Groundwork

Food and drink · County · Montana

Sit-down restaurants in Stillwater County, MT

How Stillwater County, MT 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
14
3 chain locations (21%)
Official establishments
10
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$15.7M
On food away from home · $4,131 a household
Spending per listing
$1.1M
69% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
36.7
40% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
9,445
+5.0% since 2020

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

Map listings as of September 2026 show 14 sit-down restaurants in Stillwater County. Chain locations make up 21% of them, against 29% across the U.S. That is 36.7 per 10,000 households, 40% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.

At $4,131 per household (in line with the U.S. average), households in Stillwater County spend about $15.7M a year on food away from home. That is about $1.1M of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 69% above 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.

In 2023, official counts showed 10 businesses with payroll in Stillwater County classed as full-service restaurants. That is one for every 381 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $871K has gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in Stillwater County.

Population estimates put the population change in Stillwater County from 2020 to 2025 at +5.0%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). Counties under 10,000 people aren’t given a market score, since a few businesses can swing their figures.

How Stillwater County compares

The same measures for Montana 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 Stillwater County, MT compared with Montana and the U.S.
MeasureStillwater CountyMontanaU.S.
Listings per 10k households36.752.461.3
Spending per listing$1.1M$716K$664K
Households per official establishment381433500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−1.0%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025+5.0%+5.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$4,131$3,748$4,070
Median household income$84,732$72,509$80,734
Groundwork market scoreNot scored43

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
8 → 10
Employees, 2023
89
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.6M
One-person businesses, 2023
0Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
143 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
24The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$871K

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

Population, 2025 estimate
9,445+5.0% since 2020
Households
3,810
Median age
46.7
Homes lived in by their owners
83%
Vehicles per household
2.4
Land area
1,797 sq. mi.
People per square mile
5
Median household income
$84,732
Average household income
$116,762
Median home value
$405,800
Jobs located here
3,617
Daytime population
8,838Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in Stillwater 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 Stillwater 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 Montana

Every Montana market ranked →

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

Top counties in Montana

Counties in Montana ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Jefferson County, MT761938.0$1.1M+9.8%#220 of 2,405
2Ravalli County, MT657339.1$930K+9.4%#522 of 2,405
3Yellowstone County, MT6530243.2$900K+4.5%#526 of 2,405
4Missoula County, MT6324546.5$824K+4.4%#622 of 2,405
5Lewis and Clark County, MT6214245.5$863K+5.8%#662 of 2,405
6Big Horn County, MT571231.4$999K−2.5%#841 of 2,405
7Cascade County, MT4917649.4$722K+0.7%#1,227 of 2,405
8Flathead County, MT4725958.6$649K+10.1%#1,330 of 2,405
9Gallatin County, MT4637272.6$601K+7.7%#1,386 of 2,405
10Fergus County, MT442241.5$798K+3.1%#1,444 of 2,405
Stillwater County, MTNot scored1436.7$1.1M+5.0%

Other business types in Stillwater 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 Stillwater County, MT?

There are 14 sit-down restaurants on map listings in Stillwater County as of September 2026. 3 of them (21%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 10 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023.

How much do households in Stillwater County, MT spend on food away from home?

About $15.7M a year, or $4,131 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 101, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 14 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $1.1M per restaurant. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants. It is estimated from the incomes of the 3,810 households in Stillwater County and national spending patterns by income.

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

Stillwater County has 36.7 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 40% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $1.1M, 69% above the U.S. figure of $664K. At the national ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Stillwater County would have about 24, against 14 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 381 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

How fast is Stillwater County, MT growing?

Population estimates put Stillwater County at 9,445 people in 2025, up 5.0% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 3,810 households. The median household income in Stillwater County is $84,732 a year, 5% above 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 Stillwater 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 Stillwater County

Screening a site or an acquisition in Stillwater 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 Stillwater 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.