Market rankings · Iowa

Sit-down restaurants in Iowa

Every metro area, small-town market and county in Iowa, ranked by the Groundwork market score for sit-down restaurants, with competitor counts and household spending for each.

Listings: 6,964; 2,609 chain locations (37%)
Official establishments: 2,459; −2.5% since 2019
Household spending a year: $5.1B; On food away from home
Listings per 10k households: 52.9; 14% below the U.S.
Spending per listing: $733K; 10% above the U.S.
Rank among states: #21 of 51; Market score 51 · Upper middle

A site report maps the sit-down restaurants on map listings around any address in Iowa by name and distance, and the spending within reach.

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

Iowa has 6,964 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 37% of them, against 29% across the U.S. That is 52.9 per 10,000 households, 14% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.

Household spending on food away from home in Iowa comes to about $5.1B a year: $3,880 per household, 5% below the U.S. average. Spread across 6,964 sit-down restaurants, that is $733K per restaurant, 10% above the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in Iowa was 2,459 in 2023, down 2.5% from 2019. That is one for every 535 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Across the U.S., the count rose 1.5% over the same years. Since fiscal 2022, 99 SBA-backed loans worth $34.2M have gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in Iowa.

Among the 50 states and DC, Iowa ranks #21 for sit-down restaurants, with a Groundwork market score of 51 (upper middle). Of the 9 scored metro areas in or partly in Iowa, the Omaha metro area scores highest (73). Of the 15 scored small-town markets in or partly in Iowa, the Pella area scores highest (76).

Every market in Iowa for sit-down restaurants

Download the ranking (CSV)

Numbered by Groundwork market score among the markets based in Iowa, highest first; the U.S. rank compares each market with every other of its kind. A metro area that crosses a state line is listed in each state it reaches, and numbered only in the state its page is under. How the score works.

Metro areas

Metro areas reaching Iowa, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
Omaha, NE-IA	73	2,003	51.4	$819K	+4.2%	#33 of 387
1Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	71	1,610	54.6	$777K	+6.7%	#45 of 387
2Ames, IA	64	257	51.6	$751K	+2.2%	#89 of 387
3Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	59	334	48.1	$774K	+0.5%	#118 of 387
4Dubuque, IA	58	205	50.0	$785K	+0.1%	#124 of 387
5Cedar Rapids, IA	51	592	51.9	$767K	+1.0%	#176 of 387
6Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	43	312	56.2	$678K	+1.0%	#244 of 387
7Iowa City, IA	43	433	59.9	$667K	+4.1%	#247 of 387
8Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	36	900	55.7	$688K	−0.9%	#297 of 387

Small-town markets

Small-town markets reaching Iowa, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Pella, IA	76	59	44.3	$889K	+2.3%	#36 of 538
2Oskaloosa, IA	74	32	36.6	$987K	−1.2%	#47 of 538
3Le Mars, IA	69	52	50.4	$793K	0.0%	#82 of 538
4Marshalltown, IA	61	75	48.4	$754K	−0.5%	#158 of 538
5Spencer, IA	59	28	38.5	$930K	−0.8%	#171 of 538
6Fort Dodge, IA	56	74	48.1	$736K	−0.4%	#206 of 538
7Clinton, IA	54	100	51.3	$715K	−0.9%	#223 of 538
8Storm Lake, IA	52	48	63.6	$595K	−1.7%	#251 of 538
9Mason City, IA	42	124	54.6	$676K	−1.5%	#345 of 538
10Carroll, IA	42	52	59.1	$637K	−2.0%	#348 of 538
11Ottumwa, IA	42	85	60.7	$570K	−0.3%	#353 of 538
12Spirit Lake, IA	40	64	72.4	$552K	+1.7%	#377 of 538
13Muscatine, IA	38	106	61.1	$599K	−3.0%	#397 of 538
14Burlington, IA-IL	38	119	59.9	$576K	−2.5%	#398 of 538
15Fort Madison, IA	35	76	53.1	$647K	−3.6%	#422 of 538

