Groundwork

Food and drink · County · South Dakota

Sit-down restaurants in Day County, SD

Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for sit-down restaurants in Day County, SD, set against other counties and the U.S.

Groundwork market score

Not scored

Counties under 10,000 people aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.

Listings
16
3 chain locations (19%)
Official establishments
6
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$8.9M
On food away from home · $3,740 a household
Spending per listing
$554K
16% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
67.5
10% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
5,484
+0.8% since 2020

See the sit-down restaurants around any address in Day 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 Day County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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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 Day County comes to about $8.9M a year: $3,740 per household, 8% below the U.S. average. That works out to $554K per restaurant, 16% below the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.

Day County has 16 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 19% of them, against 29% across the U.S. That is 67.5 per 10,000 households, 10% above the U.S. rate of 61.3.

Official counts show 6 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in Day County in 2023. That is one for every 395 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

Population estimates show Day County grew 0.8% from 2020 to 2025, slower 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 Day County compares

The same measures for South Dakota 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 Day County, SD compared with South Dakota and the U.S.
MeasureDay CountySouth DakotaU.S.
Listings per 10k households67.552.361.3
Spending per listing$554K$737K$664K
Households per official establishment395542500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−5.5%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.8%+5.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,740$3,849$4,070
Median household income$66,033$75,081$80,734
Groundwork market scoreNot scored62

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
8 → 6
Employees, 2023
57
Annual payroll, 2023
$983K
One-person businesses, 2023
0Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
163 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
13The 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 Day 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 Day County

Population, 2025 estimate
5,484+0.8% since 2020
Households
2,371
Median age
48.2
Homes lived in by their owners
75%
Vehicles per household
2.3
Land area
1,029 sq. mi.
People per square mile
5
Median household income
$66,033
Average household income
$91,552
Median home value
$173,600
Jobs located here
1,813
Daytime population
4,795Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in Day 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 Day County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Sit-down restaurants across South Dakota

Every South Dakota market ranked →

The highest-scoring counties in South Dakota for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in South Dakota, with Day County marked.

Top counties in South Dakota

Counties in South Dakota ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Lincoln County, SD977727.6$1.6M+17.5%#1 of 2,405
2Union County, SD803446.5$927K+3.3%#129 of 2,405
3Meade County, SD794436.8$1.1M+2.7%#147 of 2,405
4Minnehaha County, SD6445653.8$738K+7.6%#584 of 2,405
5Beadle County, SD623141.1$869K+2.4%#661 of 2,405
6Brown County, SD577445.4$822K−1.7%#858 of 2,405
7Brookings County, SD577755.8$673K+9.6%#877 of 2,405
8Butte County, SD552251.1$752K+5.5%#955 of 2,405
9Pennington County, SD5026256.5$680K+6.6%#1,177 of 2,405
10Lake County, SD462348.8$798K−0.2%#1,348 of 2,405
Day County, SDNot scored1667.5$554K+0.8%

Other business types in Day 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 Day County, SD?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 16 sit-down restaurants in Day County. 3 of them (19%) 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 Day County, SD spend on food away from home?

About $8.9M a year, or $3,740 per household. That is 8% below the U.S. average (an index of 92, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 16 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $554K 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 2,371 households in Day County and national spending patterns by income.

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

Day County has 67.5 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 10% above the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $554K, 16% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Day County would have about 13, against 16 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 395 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

How fast is Day County, SD growing?

Population estimates put Day County at 5,484 people in 2025, up 0.8% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 2,371 households. Median household income in Day County is $66,033, 18% 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 Day 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 Day County

Screening a site or an acquisition in Day 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 Day 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.