Market rankings · Wisconsin

Sit-down restaurants in Wisconsin

Every metro area, small-town market and county in Wisconsin, ranked by the Groundwork market score for sit-down restaurants, with competitor counts and household spending for each.

Listings: 12,969; 3,199 chain locations (25%)
Official establishments: 4,988; −1.0% since 2019
Household spending a year: $9.8B; On food away from home
Listings per 10k households: 52.3; 15% below the U.S.
Spending per listing: $757K; 14% above the U.S.
Rank among states: #19 of 51; Market score 54 · Upper middle

A site report maps the sit-down restaurants on map listings around any address in Wisconsin by name and distance, and the spending within reach.

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

Wisconsin has 12,969 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 3,199 are chain locations, or 25%, against 29% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 52.3, 15% below the U.S. rate of 61.3.

At $3,959 per household (3% below the U.S. average), households in Wisconsin spend about $9.8B a year on food away from home. Spread across 12,969 sit-down restaurants, that is $757K per restaurant, 14% above the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.

Official counts show 4,988 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in Wisconsin in 2023, down 1.0% from 2019. That is one for every 497 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Across the U.S., the count rose 1.5% over the same years. Since fiscal 2022, 279 SBA-backed loans worth $147.2M have gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in Wisconsin.

Among the 50 states and DC, Wisconsin ranks #19 for sit-down restaurants, with a Groundwork market score of 54 (upper middle). Of the 15 scored metro areas in or partly in Wisconsin, the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area scores highest (81). Of the 14 scored small-town markets in or partly in Wisconsin, the Beaver Dam area scores highest (72).

Every market in Wisconsin for sit-down restaurants

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Numbered by Groundwork market score among the markets based in Wisconsin, highest first; the U.S. rank compares each market with every other of its kind. A metro area that crosses a state line is listed in each state it reaches, and numbered only in the state its page is under. How the score works.

Metro areas

Metro areas reaching Wisconsin, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	81	6,781	45.9	$1M	+2.6%	#13 of 387
1Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI	69	358	44.5	$889K	+0.4%	#54 of 387
2Madison, WI	69	1,574	52.2	$828K	+4.1%	#56 of 387
3Kenosha, WI	67	333	48.3	$842K	−0.4%	#62 of 387
4Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	65	343	47.2	$811K	+1.4%	#78 of 387
5Appleton, WI	63	504	50.5	$824K	+2.7%	#91 of 387
6Fond du Lac, WI	62	185	42.8	$892K	+0.5%	#98 of 387
7La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN	62	325	45.1	$850K	+0.4%	#99 of 387
8Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	61	3,299	50.3	$805K	0.0%	#106 of 387
9Wausau, WI	60	253	43.7	$893K	+1.0%	#110 of 387
Duluth, MN-WI	57	510	42.4	$890K	+0.2%	#130 of 387
10Eau Claire, WI	54	364	50.7	$758K	+2.6%	#153 of 387
11Janesville-Beloit, WI	54	341	50.7	$747K	+1.7%	#154 of 387
12Green Bay, WI	52	751	55.2	$717K	+2.5%	#170 of 387
13Sheboygan, WI	37	286	57.5	$663K	0.0%	#289 of 387

Small-town markets

Small-town markets reaching Wisconsin, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Beaver Dam, WI	72	150	41.8	$906K	−0.3%	#60 of 538
2Menomonie, WI	67	76	43.6	$873K	+1.7%	#91 of 538
3Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI	67	143	44.3	$810K	−0.2%	#95 of 538
4Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI	66	162	46.5	$858K	+0.3%	#102 of 538
5Platteville, WI	59	94	47.1	$765K	+0.9%	#174 of 538
6Manitowoc, WI	58	162	46.0	$793K	+0.4%	#183 of 538
7Stevens Point-Plover, WI	57	151	50.9	$757K	+2.2%	#196 of 538
8Sparta, WI	55	94	51.4	$713K	+0.6%	#216 of 538
Iron Mountain, MI-WI	47	63	44.7	$778K	+0.4%	#298 of 538
9Shawano, WI	44	99	53.1	$667K	+1.4%	#329 of 538
10Whitewater-Elkhorn, WI	44	288	66.8	$615K	+0.8%	#331 of 538
11Rice Lake, WI	42	104	52.1	$685K	−0.5%	#344 of 538
12Baraboo, WI	37	212	75.7	$517K	+1.3%	#410 of 538
13Marinette, WI-MI	35	158	53.7	$633K	+0.3%	#423 of 538