Counties

Counties in Iowa, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Warren County, IA	90	81	39.2	$1.1M	+9.0%	#24 of 2,405
2Madison County, IA	82	19	28.4	$1.5M	+3.8%	#90 of 2,405
3Mills County, IA	80	16	29.7	$1.4M	+2.6%	#122 of 2,405
4Dallas County, IA	80	219	51.6	$923K	+17.8%	#130 of 2,405
5Benton County, IA	79	28	27.4	$1.5M	+1.8%	#135 of 2,405
6Boone County, IA	77	44	40.2	$997K	+0.4%	#196 of 2,405
7Harrison County, IA	75	23	37.8	$1M	+0.4%	#239 of 2,405
8Buchanan County, IA	71	28	33.9	$1.1M	+1.3%	#334 of 2,405
9Hancock County, IA	69	12	25.7	$1.4M	−2.2%	#392 of 2,405
10Jasper County, IA	68	55	36.6	$1M	+0.9%	#423 of 2,405
11Butler County, IA	67	21	35.8	$1M	−2.0%	#448 of 2,405
12Bremer County, IA	66	44	45.3	$889K	+1.1%	#493 of 2,405
13Mahaska County, IA	65	32	36.6	$987K	−1.2%	#520 of 2,405
14Marion County, IA	65	59	44.3	$889K	+2.3%	#527 of 2,405
15Hamilton County, IA	63	31	48.2	$781K	−0.5%	#630 of 2,405
16Cedar County, IA	62	30	39.4	$990K	−0.7%	#647 of 2,405
17Grundy County, IA	59	21	41.0	$987K	+0.2%	#766 of 2,405
18Plymouth County, IA	59	52	50.4	$793K	0.0%	#779 of 2,405
19Delaware County, IA	57	30	40.7	$933K	+1.3%	#844 of 2,405
20Pottawattamie County, IA	57	178	47.3	$798K	−0.7%	#861 of 2,405
21Lyon County, IA	56	24	53.6	$718K	+3.6%	#914 of 2,405
22Polk County, IA	56	1,205	58.7	$711K	+4.8%	#917 of 2,405
23Dubuque County, IA	55	205	50.0	$785K	+0.1%	#948 of 2,405
24Story County, IA	55	213	54.8	$700K	+2.7%	#963 of 2,405
25Black Hawk County, IA	54	269	49.3	$739K	+0.4%	#998 of 2,405

