Groundwork

Food and drink · County · Minnesota

Sit-down restaurants in Rock County, MN

How Rock County, MN 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
16
6 chain locations (38%)
Official establishments
6
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$15.5M
On food away from home · $3,847 a household
Spending per listing
$970K
46% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
39.7
35% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
9,524
−1.7% since 2020

See the sit-down restaurants around any address in Rock 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 Rock County. 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

Households in Rock County spend about $15.5M a year on food away from home, or $3,847 per household, 5% below the U.S. average. That is about $970K of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 46% above the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.

Rock County has 16 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. 6 of them (38%) are chain locations, against 29% across the U.S. That is 39.7 per 10,000 households, 35% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in Rock County was 6 in 2023. That is one for every 673 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $165K has gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in Rock County.

Population estimates put the population change in Rock County from 2020 to 2025 at −1.7%, 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 Rock County compares

The same measures for Minnesota 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 Rock County, MN compared with Minnesota and the U.S.
MeasureRock CountyMinnesotaU.S.
Listings per 10k households39.745.061.3
Spending per listing$970K$962K$664K
Households per official establishment673595500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−0.5%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025−1.7%+2.1%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,847$4,330$4,070
Median household income$71,295$89,062$80,734
Groundwork market scoreNot scored79

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
6 → 6
Employees, 2023
46
Annual payroll, 2023
$790K
One-person businesses, 2023
0Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
166 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
23The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$165K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in Rock 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 Rock County

Population, 2025 estimate
9,524−1.7% since 2020
Households
4,035
Median age
41.9
Homes lived in by their owners
77%
Vehicles per household
2.2
Land area
483 sq. mi.
People per square mile
20
Median household income
$71,295
Average household income
$91,311
Median home value
$224,300
Jobs located here
3,938
Daytime population
8,459Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in Rock 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 Rock County. 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 Minnesota

Every Minnesota market ranked →

The highest-scoring counties in Minnesota for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in Minnesota, with Rock County marked.

Top counties in Minnesota

Counties in Minnesota ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Sherburne County, MN929827.6$1.7M+6.8%#10 of 2,405
2Carver County, MN9014535.2$1.5M+6.6%#20 of 2,405
3Isanti County, MN894427.0$1.5M+7.3%#26 of 2,405
4Wright County, MN8919636.3$1.3M+11.1%#29 of 2,405
5Clay County, MN888030.3$1.3M+3.6%#37 of 2,405
6Anoka County, MN8850536.7$1.2M+4.7%#41 of 2,405
7Scott County, MN8621138.4$1.3M+5.1%#52 of 2,405
8Washington County, MN8441539.3$1.3M+6.9%#69 of 2,405
9Dakota County, MN8268939.5$1.2M+3.9%#92 of 2,405
10Chisago County, MN819142.6$1.1M+4.3%#115 of 2,405
Rock County, MNNot scored1639.7$970K−1.7%

Other business types in Rock County

None has a Groundwork market score here. Counties under 10,000 people aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.

Questions

How many sit-down restaurants are in Rock County, MN?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 16 sit-down restaurants in Rock County. 6 of them (38%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 6 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023.

How much do households in Rock County, MN spend on food away from home?

About $15.5M a year, or $3,847 per household. That is 5% below the U.S. average (an index of 95, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 16 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $970K 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 4,035 households in Rock County and national spending patterns by income.

How does Rock County, MN compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

Rock County has 39.7 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 35% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $970K, 46% above the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Rock County would have about 23, against 16 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 673 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

How fast is Rock County, MN growing?

Population estimates put Rock County at 9,524 people in 2025, down 1.7% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 4,035 households. Median household income in Rock County is $71,295, 12% 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 Rock 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 Rock County

Screening a site or an acquisition in Rock 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 Rock 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.