BizGapMap

Home / Pharmacies & drug stores / California / Orange County, CA

Orange County, CA — Pharmacies Saturation

How many pharmacies 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. 135 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Pharmacies · Drug stores · Community & compounding pharmacies. Counted together because official statistics use one 446110 code.

Measured density: Above average — 1.06× the U.S. rate (between 1.06× and 1.21× 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. 77 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 30 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   Orange County pharmacies — 106–121% of the U.S. rate

435 pharmacies are counted in Orange County — 1.1 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 106% of the U.S. rate of 1.0.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 6% between 2015 and 2023 (390 → 415). 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 92844 (Garden Grove), 92843 (Garden Grove), 92683 (Westminster) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 92626 (Costa Mesa), 92806 (Anaheim), 92867 (Orange).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 466 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Orange County sits at 106% of the U.S. rate for pharmacies. 30 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 106% and 121% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 92844 and 92843; the lowest measured density is in 92626 and 92806.

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

Pharmacies
435–589
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (77 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
1.1
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
1.0
per 10,000 present
County index
1.06×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
466
2023 — $320M annual payroll
Residents
3,175,270
88 ZIPs with data
Workers
1,572,620
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
3,170,435
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
−0.5%
−15,826 people
Net migration 2024
+7,389
international +29,759, domestic −22,370
Jobs located here
1,697,322
LODES 2022, +0.7% since 2019

Orange County had an estimated 3,170,435 residents on July 1, 2024 — 0.5% fewer than in 2020 (−15,826). In the latest year it gained 15,872 people: births minus deaths +8,437, international migration +29,759, domestic migration −22,370. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

1,697,322 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+0.7% since 2019), and 1,480,984 employed residents lived there (−1.0% 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
92617 Irvine
+39.7%
92618 Irvine
+35.0%
92782 Tustin
+30.3%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
92610 Foothill Ranch
−21.4%
92701 Santa Ana
−13.1%
92691 Mission Viejo
−9.8%

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 (no paid employees)

Nonemployer businesses
221
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$26.7M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$121K
gross, not profit

Census Nonemployer Statistics counts businesses with no paid employees — a separate universe from the employer establishments counted above; a business is in one or the other, never both. They are not storefronts by definition: many are home-based, mobile, or part-time.

We show them beside the density index, not inside it. In categories such as nail and beauty salons, child care, and pet care, one-person businesses can outnumber employer establishments, so the employer-only count understates how many businesses exist. That is not evidence of higher demand.

Receipts are gross revenue reported for these businesses — not profit, and not the size of the local market. Census publishes this only at county level, so it is not shown on the ZIP map. See methodology.

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 pharmacies 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 6% since 2015

Number of pharmacies in Orange 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.

390
2015
418
2018
426
2020
422
2021
415
2022
415
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
92844 Garden Grove
415%
92843 Garden Grove
405%
92683 Westminster
353%
92708 Fountain Valley
315%
90621 Buena Park
233%
92604 Irvine
225%
92845 Garden Grove
220%
92653 Laguna Hills
219%
92648 Huntington Beach
212%
92691 Mission Viejo
187%
90720 Los Alamitos
185%
92663 Newport Beach
170%
92705 Santa Ana
168%
90623 La Palma
155%
92868 Orange
151%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
92626 Costa Mesa
36%
92806 Anaheim
45%
92867 Orange
53%
92805 Anaheim
55%
92688 Rancho Santa Margarita
56%
92821 Brea
57%
92620 Irvine
59%
90630 Cypress
64%
92707 Santa Ana
68%
92886 Yorba Linda
72%
92694 Ladera Ranch
76%
92692 Mission Viejo
77%
92627 Costa Mesa
83%
92831 Fullerton
85%
92630 Lake Forest
85%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few pharmacies 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.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersPharmaciesIndex
92614Irvine Employment hub 29,23971,739 3 45%

