Short answer
The US has about 63,000 grocery stores. The Census Bureau counted 62,947 supermarkets and other grocery stores with paid employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns), and USDA's list of SNAP-authorized retailers had 63,640 supermarkets, super stores and grocery stores at the end of 2025. Counting only supermarkets and similar large formats, FMI puts it at 45,575 (2024, NielsenIQ data). Add convenience and other food stores and USDA lists 249,063.
- 62,947 grocery establishments with paid staff in 2023, employing 2,808,118 people.
- USDA's SNAP list had 19,538 supermarkets, 20,604 super stores and 23,498 smaller grocery stores at the end of 2025.
- Grocery stores took 56.2% of food-at-home sales in 2025; warehouse clubs and supercenters took 26.4%.
- More than half of grocery establishments (55.1%) have fewer than 20 employees, and 891 have 250 or more.
- California has the most grocery stores on USDA's list (7,895); New York has the most in Census data (8,320).
On this page
This page is for anyone who needs the number of grocery stores in America, and for companies that sell to them: food and beverage brands, store equipment and refrigeration, point-of-sale and pricing software, cleaning, security and waste services, and distributors. It sets out each count and what it includes, breaks stores down by type, size and state, and shows how to download the full list. For selling into retail generally, see selling to retailers.
How many grocery stores there are in the US
| Source | Count | Date | What it counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 445110 | 62,947 establishments | 2023 | Supermarkets and other grocery stores (not convenience stores) with paid employees |
| USDA SNAP authorized retailers | 63,640 | 31 December 2025 | Our sum of the stores FNS classes as supermarkets, super stores, and large, medium and small grocery stores |
| FMI, from NielsenIQ TDLinx | 45,575 supermarkets | 2024 | Conventional supermarkets, limited assortment, supercenters, warehouse grocery, clubs, natural and gourmet stores and military commissaries |
| Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 452311 | 7,961 establishments | 2023 | Warehouse clubs and supercenters, counted separately from grocery stores |
| USDA SNAP authorized retailers, all types | 249,063 | 31 December 2025 | Every store authorized to accept SNAP, including 117,045 convenience stores |
Commercial estimates run higher (IBISWorld gives 92,663 businesses for 2026) but don't publish what they count.
Why the counts differ
- Census puts supercenters elsewhere. County Business Patterns classifies a store by what it mainly sells, so a supercenter or warehouse club sits in general merchandise (NAICS 452311), not grocery. FMI and USDA's "super store" type include them.
- FMI counts only big formats. Its 45,575 is supermarkets and similar large stores. The average supermarket in 2025 was 42,272 square feet and carried 33,248 items, according to FMI's industry survey.
- USDA counts stores that take SNAP. A store that doesn't accept SNAP isn't on the list, and USDA sorts the rest into its own store types.
- Census counts locations with paid staff. A family-run store with no employees isn't in County Business Patterns. New York's 8,320 grocery establishments include 5,113 with fewer than five employees.
Grocery stores by type
These are active SNAP-authorized retailers on 31 December 2025, by USDA's store type:
| Store type | Stores | Opened (authorized) in 2025 | Authorization ended in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super store | 20,604 | 946 | 840 |
| Supermarket | 19,538 | 1,087 | 860 |
| Large grocery store | 4,001 | 322 | 373 |
| Medium grocery store | 11,508 | 1,105 | 1,408 |
| Small grocery store | 7,989 | 1,236 | 1,648 |
| Combination grocery and other | 58,546 | 2,083 | 5,227 |
| Convenience store | 117,045 | 12,656 | 14,604 |
| Specialty (meat, bakery, seafood, produce) | 5,911 | 518 | 829 |
| Farmers' markets | 3,464 | 383 | 255 |
| Military commissaries | 185 | 0 | 0 |
An ended authorization can mean the store closed, changed owner or left the program, so the last column is churn rather than closures. Even so, the pattern is clear: supermarkets and super stores grew in 2025, while small and medium grocery stores lost more than they gained. In fiscal 2021, the most recent year USDA published the split, super stores and supermarkets were 15% of authorized retailers but took 79.9% of SNAP redemptions.
