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The most concentrated business ZIP codes in America

Measured per person present — residents plus half of employment — against the U.S. rate for the same industry. Census ZBP 2023, ACS 2024. Only ZIPs with at least 10,000 residents and at least 5 published businesses are ranked; ZIPs that are mainly workplaces are excluded.

17 of the top 20 are family clothing stores. The ranking measures where a category is packed into a small resident base — not where demand is strongest.

What the list actually shows. A single shopping center can hold dozens of apparel stores, and the ZIP around it can have only 10,000–20,000 residents. Divide one by the other and the ZIP looks 10–40 times denser than the U.S. average. That is a real fact about supply, but it describes a destination — an outlet center, a tourist strip, a mall district — not a neighborhood that is short of shops.

This is why the site never turns density into advice. The same arithmetic that ranks 17 apparel clusters at the top would mark a genuinely underserved neighborhood as "low competition", when the reason may be that there is no foot traffic at all.

Top 20 ZIP codes by density

#ZIPPlaceIndustry BusinessesPer 10,000 presentvs. U.S.
170116 New Orleans
Orleans Parish, LA
Bars 5241.1 4071%
202093 Wrentham
Norfolk County, MA
Clothing stores 3925.8 3739%
334222 Ellenton
Manatee County, FL
Clothing stores 2515.0 2174%
479835 Canutillo
El Paso County, TX
Clothing stores 1713.5 1958%
555301 Albertville
Wright County, MN
Clothing stores 1811.6 1685%
692173 San Ysidro
San Diego County, CA
Clothing stores 3511.1 1613%
706413 Clinton
Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT
Clothing stores 159.9 1429%
833559 Lutz
Hillsborough, FL
Clothing stores 219.5 1377%
943074 Sunbury
Delaware County, OH
Clothing stores 189.3 1352%
1098271 Marysville
Snohomish County, WA
Clothing stores 349.1 1320%
1111901 Riverhead
Suffolk County, NY
Clothing stores 368.9 1288%
1211755 Lake Grove
Suffolk County, NY
Clothing stores 138.8 1278%
1333928 Estero
Lee County, FL
Clothing stores 338.6 1250%
1401940 Lynnfield
Essex County, MA
Clothing stores 148.6 1241%
1517545 Manheim
Lancaster County, PA
Car washes 176.1 1239%
1668028 Gretna
Sarpy County, NE
Clothing stores 178.4 1213%
1779414 Lubbock
Lubbock County, TX
Clothing stores 178.2 1180%
1893203 Arvin
Kern County, CA
Clothing stores 188.0 1155%
1960415 Chicago Ridge
Cook County, IL
Clothing stores 138.0 1151%
2003031 Amherst
Hillsborough, NH
Pet care 107.1 1129%

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

“vs. U.S.” compares the ZIP's density with the national rate for the same industry: 100% is exactly average, 1,000% is ten times the national rate. Counts are published values only; withheld cells (0–2) are not ranked.

The most concentrated ZIP for each industry

Same filters. This is the more useful view: it shows where each category is unusually clustered without letting one industry dominate the list.

IndustryZIPPlace BusinessesPer 10,000 presentvs. U.S.
Bars70116 New Orleans, LA52 41.14071%
Clothing stores02093 Wrentham, MA39 25.83739%
Car washes17545 Manheim, PA17 6.11239%
Pet care03031 Amherst, NH10 7.11129%
Convenience stores31206 Macon, GA29 10.01093%
Auto repair91411 Van Nuys, CA26 9.31074%
Dentists92604 Irvine, CA96 31.8949%
Nail salons94123 San Francisco, CA23 7.9933%
Gyms53575 Oregon, WI19 9.4920%
Day care53216 Milwaukee, WI61 18.6918%
Grocery stores11237 Brooklyn, NY69 13.1842%
Beauty salons95030 Los Gatos, CA27 16.6797%
Pharmacies11366 Fresh Meadows, NY12 8.0773%
Restaurants70116 New Orleans, LA59 46.6729%
Coffee shops94704 Berkeley, CA39 13.2628%
Fast food08736 Manasquan, NJ50 30.3454%

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

How to read this

Density is supply, not demand. A high figure says many businesses of that type share the same resident and worker base. It does not say they are profitable, nor that a new one would fail.

Why clothing leads. Family clothing stores (NAICS 448140) are the most clustered category in the data: a mall can host dozens under one ZIP while the surrounding population stays modest. Coffee shops, restaurants, and salons are spread closer to where people live, so their peak densities are lower.

Why workplaces are excluded. A ZIP with 50,000 jobs and 2,000 residents would otherwise top every list. Those ZIPs are reported separately on each county page as employment hubs and destinations.

What is not counted. Businesses without paid employees are excluded; they are published separately by Census NES and shown beside employer counts on the county pages. Withheld ZIP cells (0–2 businesses) are marked and never ranked.

Sources: U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023, American Community Survey 2024 5-year (table B01003), Census CBP 2023 for the national employment denominator. Methodology →

Check your own ZIP

Enter a ZIP code to see all 16 industries in one place, or browse the national counts.

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.