Counties

Counties in Wisconsin, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Calumet County, WI	79	71	33.2	$1.3M	+2.9%	#139 of 2,405
2Washington County, WI	74	227	39.8	$1.1M	+1.8%	#262 of 2,405
3Waukesha County, WI	72	775	46.0	$1M	+2.4%	#316 of 2,405
4St. Croix County, WI	71	167	44.5	$1M	+4.7%	#340 of 2,405
5Ozaukee County, WI	67	181	47.2	$980K	+3.0%	#454 of 2,405
6Dane County, WI	67	1,298	51.6	$848K	+4.9%	#464 of 2,405
7Pierce County, WI	65	75	47.3	$906K	+3.1%	#524 of 2,405
8Vernon County, WI	64	45	36.2	$1M	+2.4%	#556 of 2,405
9Racine County, WI	63	358	44.5	$889K	+0.4%	#617 of 2,405
10Dodge County, WI	61	150	41.8	$906K	−0.3%	#699 of 2,405
11Kenosha County, WI	61	333	48.3	$842K	−0.4%	#709 of 2,405
12Winnebago County, WI	60	343	47.2	$811K	+1.4%	#745 of 2,405
13Fond du Lac County, WI	59	185	42.8	$892K	+0.5%	#774 of 2,405
14Marathon County, WI	58	253	43.7	$893K	+1.0%	#804 of 2,405
15Jefferson County, WI	58	162	46.5	$858K	+0.3%	#808 of 2,405
16Brown County, WI	58	588	53.0	$751K	+2.6%	#827 of 2,405
17Dunn County, WI	57	76	43.6	$873K	+1.7%	#852 of 2,405
18Wood County, WI	56	143	44.3	$810K	−0.2%	#899 of 2,405
19Eau Claire County, WI	56	229	51.2	$757K	+3.0%	#910 of 2,405
20Polk County, WI	55	85	43.5	$889K	+1.7%	#935 of 2,405
21Green County, WI	55	85	53.9	$739K	+0.5%	#957 of 2,405
22Trempealeau County, WI	54	63	50.3	$759K	+1.1%	#990 of 2,405
23Outagamie County, WI	54	433	55.2	$751K	+2.6%	#993 of 2,405
24Rock County, WI	54	341	50.7	$747K	+1.7%	#996 of 2,405
25Lafayette County, WI	54	38	56.2	$672K	+5.2%	#1,009 of 2,405

