Brunswick-St. Simons 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 Brunswick-St. Simons metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

The Groundwork market score for sit-down restaurants in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area is 23 (low), #372 of 387 scored metro areas and #14 of 14 scored metro areas based in Georgia. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

As of September 2026, map listings count 399 sit-down restaurants in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area. Chain locations make up 36% of them, against 29% across the U.S. That comes to 84.5 for every 10,000 households, 38% above the U.S. rate of 61.3.

Household spending on food away from home in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area comes to about $169.3M a year: $3,586 per household, 12% below the U.S. average. That works out to $424K per restaurant, 36% below the U.S. figure of $664K. That spending covers all food away from home, which sit-down restaurants share with other businesses in the trade.

In 2023, official counts showed 122 businesses with payroll in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area classed as full-service restaurants, up 5.2% from 2019. That is one for every 387 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 5 SBA-backed loans worth $3.1M have gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area grew 4.4%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area compares

The same measures for Georgia 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 Brunswick-St. Simons, GA metro area compared with Georgia and the U.S.
MeasureBrunswick-St. Simons metro areaGeorgiaU.S.
Listings per 10k households84.566.061.3
Spending per listing$424K$593K$664K
Households per official establishment387514500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+5.2%+5.5%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025+4.4%+5.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,586$3,917$4,070
Median household income$66,623$77,353$80,734
Groundwork market score2342

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
122+5.2% over the period
Employees, 2023
2,595
Annual payroll, 2023
$63M
One-person businesses, 2023
19Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
399145 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
255The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
5
Amount
$3.1M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Brunswick-St. Simons 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 Brunswick-St. Simons metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
118,524+4.4% since 2020
Households
47,209
Median age
44.0
Homes lived in by their owners
70%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
1,294 sq. mi.
People per square mile
89
Median household income
$66,623+31.5% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$94,637
Median home value
$242,500
Jobs located here
42,696
Daytime population
112,115Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Brunswick-St. Simons 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 Brunswick-St. Simons metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Sit-down restaurants across Georgia

Every Georgia market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Georgia for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in Georgia (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Georgia

Metro areas in Georgia ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Warner Robins, GA6044259.4$642K+8.2%#114 of 387
2Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC561,22752.9$691K+4.7%#139 of 387
3Gainesville, GA5643459.0$676K+11.4%#140 of 387
4Hinesville, GA5615150.1$651K+12.6%#141 of 387
5Dalton, GA4927753.2$650K+3.5%#202 of 387
6Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA4516,29970.5$604K+5.9%#234 of 387
Chattanooga, TN-GA441,37459.4$630K+5.3%#238 of 387
7Rome, GA4320756.2$626K+2.8%#251 of 387
8Athens-Clarke County, GA3752460.9$595K+3.9%#291 of 387
9Valdosta, GA3433358.6$550K+3.3%#316 of 387
14Brunswick-St. Simons, GA2339984.5$424K+4.4%#372 of 387

Other business types in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many sit-down restaurants are in the Brunswick-St. Simons, GA metro area?

The Brunswick-St. Simons metro area has 399 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. 145 of them (36%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 122 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, up 5.2% from 2019. Official counts list 19 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Brunswick-St. Simons, GA metro area spend on food away from home?

About $169.3M a year, or $3,586 per household. That is 12% below the U.S. average (an index of 88, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 399 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $424K per restaurant. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants. It is estimated from the incomes of the 47,209 households in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Brunswick-St. Simons, GA metro area compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

The Brunswick-St. Simons metro area has 84.5 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 38% above the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $424K, 36% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the national ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area would have about 255, against 399 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 387 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count rose 5.2% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.

How fast is the Brunswick-St. Simons, GA metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area at 118,524 people in 2025, up 4.4% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 47,209 households. The median household income in the Brunswick-St. Simons metro area is $66,623 a year, 17% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 31.5% from the 2015–2019 survey, 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 Brunswick-St. Simons metro area scores 23 for sit-down restaurants (low), #372 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 Brunswick-St. Simons 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 Brunswick-St. Simons metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Brunswick-St. Simons 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 Brunswick-St. Simons 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.