Groundwork

Food and drink · Small-town market · West Virginia

Sit-down restaurants in the Bluefield, WV-VA area

How the Bluefield, WV-VA 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 36 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #414 of 538 scored small-town markets
#3 of 4 scored small-town markets based in West Virginia

Listings
181
85 chain locations (47%)
Official establishments
67
+13.6% since 2019
Household spending a year
$125.1M
On food away from home · $3,087 a household
Spending per listing
$691K
4% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
44.7
27% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
96,138
−3.8% since 2020

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

The Bluefield area scores 36 (lower middle) on the Groundwork market score for sit-down restaurants, ranking #414 of 538 scored small-town markets and #3 of 4 scored small-town markets based in West Virginia. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.

Map listings as of September 2026 show 181 sit-down restaurants in the Bluefield area. Chain locations make up 47% of them, against 29% across the U.S. That is 44.7 per 10,000 households, 27% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.

Household spending on food away from home in the Bluefield area comes to about $125.1M a year: $3,087 per household, 24% below the U.S. average. That is about $691K of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 4% 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.

Official counts show 67 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in the Bluefield area in 2023, up 13.6% from 2019. That is one for every 605 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Bluefield area declined 3.8%, against +3.1% for the U.S.

How the Bluefield area compares

The same measures for West Virginia 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 Bluefield, WV-VA area compared with West Virginia and the U.S.
MeasureBluefield areaWest VirginiaU.S.
Listings per 10k households44.745.861.3
Spending per listing$691K$730K$664K
Households per official establishment605590500
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+13.6%+5.0%+1.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025−3.8%−1.4%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$3,087$3,343$4,070
Median household income$50,550$59,608$80,734
Groundwork market score3641

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
67+13.6% over the period
Employees, 2023
1,231
Annual payroll, 2023
$24.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
12Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
18185 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
189The 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 the Bluefield 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 Bluefield area

Population, 2025 estimate
96,138−3.8% since 2020
Households
40,514
Median age
44.1
Homes lived in by their owners
73%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
938 sq. mi.
People per square mile
105
Median household income
$50,550
Average household income
$70,787
Median home value
$120,000
Jobs located here
33,948
Daytime population
95,290Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Bluefield 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 Bluefield 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 West Virginia

Every West Virginia market ranked →

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

Top small-town markets in West Virginia

Small-town markets in West Virginia ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Fairmont, WV539842.0$824K−1.2%#230 of 538
2Clarksburg, WV4815543.6$782K−2.4%#281 of 538
Cumberland, MD-WV4817144.4$743K−1.3%#283 of 538
3Bluefield, WV-VA3618144.7$691K−3.8%#414 of 538
4Elkins, WV225652.4$607K−3.6%#513 of 538

Other business types in the Bluefield area

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

Funeral services

Questions

How many sit-down restaurants are in the Bluefield, WV-VA area?

There are 181 sit-down restaurants on map listings in the Bluefield area as of September 2026. 85 of them (47%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 67 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, up 13.6% from 2019. Official counts also show 12 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Bluefield, WV-VA area spend on food away from home?

About $125.1M a year, or $3,087 per household. That is 24% below the U.S. average (an index of 76, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 181 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $691K per restaurant. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants. It is estimated from the incomes of the 40,514 households in the Bluefield area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Bluefield, WV-VA area compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

The Bluefield area has 44.7 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 27% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $691K, 4% above the U.S. figure of $664K. At the national ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, the Bluefield area would have about 189, against 181 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 605 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count rose 13.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.

How fast is the Bluefield, WV-VA area growing?

Population estimates put the Bluefield area at 96,138 people in 2025, down 3.8% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 40,514 households. The median household income in the Bluefield area is $50,550 a year, 37% 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. 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 Bluefield area scores 36 for sit-down restaurants (lower middle), #414 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 Bluefield 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 Bluefield area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Bluefield 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 Bluefield area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Run a site report See plans
Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Screening many markets at once? Talk to us

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.