Industry · NAICS 4452

Specialty food stores

The United States has 23,926 employer establishments in specialty food stores (0.7 per 10,000 residents), employing 166,164 people at an average annual pay of $27,293, plus 112,629 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments: 23,926; 112,629 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 0.7
Paid employees: 166,164
Average annual pay: $27,293

Places ranked by residents per establishment

Places ranked by residents per establishment: more residents for each business, fewer competitors per resident. A count, not a measure of demand: retirement areas, low incomes or tourism change what a business needs.

Places

State

Size

Specialty food stores by residents per establishment
#	Place					vs US
1	Fayetteville, NC	392,345	6	65,391	0.2	0.22×	33	$19,636	—
2	Lynchburg, VA	265,245	5	53,049	0.2	0.27×	36	$8,694	—
3	Clarksville, TN-KY	340,083	7	48,583	0.2	0.29×	68	$8,162	95
4	Macon-Bibb County, GA	236,345	5	47,269	0.2	0.30×	12	$19,500	59
5	College Station-Bryan, TX	283,278	6	47,213	0.2	0.30×	85	$19,071	69
6	Johnson City, TN	213,324	5	42,665	0.2	0.33×	29	$24,345	60
7	Jacksonville, NC	210,955	5	42,191	0.2	0.33×	7	$42,000	62
8	Greeley, CO	360,971	9	40,108	0.2	0.35×	46	$26,348	136
9	Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN	227,275	6	37,879	0.3	0.37×	35	$14,343	36
10	Jackson, TN	182,442	5	36,488	0.3	0.39×	14	$31,643	71
11	Iowa City, IA	180,295	5	36,059	0.3	0.39×	29	$12,621	43
12	Killeen-Temple, TX	502,497	14	35,893	0.3	0.39×	76	$25,303	131
13	Bloomington, IN	165,135	5	33,027	0.3	0.43×	33	$18,788	31
14	Rochester, MN	229,143	7	32,735	0.3	0.43×	19	$22,737	—
15	Athens-Clarke County, GA	222,651	7	31,807	0.3	0.44×	56	$18,500	49
16	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	824,794	26	31,723	0.3	0.44×	151	$30,126	356
17	Bowling Green, KY	189,968	6	31,661	0.3	0.44×	23	$15,696	67
18	Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL	155,253	5	31,051	0.3	0.45×	22	$14,955	36
19	Lexington-Fayette, KY	524,584	17	30,858	0.3	0.46×	166	$21,265	160
20	Dothan, AL	153,672	5	30,734	0.3	0.46×	15	$21,800	46
21	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	2,719,892	89	30,561	0.3	0.46×	1,042	$23,365	820
22	Burlington, NC	179,369	6	29,895	0.3	0.47×	40	$23,250	51
23	Birmingham, AL	1,186,458	40	29,661	0.3	0.47×	368	$17,149	366
24	Sherman-Denison, TX	147,072	5	29,414	0.3	0.48×	66	$12,697	50
25	Ottawa, IL	146,200	5	29,240	0.3	0.48×	26	$24,885	59

1–25 of 359 places

Sources: County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024).

Residents per establishment is the place's population estimate for 2023 divided by its establishments; more residents per business means fewer competitors per resident. Places with fewer than the minimum establishments are left out because a handful of businesses makes the ratio jump around.
Metro areas are made of whole counties and their figures are the exact sums of those counties'. A metro area is listed under its principal state.
This compares counts of businesses with counts of residents. It does not measure demand, spending power, visitors, the size or quality of the businesses, or whether a market is open. Employment and payroll carry the Census Bureau's noise infusion.
County Business Patterns 2023 uses NAICS 2017 codes; the nonemployer figures use NAICS 2022. Industries are matched by name between editions.
Growth needs a second reference year of County Business Patterns in the same industry classification; only 2023 is loaded, so there is no growth column yet.

Federal contracts in this industry

No federal contract obligations under NAICS 4452 in fiscal year 2026.