Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Iowa

Sit-down restaurants in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL metro area

How the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL 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 36 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #297 of 387 scored metro areas
#8 of 8 scored metro areas based in Iowa

Listings
900
289 chain locations (32%)
Official establishments
325
−1.5% since 2019
Household spending a year
$619.4M
On food away from home · $3,830 a household
Spending per listing
$688K
4% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
55.7
9% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
380,452
−0.9% since 2020

See the sit-down restaurants around any address in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area. 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

For sit-down restaurants, the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area has a Groundwork market score of 36 (lower middle): #297 of 387 scored metro areas and #8 of 8 scored metro areas based in Iowa. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

At $3,830 per household (6% below the U.S. average), households in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area spend about $619.4M a year on food away from home. Spread across 900 sit-down restaurants, that is $688K per restaurant, 4% above the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.

The Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area has 900 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 32% of them, against 29% across the U.S. That comes to 55.7 for every 10,000 households, 9% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.

In 2023, official counts showed 325 businesses with payroll in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area classed as full-service restaurants, down 1.5% from 2019. That is one for every 498 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 11 SBA-backed loans worth $4.1M have gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area. Population estimates show the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area declined 0.9% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S.

How the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area compares

The same measures for Iowa 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL metro area compared with Iowa and the U.S.
MeasureDavenport-Moline-Rock Island metro areaIowaU.S.
Listings per 10k households55.752.961.3
Spending per listing$688K$733K$664K
Households per official establishment498535500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−1.5%−2.5%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025−0.9%+1.5%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,830$3,880$4,070
Median household income$72,738$75,059$80,734
Groundwork market score3651

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
325−1.5% over the period
Employees, 2023
5,605
Annual payroll, 2023
$111.8M
One-person businesses, 2023
28Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
900289 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
933The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
11
Amount
$4.1M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
380,452−0.9% since 2020
Households
161,702
Median age
41.0
Homes lived in by their owners
72%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
2,270 sq. mi.
People per square mile
168
Median household income
$72,738+24.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$95,004
Median home value
$174,100
Jobs located here
174,294
Daytime population
383,694Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Sit-down restaurants across Iowa

Every Iowa market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Iowa for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in Iowa (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Iowa

Metro areas in Iowa ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
Omaha, NE-IA732,00351.4$819K+4.2%#33 of 387
1Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA711,61054.6$777K+6.7%#45 of 387
2Ames, IA6425751.6$751K+2.2%#89 of 387
3Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA5933448.1$774K+0.5%#118 of 387
4Dubuque, IA5820550.0$785K+0.1%#124 of 387
5Cedar Rapids, IA5159251.9$767K+1.0%#176 of 387
6Sioux City, IA-NE-SD4331256.2$678K+1.0%#244 of 387
7Iowa City, IA4343359.9$667K+4.1%#247 of 387
8Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL3690055.7$688K−0.9%#297 of 387

Other business types in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 900 sit-down restaurants in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area. 289 of them (32%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 325 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, down 1.5% from 2019. Official counts also show 28 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL metro area spend on food away from home?

About $619.4M a year, or $3,830 per household. That is 6% below the U.S. average (an index of 94, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 900 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $688K 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 161,702 households in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL metro area compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

The Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area has 55.7 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 9% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $688K, 4% above the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area would have about 933, against 900 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 498 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count fell 1.5% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.

How fast is the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area at 380,452 people in 2025, down 0.9% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 161,702 households. Median household income in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area is $72,738, 10% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 24.3%, 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area scores 36 for sit-down restaurants (lower middle), #297 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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.