Show all 72 counties

Counties in Wisconsin, ranked for sit-down restaurants by Groundwork market score, continued
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
26Iowa County, WI	52	49	48.4	$833K	+1.0%	#1,074 of 2,405
27Chippewa County, WI	52	135	49.7	$762K	+1.9%	#1,087 of 2,405
28La Crosse County, WI	52	260	50.5	$760K	+0.3%	#1,088 of 2,405
29Taylor County, WI	51	35	43.5	$830K	+0.9%	#1,123 of 2,405
30Grant County, WI	50	94	47.1	$765K	+0.9%	#1,160 of 2,405
31Manitowoc County, WI	49	162	46.0	$793K	+0.4%	#1,206 of 2,405
32Portage County, WI	49	151	50.9	$757K	+2.2%	#1,214 of 2,405
33Monroe County, WI	46	94	51.4	$713K	+0.6%	#1,360 of 2,405
34Richland County, WI	45	33	45.5	$776K	−1.4%	#1,402 of 2,405
35Waushara County, WI	45	51	48.2	$741K	+2.8%	#1,409 of 2,405
36Oconto County, WI	44	104	61.9	$620K	+2.9%	#1,473 of 2,405
37Sheboygan County, WI	42	286	57.5	$663K	0.0%	#1,541 of 2,405
38Lincoln County, WI	41	61	47.8	$763K	−0.1%	#1,575 of 2,405
39Marquette County, WI	41	42	60.1	$578K	+2.1%	#1,600 of 2,405
40Milwaukee County, WI	40	2,116	53.9	$674K	−1.5%	#1,630 of 2,405
41Waupaca County, WI	40	124	54.9	$673K	−0.6%	#1,632 of 2,405
42Douglas County, WI	39	100	52.2	$722K	−0.8%	#1,669 of 2,405
43Columbia County, WI	39	142	58.8	$696K	−0.7%	#1,672 of 2,405
44Rusk County, WI	37	29	45.6	$733K	−0.2%	#1,750 of 2,405
45Walworth County, WI	37	288	66.8	$615K	+0.8%	#1,770 of 2,405
46Barron County, WI	35	104	52.1	$685K	−0.5%	#1,824 of 2,405
47Clark County, WI	35	75	58.4	$622K	+1.2%	#1,834 of 2,405
48Washburn County, WI	35	44	58.2	$614K	+2.8%	#1,837 of 2,405
49Shawano County, WI	34	96	55.7	$637K	+1.7%	#1,875 of 2,405
50Green Lake County, WI	32	51	61.6	$597K	+1.5%	#1,962 of 2,405
51Juneau County, WI	32	65	59.3	$586K	−0.5%	#1,965 of 2,405
52Kewaunee County, WI	32	59	70.6	$559K	+1.0%	#1,974 of 2,405
53Adams County, WI	32	58	60.9	$554K	+5.2%	#1,976 of 2,405
54Sauk County, WI	31	212	75.7	$517K	+1.3%	#2,014 of 2,405
55Jackson County, WI	29	55	66.5	$532K	−0.5%	#2,085 of 2,405
56Marinette County, WI	28	115	60.4	$573K	+1.6%	#2,110 of 2,405
57Burnett County, WI	28	54	75.1	$470K	+3.9%	#2,130 of 2,405
58Bayfield County, WI	28	59	79.3	$465K	+3.4%	#2,132 of 2,405
59Door County, WI	26	182	121.4	$321K	+1.6%	#2,187 of 2,405
60Oneida County, WI	24	139	79.5	$463K	+0.7%	#2,232 of 2,405
61Sawyer County, WI	24	79	89.7	$385K	+4.0%	#2,237 of 2,405
62Vilas County, WI	24	114	102.3	$352K	+2.9%	#2,239 of 2,405
63Price County, WI	22	38	58.1	$572K	−0.3%	#2,267 of 2,405
64Ashland County, WI	22	46	67.3	$507K	+1.1%	#2,272 of 2,405
65Buffalo County, WI	22	44	76.9	$471K	−0.1%	#2,275 of 2,405
66Crawford County, WI	21	46	68.6	$502K	−1.1%	#2,290 of 2,405
67Langlade County, WI	19	57	64.2	$518K	+0.4%	#2,324 of 2,405
Forest County, WI	Not scored	44	109.8	$308K	+4.4%
Pepin County, WI	Not scored	24	78.8	$479K	+2.2%
Iron County, WI	Not scored	34	109.4	$307K	−0.3%
Florence County, WI	Not scored	12	54.6	$631K	+4.0%
Menominee County, WI	Not scored	3	21.4	$1.6M	−1.4%

Markets with fewer than 5 sit-down restaurants on map listings, and counties under 10,000 people, aren’t scored; they’re listed last in each table.

Questions

How many sit-down restaurants are in Wisconsin?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 12,969 sit-down restaurants in Wisconsin. 3,199 of them (25%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 4,988 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, down 1.0% from 2019. Another 641 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in Wisconsin spend on food away from home?

About $9.8B a year, or $3,959 per household. That is 3% below the U.S. average (an index of 97, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 12,969 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $757K 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 2,479,480 households in Wisconsin and national spending patterns by income.

How does Wisconsin compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?

Wisconsin has 52.3 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 15% below the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $757K, 14% above the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, Wisconsin would have about 14,792, against 12,969 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 497 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count fell 1.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.

Which market in Wisconsin has the highest market score for sit-down restaurants?

Among 15 scored metro areas in or partly in Wisconsin, the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area scores highest, at 81 (high). Among 14 scored small-town markets in or partly in Wisconsin, the Beaver Dam area scores highest, at 72 (upper middle). Among 67 scored counties in Wisconsin, Calumet County scores highest, at 79 (high). Scores compare each market with others of its kind across the U.S.

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. Wisconsin scores 54 for sit-down restaurants (upper middle), #19 of the 50 states and DC.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Wisconsin. 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.

Restaurants and cafes26,345 listings
Fast food and sandwich shops2,887 listings
Pizza1,713 listings
Coffee shops and cafes2,411 listings
Bakeries and dessert shops1,895 listings

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