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

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

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersPharmacies Per 10kIndexStatus
92844Garden Grove 23,1885,028 11 4.3 415% Very high density
92843Garden Grove 46,41412,390 22 4.2 405% Very high density
92683Westminster 89,83318,171 36 3.6 353% Very high density
92708Fountain Valley 56,25828,817 23 3.3 315% Very high density
90621Buena Park 35,98411,275 10 2.4 233% High density
92604Irvine 26,4917,418 7 2.3 225% High density
92845Garden Grove 16,1432,981 4 2.3 220% High density
92653Laguna Hills 29,62420,458 9 2.3 219% High density
92648Huntington Beach 45,82717,805 12 2.2 212% High density
92691Mission Viejo 45,84122,393 11 1.9 187% High density
90720Los Alamitos 23,80515,195 6 1.9 185% High density
92663Newport Beach 21,36814,263 5 1.8 170% High density
92705Santa Ana 48,78152,604 13 1.7 168% High density
90623La Palma 15,5456,336 3 1.6 155% High density
92868Orange 26,38050,123 8 1.6 151% High density
92835Fullerton 26,00512,791 5 1.5 149% Above average
92660Newport Beach 34,89060,414 10 1.5 149% Above average
90680Stanton 31,9917,219 5 1.4 136% Above average
92675San Juan Capistrano 35,09515,336 6 1.4 136% Above average
92647Huntington Beach 59,04726,672 10 1.4 134% Above average
92780Tustin 54,37436,196 10 1.4 134% Above average
90620Buena Park 46,60823,068 8 1.4 133% Above average
92801Anaheim 60,54726,223 10 1.4 132% Above average
92840Garden Grove 54,5349,589 8 1.3 131% Above average
90740Seal Beach 24,25411,439 4 1.3 129% Above average
92677Laguna Niguel 64,13915,621 9 1.3 121% Above average
92618Irvine 66,126130,760 16 1.2 118% Above average
92807Anaheim 37,29625,692 6 1.2 116% Above average
90631La Habra 68,30915,356 9 1.2 115% Above average
92673San Clemente 29,40611,028 4 1.1 111% Above average
92704Santa Ana 82,12029,907 11 1.1 110% Above average
92701Santa Ana 47,81813,166 6 1.1 107% Above average
92646Huntington Beach 54,6157,213 6 1.0 100% Below average
92869Orange 36,2715,428 4 1.0 99% Below average
92870Placentia 52,82612,959 6 1.0 98% Below average
92802Anaheim 43,13253,713 7 1.0 97% Below average
92629Dana Point 25,5799,121 3 1.0 96% Below average
92706Santa Ana 37,1756,316 4 1.0 96% Below average
92703Santa Ana 62,4475,941 6 0.9 89% Below average
92804Anaheim 83,5378,751 8 0.9 88% Below average
92649Huntington Beach 35,34617,452 4 0.9 88% Below average
92833Fullerton 51,8429,105 5 0.9 86% Below average
92630Lake Forest 67,15224,355 7 0.9 85% Below average
92831Fullerton 35,61819,845 4 0.9 85% Below average
92627Costa Mesa 60,39318,633 6 0.9 83% Below average
92692Mission Viejo 47,0226,539 4 0.8 77% Below average
92694Ladera Ranch 35,7644,795 3 0.8 76% Below average
92886Yorba Linda 49,7048,621 4 0.7 72% Below average
92707Santa Ana 58,69524,470 5 0.7 68% Below average
90630Cypress 49,31821,856 4 0.7 64% Below average
92620Irvine 61,6317,841 4 0.6 59% Below average
92821Brea 41,62353,249 4 0.6 57% Below average
92688Rancho Santa Margarita 43,32017,871 3 0.6 56% Below average
92805Anaheim 74,66126,571 5 0.6 55% Below average
92867Orange 44,72619,456 3 0.6 53% Below average
92806Anaheim 41,00347,143 3 0.5 45% Far below average
92614Irvine 29,23971,739 3 0.5 45% Far below average
92626Costa Mesa 50,70861,637 3 0.4 36% Far below average
90622Buena Park —893 0–2 — — Not published
90632La Habra —63 0–2 — — Not published
90633La Habra —88 0–2 — — Not published
90721Los Alamitos —42 0–2 — — Not published
90742Sunset Beach 405403 0–2 — — Not published
90743Surfside 46848 0–2 — — Not published
92602Irvine 28,2619,006 0–2 — — Not published
92603Irvine 18,3872,938 0–2 — — Not published
92605Huntington Beach —47 0–2 — — Not published