Show all 99 counties

Counties in Iowa, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score, continued
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
26Sioux County, IA	53	75	59.1	$697K	+2.5%	#1,050 of 2,405
27Clay County, IA	52	28	38.5	$930K	−0.8%	#1,068 of 2,405
28Shelby County, IA	52	23	47.1	$831K	−0.2%	#1,076 of 2,405
29Guthrie County, IA	52	31	67.4	$586K	+1.6%	#1,110 of 2,405
30Marshall County, IA	51	75	48.4	$754K	−0.5%	#1,133 of 2,405
31Jones County, IA	50	39	47.6	$787K	+2.9%	#1,159 of 2,405
32O’Brien County, IA	50	32	55.1	$660K	+0.5%	#1,183 of 2,405
33Cherokee County, IA	49	27	53.5	$701K	−2.4%	#1,232 of 2,405
34Washington County, IA	48	44	49.0	$778K	+0.6%	#1,262 of 2,405
35Iowa County, IA	48	35	50.7	$737K	−1.0%	#1,267 of 2,405
36Linn County, IA	48	525	54.9	$727K	+0.7%	#1,268 of 2,405
37Winneshiek County, IA	47	42	51.6	$752K	−1.6%	#1,302 of 2,405
38Webster County, IA	47	74	48.1	$736K	−0.4%	#1,307 of 2,405
39Johnson County, IA	47	389	61.4	$654K	+4.6%	#1,328 of 2,405
40Clinton County, IA	46	100	51.3	$715K	−0.9%	#1,359 of 2,405
41Chickasaw County, IA	44	21	42.0	$884K	−2.8%	#1,442 of 2,405
42Appanoose County, IA	44	21	40.4	$789K	−1.7%	#1,445 of 2,405
43Buena Vista County, IA	44	48	63.6	$595K	−1.7%	#1,475 of 2,405
44Hardin County, IA	42	33	46.9	$738K	−2.2%	#1,521 of 2,405
45Poweshiek County, IA	42	41	52.5	$712K	−1.4%	#1,525 of 2,405
46Henry County, IA	42	39	51.0	$707K	−5.4%	#1,527 of 2,405
47Mitchell County, IA	42	25	54.4	$696K	+0.6%	#1,529 of 2,405
48Woodbury County, IA	42	233	57.2	$655K	+0.7%	#1,543 of 2,405
49Tama County, IA	41	36	53.6	$668K	−1.5%	#1,588 of 2,405
50Winnebago County, IA	40	21	45.2	$780K	−3.8%	#1,609 of 2,405
51Allamakee County, IA	40	29	48.7	$744K	+1.2%	#1,614 of 2,405
52Crawford County, IA	40	31	49.0	$739K	−1.5%	#1,616 of 2,405
53Scott County, IA	40	463	63.3	$634K	+0.4%	#1,641 of 2,405
54Floyd County, IA	39	34	52.3	$686K	−4.4%	#1,677 of 2,405
55Clayton County, IA	38	34	45.3	$791K	−1.1%	#1,712 of 2,405
56Jackson County, IA	37	47	57.0	$657K	−0.8%	#1,760 of 2,405
57Carroll County, IA	36	52	59.1	$637K	−2.0%	#1,799 of 2,405
58Wapello County, IA	35	85	60.7	$570K	−0.3%	#1,843 of 2,405
59Cass County, IA	34	32	54.8	$643K	−1.2%	#1,872 of 2,405
60Dickinson County, IA	33	64	72.4	$552K	+1.7%	#1,929 of 2,405
61Cerro Gordo County, IA	32	110	56.3	$652K	−1.5%	#1,953 of 2,405
62Muscatine County, IA	32	106	61.1	$599K	−3.0%	#1,960 of 2,405
63Wright County, IA	32	33	61.6	$597K	−0.9%	#1,961 of 2,405
64Des Moines County, IA	32	102	59.4	$583K	−2.0%	#1,966 of 2,405
65Kossuth County, IA	31	33	50.4	$712K	−3.2%	#1,990 of 2,405
66Lee County, IA	30	76	53.1	$647K	−3.6%	#2,032 of 2,405
67Page County, IA	29	30	48.0	$698K	−2.3%	#2,069 of 2,405
68Fayette County, IA	28	50	59.9	$574K	−2.1%	#2,109 of 2,405
69Louisa County, IA	28	32	75.5	$505K	−3.7%	#2,123 of 2,405
70Montgomery County, IA	26	25	54.5	$632K	−3.2%	#2,170 of 2,405
71Union County, IA	18	28	54.7	$593K	−2.5%	#2,339 of 2,405
72Jefferson County, IA	16	51	73.4	$467K	−2.5%	#2,365 of 2,405
Franklin County, IA	Not scored	22	52.4	$636K	−1.2%
Keokuk County, IA	Not scored	14	34.4	$1M	−2.0%
Calhoun County, IA	Not scored	25	62.6	$576K	−3.4%
Sac County, IA	Not scored	26	60.4	$601K	−2.7%
Clarke County, IA	Not scored	19	46.7	$790K	−1.6%
Humboldt County, IA	Not scored	23	54.5	$681K	−2.0%
Howard County, IA	Not scored	17	45.1	$787K	−0.8%
Emmet County, IA	Not scored	18	44.3	$759K	−2.5%
Davis County, IA	Not scored	10	31.2	$1.2M	+1.3%
Palo Alto County, IA	Not scored	16	42.3	$881K	−1.0%
Lucas County, IA	Not scored	13	35.1	$951K	+2.6%
Greene County, IA	Not scored	17	43.3	$826K	−1.0%
Monona County, IA	Not scored	23	59.3	$595K	−2.4%
Decatur County, IA	Not scored	16	52.4	$622K	−0.9%
Monroe County, IA	Not scored	12	38.8	$931K	−2.5%
Adair County, IA	Not scored	16	49.4	$744K	−1.3%
Worth County, IA	Not scored	14	44.1	$861K	−1.3%
Van Buren County, IA	Not scored	11	38.0	$890K	−1.2%
Pocahontas County, IA	Not scored	14	46.7	$739K	−3.5%
Ida County, IA	Not scored	16	52.5	$672K	−3.4%
Wayne County, IA	Not scored	11	42.9	$823K	+3.6%
Fremont County, IA	Not scored	16	56.7	$664K	−0.8%
Osceola County, IA	Not scored	14	53.2	$679K	−3.6%
Taylor County, IA	Not scored	10	40.2	$859K	−0.5%
Audubon County, IA	Not scored	8	30.8	$1.1M	−3.0%
Ringgold County, IA	Not scored	9	47.4	$786K	0.0%
Adams County, IA	Not scored	11	71.4	$526K	−2.5%

Markets with fewer than 5 sit-down restaurants on map listings, and counties under 10,000 people, aren’t scored; they’re listed last in each table.

Questions

How many sit-down restaurants are in Iowa?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 6,964 sit-down restaurants in Iowa. 2,609 of them (37%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 2,459 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, down 2.5% from 2019. Another 273 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in Iowa spend on food away from home?

About $5.1B a year, or $3,880 per household. That is 5% below the U.S. average (an index of 95, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 6,964 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $733K 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 1,315,707 households in Iowa and national spending patterns by income.

How does Iowa compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

Iowa has 52.9 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 14% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $733K, 10% above the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Iowa would have about 7,693, against 6,964 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 535 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count fell 2.5% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.

Which market in Iowa has the highest market score for sit-down restaurants?

Among 9 scored metro areas in or partly in Iowa, the Omaha metro area scores highest, at 73 (upper middle). Among 15 scored small-town markets in or partly in Iowa, the Pella area scores highest, at 76 (high). Among 72 scored counties in Iowa, Warren County scores highest, at 90 (very high). Scores compare each market with others of its kind across the U.S.

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. Iowa scores 51 for sit-down restaurants (upper middle), #21 of the 50 states and DC.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Iowa. 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.

Restaurants and cafes13,560 listings
Fast food and sandwich shops1,600 listings
Pizza1,535 listings
Coffee shops and cafes1,555 listings
Bakeries and dessert shops1,058 listings

Screening a site or an acquisition in Iowa?

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