BizGapMap

Home / Automotive repair & maintenance / Indiana / Allen County, IN

Allen County, IN — Auto repair Saturation

How many auto repair exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 33 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Auto repair & maintenance shops · Body, paint & interior repair. Counted together because official statistics use one 811121 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.67× the U.S. rate (between 0.67× and 1.68× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 26 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 21 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Allen County auto repair — 67–168% of the U.S. rate

28 auto repair are counted in Allen County — 0.6 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 67% of the U.S. rate of 0.9.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has fallen 19% between 2015 and 2023 (26 → 21). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 46809 (Fort Wayne), 46803 (Fort Wayne), 46808 (Fort Wayne) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 46835 (Fort Wayne), 46825 (Fort Wayne), 46806 (Fort Wayne).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 44 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Allen County sits at 67% of the U.S. rate for auto repair. 21 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 67% and 168% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 46809 and 46803; the lowest measured density is in 46835 and 46825.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing auto repair and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Auto repair
28–80
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (26 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
0.6
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
0.9
per 10,000 present
County index
0.67×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
44
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
388,924
28 ZIPs with data
Workers
183,279
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
399,295
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+3.4%
+13,172 people
Net migration 2024
+2,412
international +1,811, domestic +601
Jobs located here
200,246
LODES 2022, +3.2% since 2019

Allen County had an estimated 399,295 residents on July 1, 2024 — 3.4% more than in 2020 (+13,172). In the latest year it gained 4,164 people: births minus deaths +1,738, international migration +1,811, domestic migration +601. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

200,246 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+3.2% since 2019), and 182,996 employed residents lived there (+1.6% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
46748 Huntertown
+37.5%
46814 Fort Wayne
+32.6%
46845 Fort Wayne
+28.3%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant decrease.

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes only a broader group that also includes auto glass shops, so an auto-repair-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more auto repair in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — down 19% since 2015

Number of auto repair in Allen County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

26
2015
24
2018
27
2020
24
2021
21
2022
21
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
46809 Fort Wayne
307%
46803 Fort Wayne
231%
46808 Fort Wayne
198%
46804 Fort Wayne
131%
46806 Fort Wayne
125%
46825 Fort Wayne
115%
46835 Fort Wayne
111%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
46835 Fort Wayne
111%
46825 Fort Wayne
115%
46806 Fort Wayne
125%
46804 Fort Wayne
131%
46808 Fort Wayne
198%
46803 Fort Wayne
231%
46809 Fort Wayne
307%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few auto repair may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = auto repair per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersAuto repair Per 10kIndexStatus
46809Fort Wayne 8,58912,983 4 2.7 307% Very high density
46803Fort Wayne 10,9948,048 3 2.0 231% High density
46808Fort Wayne 19,68419,029 5 1.7 198% High density
46804Fort Wayne 29,66129,001 5 1.1 131% Above average
46806Fort Wayne 26,4252,585 3 1.1 125% Above average
46825Fort Wayne 29,29621,720 4 1.0 115% Above average
46835Fort Wayne 38,1666,654 4 1.0 111% Above average
46704Arcola 7092 0–2 — — Not published
46741Grabill 4,7131,874 0–2 — — Not published
46743Harlan 2,347394 0–2 — — Not published
46745Hoagland 1,793215 0–2 — — Not published
46748Huntertown 6,902794 0–2 — — Not published
46765Leo 5,786766 0–2 — — Not published
46773Monroeville 3,474612 0–2 — — Not published
46774New Haven 17,8584,635 0–2 — — Not published
46788Spencerville 4,373314 0–2 — — Not published
46797Woodburn 4,0972,758 0–2 — — Not published
46798Yoder 954216 0–2 — — Not published
46799Zanesville 37550 0–2 — — Not published
46801Fort Wayne —1,507 0–2 — — Not published
46802Fort Wayne 11,17716,069 0–2 — — Not published
46805Fort Wayne 21,43715,456 0–2 — — Not published
46807Fort Wayne 16,3171,917 0–2 — — Not published
46814Fort Wayne 16,7782,083 0–2 — — Not published
46815Fort Wayne 27,2385,789 0–2 — — Not published
46816Fort Wayne 19,5142,090 0–2 — — Not published
46818Fort Wayne 21,95415,916 0–2 — — Not published
46819Fort Wayne 9,3691,078 0–2 — — Not published
46845Fort Wayne 29,58310,141 0–2 — — Not published
46885Fort Wayne —75 0–2 — — Not published
46895Fort Wayne —297 0–2 — — Not published
46898Fort Wayne —35 0–2 — — Not published
46899Fort Wayne —53 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Fort Wayne

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Fort Wayne retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Fort Wayne retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Fort Wayne retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Allen County and auto repair

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 811121 — automotive body, paint & interior repair. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. BLS QCEW (quarterly) is newer than ZBP — 2026 Q1 shows 44 establishments county-wide for this industry. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (0.87 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.