The big formats also take most of the money. USDA's Economic Research Service reports that grocery stores took 56.2% of food-at-home sales in 2025 (down from 72.2% in 1997), and warehouse clubs and supercenters 26.4% (up from 9.4%). The 20 largest food retailers had 65.2% of food sales in 2022.
Grocery stores by size
These are County Business Patterns counts for 2023, NAICS 445110:
| Employees | Establishments | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 5 | 20,679 | 32.9% |
| 5 to 9 | 6,511 | 10.3% |
| 10 to 19 | 7,509 | 11.9% |
| 20 to 49 | 8,741 | 13.9% |
| 50 to 99 | 9,345 | 14.8% |
| 100 to 249 | 9,271 | 14.7% |
| 250 or more | 891 | 1.4% |
The industry has two halves: 34,699 stores (55.1%) have fewer than 20 employees, while 18,616 (29.6%) have 50 to 249. Together the 62,947 establishments employed 2,808,118 people, about 45 per store on average (our calculation), and paid $83.7 billion in wages in 2023.
Grocery stores by state
| State | USDA grocery stores, 2025 | Supermarkets | Super stores | Large, medium and small grocery | Census grocery establishments, 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7,895 | 2,498 | 2,387 | 3,010 | 8,044 |
| New York | 5,655 | 1,277 | 1,288 | 3,090 | 8,320 |
| Texas | 4,262 | 1,422 | 1,460 | 1,380 | 3,739 |
| Florida | 3,907 | 1,890 | 1,001 | 1,016 | 3,850 |
| Pennsylvania | 2,950 | 906 | 678 | 1,366 | 2,543 |
| Illinois | 2,438 | 621 | 834 | 983 | 2,647 |
| North Carolina | 2,133 | 998 | 576 | 559 | 2,007 |
| New Jersey | 2,074 | 450 | 539 | 1,085 | 2,405 |
| Ohio | 2,044 | 545 | 811 | 688 | 1,893 |
| Georgia | 1,929 | 698 | 634 | 597 | 1,769 |
USDA columns: active SNAP-authorized retailers on 31 December 2025, our tally by state. Census column: County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 445110.
How to get a list of grocery stores
| Source | What it covers | Format and fields |
|---|---|---|
| USDA SNAP Retailer Locator historical data | Every store authorized for SNAP since 2005, current to 31 December 2025 | Free zipped CSV (22.9 MB): record ID, store name, store type, street address, city, state, ZIP, county, latitude, longitude, authorization date and end date. Keep rows with no end date for active stores |
| USDA SNAP Retailer Locator | Current authorized stores | Web map and search |
| Census County Business Patterns | Counts by county, metro area and ZIP code | Free tables; no names |
| Company annual reports (10-K) | Store counts for public chains | Free on SEC EDGAR |
The SNAP file is the best free list of grocery stores in the country. It gives store type and location but not owner, chain or contacts, so group rows by banner name to separate chains from independents. To count the industry in Census data, use NAICS code 445110; for the chains themselves, see our list of the largest grocery companies.
Who buys inside a grocery business
As general guidance, these are the usual decision makers:
| What you sell | At a chain | At an independent store |
|---|---|---|
| Products for the shelves | Category managers and buyers at headquarters | The owner or grocery manager, often through a wholesaler |
| Refrigeration, fixtures and equipment | Store development, construction and facilities teams | The owner |
| Point of sale, pricing and e-commerce software | IT and merchandising leaders | The owner, often through the wholesaler's programs |
| Cleaning, security and waste services | Regional facilities or operations managers | The store manager |
| Local sponsorship and community marketing | The store director, within a marketing budget set centrally | The owner |
At a chain, the store manager rarely signs anything substantial; find the regional or headquarters owner. At an independent store, the owner decides quickly but with little budget, so a short payback matters more than features.