92606Irvine 23,99022,200 0–2 — — Not published
92607Laguna Niguel —55 0–2 — — Not published
92609El Toro —56 0–2 — — Not published
92610Foothill Ranch 12,86711,543 0–2 — — Not published
92612Irvine 33,71447,161 0–2 — — Not published
92615Huntington Beach —182 0–2 — — Not published
92616Irvine —64 0–2 — — Not published
92617Irvine 24,0179,220 0–2 — — Not published
92619Irvine —464 0–2 — — Not published
92623Irvine —92 0–2 — — Not published
92624Capistrano Beach 7,2111,069 0–2 — — Not published
92625Corona Del Mar 12,2944,050 0–2 — — Not published
92628Costa Mesa —133 0–2 — — Not published
92637Laguna Woods 17,2892,030 0–2 — — Not published
92651Laguna Beach 23,55710,107 0–2 — — Not published
92652Laguna Beach —154 0–2 — — Not published
92654Laguna Hills —62 0–2 — — Not published
92655Midway City 8,026426 0–2 — — Not published
92656Aliso Viejo 52,22924,852 0–2 — — Not published
92657Newport Coast 9,9203,420 0–2 — — Not published
92658Newport Beach —97 0–2 — — Not published
92659Newport Beach —13 0–2 — — Not published
92661Newport Beach 3,079968 0–2 — — Not published
92662Newport Beach 2,294676 0–2 — — Not published
92672San Clemente 36,93912,008 0–2 — — Not published
92674San Clemente —79 0–2 — — Not published
92676Silverado 2,085168 0–2 — — Not published
92678Trabuco Canyon 66473 0–2 — — Not published
92679Trabuco Canyon 30,8182,512 0–2 — — Not published
92684Westminster —4 0–2 — — Not published
92685Westminster —19 0–2 — — Not published
92690Mission Viejo —41 0–2 — — Not published
92693San Juan Capistrano —168 0–2 — — Not published
92697Irvine 0236 0–2 — — Not published
92698Aliso Viejo —15 0–2 — — Not published
92702Santa Ana —133 0–2 — — Not published
92711Santa Ana —71 0–2 — — Not published
92728Fountain Valley —119 0–2 — — Not published
92781Tustin —107 0–2 — — Not published
92782Tustin 30,0739,254 0–2 — — Not published
92799Santa Ana —15 0–2 — — Not published
92803Anaheim —654 0–2 — — Not published
92808Anaheim 21,5395,987 0–2 — — Not published
92809Anaheim —13 0–2 — — Not published
92811Atwood —12 0–2 — — Not published
92812Anaheim —35 0–2 — — Not published
92816Anaheim —5 0–2 — — Not published
92817Anaheim —23 0–2 — — Not published
92822Brea —52 0–2 — — Not published
92823Brea 5,8465,290 0–2 — — Not published
92825Anaheim —13 0–2 — — Not published
92832Fullerton 27,29811,170 0–2 — — Not published
92834Fullerton —745 0–2 — — Not published
92836Fullerton —61 0–2 — — Not published
92837Fullerton —134 0–2 — — Not published
92838Fullerton —43 0–2 — — Not published
92841Garden Grove 33,21913,789 0–2 — — Not published
92842Garden Grove —13 0–2 — — Not published
92846Garden Grove —25 0–2 — — Not published
92856Orange —22 0–2 — — Not published
92859Orange —53 0–2 — — Not published
92861Villa Park 5,7481,190 0–2 — — Not published
92863Orange —64 0–2 — — Not published
92865Orange 20,58917,444 0–2 — — Not published
92866Orange 15,3319,454 0–2 — — Not published
92871Placentia —46 0–2 — — Not published
92885Yorba Linda —116 0–2 — — Not published
92887Yorba Linda 19,7257,810 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Irvine

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 Irvine retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Irvine retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Irvine 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 Orange County and pharmacies

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 446110 — pharmacies & drug stores. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 466 establishments and $320M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. 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 (1.03 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.