Supermarket industry statistics show a large U.S. retail sector with different boundaries depending on the source. Census NAICS 445110 covers supermarkets and other grocery retailers except convenience retailers, FMI uses a trade-defined supermarket universe, and USDA often compares grocery stores with warehouse clubs and supercenters as food-at-home substitutes.
Key Supermarket Industry Statistics
The most useful headline figures span market scale, store operations, household spending, concentration, and digital shopping:
- U.S. supermarkets and other grocery stores recorded $824.540486 billion in 2023 revenue, sales, or value of shipments under NAICS 44511.
- Total U.S. food sales reached $796 billion in 2022 across supermarkets, other grocery stores, warehouse clubs, and supercenters.
- The 20 largest food retailers generated $519 billion in 2022 within that broader U.S. food-retail market.
- The 20 largest food retailers represented 65.2% of included food-retail sales in 2022 in the United States.
- Inflation-adjusted grocery-store food sales rose from $533 billion in 1997 to $617 billion in 2025 in the United States, measured in 2025 dollars.
- FMI reported $1 trillion in total U.S. supermarket sales for 2025 as a trade-industry estimate.
- The Census Bureau profile listed 62,947 employer establishments in 2023 for NAICS 445110 in the United States.
- FMI reported 45,575 U.S. supermarkets in 2024, using its broad trade-defined store universe.
- The average U.S. supermarket carried 33,248 items in 2025 according to FMI’s assortment benchmark.
- Grocery stores accounted for 56.2% of U.S. food-at-home sales in 2025 in the USDA outlet series.
- Warehouse clubs and supercenters accounted for 26.4% of U.S. food-at-home spending in 2025 in the same series.
- National food-retail HHI increased 458% from 1990 to 2019 in a USDA study of the U.S. food-retail market.
- Average U.S. consumer-unit food-at-home spending was $6,224 in 2024 in nominal annual BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey data.
- Food at home represented 7.9% of average annual consumer-unit expenditures in 2024 in the United States.
- Average 2024 spending on meat, poultry, fish, and eggs was $1,414 per consumer unit in BLS food-at-home data.
- Average 2024 spending on dairy products was $631 per consumer unit in the United States.
- Online grocery item sales represented 8.9% of all grocery item sales in 2025 according to FMI.
- The average online supermarket transaction was $106 in 2025, compared with a $49.06 average in-store transaction.
Contents
- U.S. supermarket sales and market scale
- Supermarket stores, employment, and product variety
- Food-at-home trends and supermarket share
- Supermarket concentration and competitive structure
- Household grocery spending and category data
- Online grocery and transaction trends
U.S. Supermarket Industry Sales and Market Scale
The market-size figures are not interchangeable because each source uses a different population of outlets. Census NAICS 44511 covers supermarkets and other grocery stores except convenience stores, while USDA and FMI use broader or trade-defined universes.
| Measure | Period | U.S. result | Definition or limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets and other grocery stores | 2023 | $824.540486 billion | NAICS 44511, excluding convenience stores |
| Supermarket, grocery, warehouse-club, and supercenter sales | 2022 | $796 billion | Broader food-at-home substitute outlets |
| FMI total supermarket sales | 2025 | $1 trillion | Trade-industry benchmark |
| Total food spending | 2025 | $2.51 trillion | Consumers, businesses, and government entities |
Sources: Census Bureau, 445110 profile, USDA ERS Retail Trends, FMI Food Industry Facts, and USDA ERS total food spending.
USDA’s inflation-adjusted grocery-store series rose from $533 billion in 1997 to $617 billion in 2025, a reported 15.7% increase in 2025 dollars. The series is for grocery stores, not all food-at-home outlets, and the change is an estimate reported by USDA.
Total U.S. food spending reached $2.51 trillion in 2025, up from inflation-adjusted $1.56 trillion in 1997. This system-wide measure includes spending by consumers, businesses, and government entities, so it should not be treated as supermarket revenue.