Worked example: refrigeration service in Houston
Illustrative example. The company, its prices and win rates are invented; the store counts come from USDA's SNAP retailer data for 31 December 2025.
The seller: Gulf Cold Service (gulfcold.example) maintains refrigerated cases and walk-in coolers for supermarkets. The territory: Houston, ZIP codes starting 770 and 772 to 775.
- Count the stores. The SNAP file lists 327 supermarkets, 103 large grocery stores and 204 medium grocery stores there, 634 in all, plus 387 super stores, which Gulf Cold leaves out because their chains buy service nationally.
- Remove the national chains. Grouping the 634 by banner name and setting aside the largest chains leaves an illustrative 320 independent and regional stores.
- Do the arithmetic. If an illustrative 20% put service contracts out to bid each year, that's 64 bids. Winning a quarter gives 16 stores; at an illustrative $18,000 a year each, $288,000 in annual contracts.
- Find the buyer. For a regional chain that's the facilities director; for an independent, the owner. Finding them and what's changed (a remodel, a new store, an ownership change) is the slow part; Bebop finds the contacts and researches each store's company in the list.
Next step: profile each target company with the account research template before you call.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 445110, 445120, 447110, 452311), US Census Bureau, 2025
- SNAP Retailer Locator: historical data, 2005 to 2025, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, data as of 31 December 2025
- SNAP Retailer Management Year End Summary, fiscal year 2021, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, 2022
- Food industry facts, FMI, The Food Industry Association, accessed 30 October 2026
- Retailing and wholesaling: retail trends, USDA Economic Research Service, updated 17 August 2026
- Supermarkets and grocery stores in the US: number of businesses, IBISWorld, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many grocery stores are in the US?
About 63,000. The Census Bureau counted 62,947 supermarkets and other grocery stores with paid employees in 2023, and USDA's list of SNAP-authorized retailers had 63,640 supermarkets, super stores and grocery stores at the end of 2025. FMI, counting supermarkets and similar large formats only, puts it at 45,575 for 2024. Including convenience stores, USDA lists 249,063 food retailers.
How many supermarkets are in the US?
45,575 in 2024, according to FMI, the food industry association, from NielsenIQ TDLinx data. That includes conventional supermarkets, limited assortment stores, supercenters, warehouse grocery and club stores, natural and gourmet stores and military commissaries. USDA's SNAP list had 19,538 stores it classes as supermarkets and 20,604 super stores at the end of 2025.
Which state has the most grocery stores?
California, with 7,895 supermarkets, super stores and grocery stores on USDA's SNAP list at the end of 2025, followed by New York (5,655), Texas (4,262) and Florida (3,907). Census data put New York first, with 8,320 grocery establishments in 2023 against California's 8,044, because New York has thousands of small groceries: 5,113 have fewer than five employees.
How many convenience stores are in the US?
USDA's list of SNAP-authorized retailers had 117,045 convenience stores at the end of 2025, plus 58,546 combination grocery and other stores. The Census Bureau counted 36,992 standalone convenience stores with paid employees in 2023 and another 96,002 gas stations with convenience stores, so more convenience stores are counted as gas stations than as convenience stores.
Where can I get a list of grocery stores?
Download USDA's SNAP Retailer Locator historical data, a free zipped CSV of every store authorized to accept SNAP since 2005, current to 31 December 2025. Each row has the store name, store type, address, county, latitude, longitude and authorization dates; keep rows with no end date for active stores. It has no owner or contact names, so add those from the company.
How many people work in grocery stores?
2,808,118 people worked in supermarkets and other grocery stores in 2023, according to the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns, with $83.7 billion in annual payroll. Warehouse clubs and supercenters, counted separately, employed another 1,966,549. That's an average of about 45 employees per grocery establishment.