Groundwork

Food and drink · County · Texas

Sit-down restaurants in Wheeler County, TX

How Wheeler County, TX 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
17
2 chain locations (12%)
Official establishments
8
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$6.5M
On food away from home · $3,370 a household
Spending per listing
$382K
42% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
88.2
44% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
4,773
−4.1% since 2020

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

As of September 2026, map listings count 17 sit-down restaurants in Wheeler County. 2 of them (12%) are chain locations, against 29% across the U.S. That comes to 88.2 for every 10,000 households, 44% above the U.S. rate of 61.3.

At $3,370 per household (17% below the U.S. average), households in Wheeler County spend about $6.5M a year on food away from home. That works out to $382K per restaurant, 42% 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.

Official counts show 8 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in Wheeler County in 2023. That is one for every 241 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of Wheeler County declined 4.1%, 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 Wheeler County compares

The same measures for Texas 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 Wheeler County, TX compared with Texas and the U.S.
MeasureWheeler CountyTexasU.S.
Listings per 10k households88.269.061.3
Spending per listing$382K$575K$664K
Households per official establishment241528500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+9.9%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025−4.1%+8.5%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,370$3,970$4,070
Median household income$60,167$78,476$80,734
Groundwork market scoreNot scored46

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
10 → 8
Employees, 2023
88
Annual payroll, 2023
$1M
One-person businesses, 2023
0Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
172 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 Wheeler 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 Wheeler County

Population, 2025 estimate
4,773−4.1% since 2020
Households
1,928
Median age
44.0
Homes lived in by their owners
76%
Vehicles per household
2.2
Land area
915 sq. mi.
People per square mile
5
Median household income
$60,167
Average household income
$77,457
Median home value
$106,100
Jobs located here
2,034
Daytime population
5,146Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

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

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Sit-down restaurants across Texas

Every Texas market ranked →

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

Top counties in Texas

Counties in Texas ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Guadalupe County, TX8826340.2$1M+15.8%#44 of 2,405
2Wilson County, TX867943.4$975K+12.2%#58 of 2,405
3San Jacinto County, TX832623.9$1.4M+7.1%#82 of 2,405
4Johnson County, TX8330045.8$878K+20.5%#89 of 2,405
5Parker County, TX8227448.5$938K+23.5%#98 of 2,405
6Clay County, TX811637.3$1M+5.0%#116 of 2,405
7Randall County, TX8122740.0$993K+7.9%#118 of 2,405
8Wise County, TX8012850.9$828K+21.5%#132 of 2,405
9Kaufman County, TX7926652.2$788K+42.2%#154 of 2,405
10Hardin County, TX789241.4$926K+4.2%#175 of 2,405
Wheeler County, TXNot scored1788.2$382K−4.1%

Other business types in Wheeler 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 Wheeler County, TX?

Wheeler County has 17 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. 2 of them (12%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 8 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023.

How much do households in Wheeler County, TX spend on food away from home?

About $6.5M a year, or $3,370 per household. That is 17% below the U.S. average (an index of 83, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 17 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $382K per restaurant. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,928 households in Wheeler County and national spending patterns by income.

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

Wheeler County has 88.2 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 44% above the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $382K, 42% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the national ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Wheeler County would have about 10, against 17 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 241 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S.

How fast is Wheeler County, TX growing?

Population estimates put Wheeler County at 4,773 people in 2025, down 4.1% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,928 households. The median household income in Wheeler County is $60,167 a year, 25% 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 Wheeler 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 Wheeler County

Screening a site or an acquisition in Wheeler 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 Wheeler 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.