Food and drink · County · Kentucky
Sit-down restaurants in Lee County, KY
How Lee County, KY 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
- 4 chain locations (36%)
- Official establishments
- n/a
- Fewer than 3, or not published
- Household spending a year
- $6.8M
- On food away from home · $2,625 a household
- Spending per listing
- $619K
- 7% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 42.4
- 31% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 7,297
- −0.9% since 2020
See the sit-down restaurants around any address in Lee 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 Lee County. 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
As of September 2026, map listings count 11 sit-down restaurants in Lee County. Of those, 4 are chain locations, or 36%, against 29% across the U.S. That is 42.4 per 10,000 households, 31% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.
At $2,625 per household (35% below the U.S. average), households in Lee County spend about $6.8M a year on food away from home. That is about $619K of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 7% 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.
There is no official count of businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in Lee County: counts under 3 aren’t published.
Population estimates put the population change in Lee County from 2020 to 2025 at −0.9%, 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 Lee County compares
The same measures for Kentucky 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 | Lee County | Kentucky | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 42.4 | 49.3 | 61.3 |
| Spending per listing | $619K | $707K | $664K |
| Households per official establishment | n/a | 646 | 500 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +1.2% | +1.5% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −0.9% | +2.2% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $2,625 | $3,489 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $37,568 | $63,726 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | Not scored | 50 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- n/a
- Employees, 2023
- n/a
- Annual payroll, 2023
- n/a
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 0Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 114 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 10The 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 Lee 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 Lee County
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 7,297−0.9% since 2020
- Households
- 2,595
- Median age
- 44.0
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 78%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 209 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 35
- Median household income
- $37,568
- Average household income
- $53,404
- Median home value
- $83,900
- Jobs located here
- 1,658
- Daytime population
- 7,266Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in Lee 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 Lee County. 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 Kentucky
Every Kentucky market ranked →The highest-scoring counties in Kentucky for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in Kentucky, with Lee County marked.
Top counties in Kentucky
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Spencer County, KY | 95 | 18 | 24.6 | $1.8M | +7.7% | #4 of 2,405 |
| 2Oldham County, KY | 88 | 79 | 34.3 | $1.5M | +4.9% | #36 of 2,405 |
| 3Bullitt County, KY | 88 | 97 | 30.6 | $1.3M | +5.0% | #40 of 2,405 |
| 4Jessamine County, KY | 83 | 66 | 33.1 | $1.1M | +7.8% | #85 of 2,405 |
| 5Grant County, KY | 78 | 28 | 30.4 | $1.1M | +4.7% | #158 of 2,405 |
| 6Henry County, KY | 77 | 15 | 24.4 | $1.4M | +4.8% | #183 of 2,405 |
| 7Meade County, KY | 77 | 37 | 33.6 | $1.1M | +2.2% | #187 of 2,405 |
| 8Allen County, KY | 77 | 24 | 29.9 | $1.1M | +9.5% | #190 of 2,405 |
| 9Lincoln County, KY | 76 | 23 | 23.7 | $1.3M | +4.6% | #211 of 2,405 |
| 10Shelby County, KY | 75 | 72 | 39.0 | $1M | +6.2% | #242 of 2,405 |
| Lee County, KY | Not scored | 11 | 42.4 | $619K | −0.9% |
Other business types in Lee County
None has a Groundwork market score here. Counties under 10,000 people aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.
Food and drink
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 Lee County, KY?
Lee County has 11 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. 4 of them (36%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. No official count is published for full-service restaurants in Lee County: counts under 3 are left out.
How much do households in Lee County, KY spend on food away from home?
About $6.8M a year, or $2,625 per household. That is 35% below the U.S. average (an index of 65, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 11 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $619K per restaurant. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants. It is estimated from the incomes of the 2,595 households in Lee County and national spending patterns by income.
How does Lee County, KY compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?
Lee County has 42.4 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 31% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $619K, 7% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the national ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Lee County would have about 10, against 11 on map listings.
How fast is Lee County, KY growing?
Population estimates put Lee County at 7,297 people in 2025, down 0.9% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 2,595 households. The median household income in Lee County is $37,568 a year, 53% 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 Lee 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 Lee County
Screening a site or an acquisition in Lee 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 Lee 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.