Groundwork

Food and drink · Small-town market · Missouri

Sit-down restaurants in the Lebanon, MO area

How the Lebanon, MO area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for sit-down restaurants: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 42 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #355 of 538 scored small-town markets
#10 of 17 scored small-town markets based in Missouri

Listings
87
41 chain locations (47%)
Official establishments
22
−18.5% since 2019
Household spending a year
$46M
On food away from home · $3,158 a household
Spending per listing
$528K
20% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
59.8
2% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
36,943
+2.5% since 2020

See the sit-down restaurants around any address in the Lebanon 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 Lebanon 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

Household spending on food away from home in the Lebanon area comes to about $46M a year: $3,158 per household, 22% below the U.S. average. That works out to $528K per restaurant, 20% below the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.

The Lebanon area has 87 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. 41 of them (47%) are chain locations, against 29% across the U.S. That comes to 59.8 for every 10,000 households, 2% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.

Official counts show 22 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in the Lebanon area in 2023, down 18.5% from 2019. That is one for every 662 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $150K have gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Lebanon area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Lebanon area grew 2.5%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). For sit-down restaurants, the Lebanon area has a Groundwork market score of 42 (lower middle): #355 of 538 scored small-town markets and #10 of 17 scored small-town markets based in Missouri.

How the Lebanon area compares

The same measures for Missouri 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 Lebanon, MO area compared with Missouri and the U.S.
MeasureLebanon areaMissouriU.S.
Listings per 10k households59.853.761.3
Spending per listing$528K$708K$664K
Households per official establishment662555500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−18.5%−2.3%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.5%+1.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,158$3,799$4,070
Median household income$53,282$70,702$80,734
Groundwork market score4245

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
22−18.5% over the period
Employees, 2023
363
Annual payroll, 2023
$7.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
0Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
8741 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
69The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
2
Amount
$150K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Lebanon 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 Lebanon area

Population, 2025 estimate
36,943+2.5% since 2020
Households
14,558
Median age
40.3
Homes lived in by their owners
68%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
765 sq. mi.
People per square mile
48
Median household income
$53,282+12.8% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$72,159
Median home value
$168,400
Jobs located here
14,884
Daytime population
36,882Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Lebanon area?

These figures cover the whole small-town market. 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 Lebanon 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 Missouri

Every Missouri market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Missouri for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in Missouri (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Lebanon area marked.

Top small-town markets in Missouri

Small-town markets in Missouri ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Warrensburg, MO779143.2$826K+4.9%#33 of 538
2Mexico, MO663436.9$898K−1.0%#100 of 538
3Sedalia, MO667845.9$734K+2.9%#106 of 538
4Farmington, MO5311646.7$711K+2.1%#235 of 538
5Hannibal, MO516844.5$769K+0.4%#253 of 538
6Rolla, MO518951.4$656K+1.6%#259 of 538
Quincy, IL-MO4814847.6$746K−2.0%#282 of 538
7Maryville, MO454047.3$705K−4.0%#321 of 538
8Moberly, MO424245.4$711K+0.2%#343 of 538
9Kirksville, MO425855.6$608K+1.9%#351 of 538
10Lebanon, MO428759.8$528K+2.5%#355 of 538

Other business types in the Lebanon area

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

Questions

How many sit-down restaurants are in the Lebanon, MO area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 87 sit-down restaurants in the Lebanon area. 41 of them (47%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 22 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, down 18.5% from 2019.

How much do households in the Lebanon, MO area spend on food away from home?

About $46M a year, or $3,158 per household. That is 22% below the U.S. average (an index of 78, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 87 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $528K 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 14,558 households in the Lebanon area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Lebanon, MO area compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

The Lebanon area has 59.8 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 2% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $528K, 20% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, the Lebanon area would have about 69, against 87 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 662 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count fell 18.5% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.

How fast is the Lebanon, MO area growing?

Population estimates put the Lebanon area at 36,943 people in 2025, up 2.5% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 14,558 households. Median household income in the Lebanon area is $53,282, 34% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 12.8%, 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. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. 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 Lebanon area scores 42 for sit-down restaurants (lower middle), #355 of 538 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Lebanon 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 Lebanon area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Lebanon 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 Lebanon 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.