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Wright County, MN — Fast food Saturation

How many fast food 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. 15 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Fast food · Quick-service restaurants · Takeout & delivery counters · Pizza delivery · Sandwich & burger chains. Counted together because official statistics use one 722513 code.

Measured density: Below average — 0.73× the U.S. rate (between 0.73× and 0.86× 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. 7 ZIP cells in this county are withheld. 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

Below the U.S. rate   Wright County fast food — 73–86% of the U.S. rate

78 fast food are counted in Wright County — 4.9 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 73% of the U.S. rate of 6.7.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 10% between 2015 and 2023 (71 → 78). 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 55313 (Buffalo), 55328 (Delano), 55320 (Clearwater) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 55376 (Saint Michael), 55301 (Albertville), 55373 (Rockford).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 84 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Wright County sits at 73% of the U.S. rate for fast food. 7 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 73% and 86% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 55313 and 55328; the lowest measured density is in 55376 and 55301.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing fast food 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.

Fast food
78–92
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (7 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
4.9
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
6.7
per 10,000 present
County index
0.73×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
84
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
139,143
15 ZIPs with data
Workers
42,307
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
154,593
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+9.0%
+12,718 people
Net migration 2024
+2,331
international +386, domestic +1,945
Jobs located here
46,438
LODES 2022, +2.9% since 2019

Wright County had an estimated 154,593 residents on July 1, 2024 — 9.0% more than in 2020 (+12,718). In the latest year it gained 3,141 people: births minus deaths +822, international migration +386, domestic migration +1,945. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

46,438 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+2.9% since 2019), and 78,504 employed residents lived there (+5.0% 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
55390 Waverly
+41.6%
55363 Montrose
+22.7%
55376 Saint Michael
+15.1%
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.

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 fast food 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 — up 10% since 2015

Number of fast food in Wright 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.

71
2015
73
2018
73
2020
76
2021
78
2022
78
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
55313 Buffalo
114%
55328 Delano
112%
55320 Clearwater
110%
55302 Annandale
106%
55362 Monticello
102%
55373 Rockford
89%
55301 Albertville
68%
55376 Saint Michael
54%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
55376 Saint Michael
54%
55301 Albertville
68%
55373 Rockford
89%
55362 Monticello
102%
55302 Annandale
106%
55320 Clearwater
110%
55328 Delano
112%
55313 Buffalo
114%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few fast food 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 = fast food per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersFast food Per 10kIndexStatus
55313Buffalo 24,9138,123 22 7.6 114% Above average
55328Delano 10,0194,002 9 7.5 112% Above average
55320Clearwater 5,9981,670 5 7.3 110% Above average
55302Annandale 7,3262,256 6 7.1 106% Above average
55362Monticello 20,6638,726 17 6.8 102% Above average
55373Rockford 5,8221,801 4 6.0 89% Below average
55301Albertville 13,4823,939 7 4.5 68% Below average
55376Saint Michael 20,1064,139 8 3.6 54% Below average
55321Cokato 5,6461,955 0–2 — — Not published
55341Hanover 3,561646 0–2 — — Not published
55349Howard Lake 3,5491,214 0–2 — — Not published
55358Maple Lake 5,0612,434 0–2 — — Not published
55363Montrose 5,814860 0–2 — — Not published
55382South Haven 3,691250 0–2 — — Not published
55390Waverly 3,492292 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Monticello

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 Monticello retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Monticello retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Monticello 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 Wright County and fast food

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 722513 — limited-service restaurants. 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 84 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 (6.67 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.