Supermarket Industry Data on Stores, Employment, and Product Variety
Store counts and employment depend strongly on category definitions. The Census establishment count is an observed employer-establishment measure, whereas FMI’s store and workforce figures are trade benchmarks with their own universe.
- The Census Bureau listed 62,947 employer establishments in 2023 for NAICS 445110, supermarkets and other grocery retailers except convenience retailers. Census Bureau profile
- FMI reported 45,575 U.S. supermarkets in 2024. Its count includes conventional, limited-assortment, supercenter, warehouse-grocery, conventional-club, natural/gourmet stores, and military commissaries. FMI Food Industry Facts
- FMI reported 6.3 million workers employed by grocery stores and food manufacturers in its current benchmark. This is combined employment, not supermarket employment alone. FMI Food Industry Facts
- The average supermarket carried 33,248 items in 2025. FMI notes that the item definition and store sample are trade-source conventions. FMI Food Industry Facts
The assortment figure illustrates the operational breadth of a typical supermarket, but it should not be read as a national count of unique products or brands. The Census and FMI figures also should not be divided to infer an average store size because their category boundaries differ.
Food-at-Home Trends and Supermarket Share Statistics
USDA’s outlet series places grocery stores alongside competing food-at-home channels. In that comparable series, grocery stores accounted for 72.2% of food-at-home sales in 1997 and 56.2% in 2025.
| Outlet category | 1997 | 2025 | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery stores | 72.2% | 56.2% | Food-at-home sales |
| Warehouse clubs and supercenters | 9.4% | 26.4% | Food-at-home spending |
| Other food-at-home outlets | 18.4% | 17.4% | Residual outlet grouping |
| Convenience stores | — | 1.2% | Component of other outlets |
| Drugstores, dollar stores, and other nonfood retailers | — | 11.1% | USDA nonfood-retailer category |
Source: USDA ERS Retail Trends. The 1997 and 2025 shares use the comparable USDA outlet-series definitions, while the last two 2025 rows are components or categories within the broader group and are not additive to the full table.
Warehouse clubs and supercenters rose from 9.4% of food-at-home spending in 1997 to 26.4% in 2025. Other food-at-home outlets represented 17.4% in 2025 versus 18.4% in 1997; convenience stores contributed 1.2% in 2025, and drugstores, dollar stores, and other nonfood retailers accounted for 11.1% in the USDA category.
Food away from home accounted for 56.3% of total U.S. food expenditures in 2025, making food at home the complement of that system-wide spending measure. This is not a supermarket market share because the denominator includes the broader U.S. food system.
Supermarket Industry Concentration and Competitive Structure
USDA concentration statistics include supermarkets, other grocery stores, warehouse clubs, and supercenters. They therefore describe a broader food-retail market and should not be presented as a supermarket-only concentration ratio.
- The 20 largest food retailers generated $519 billion in 2022 sales in the included broader market. USDA ERS Retail Trends
- Those 20 retailers represented 65.2% of included 2022 food-retail sales. USDA ERS Retail Trends
- The included supermarket, grocery, warehouse-club, and supercenter outlets represented 83.4% of U.S. food sales in 2022. USDA ERS Retail Trends
- National food-retail concentration, measured by HHI, increased 458% from 1990 to 2019. USDA ERS, A Disaggregated View of Market Concentration in the Food Retail Industry
- Average county-level food-retail HHI increased 94% from 1990 to 2019. USDA ERS, A Disaggregated View of Market Concentration in the Food Retail Industry
- Arizona had the median State food-retail HHI in 2022, normalized to 1.0. USDA ERS Retail Trends
The national and county results measure different market levels, so the 458% and 94% changes should not be compared as if they were the same geography. The historical benchmark also reports $515.3 billion in 2016 sales for the 20 largest food retailers, using the broader supermarket and supercenter retailer set.
Household Grocery Spending and Supermarket-Related Categories
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey figures describe average annual spending by U.S. consumer units in nominal dollars. They measure household expenditure, not supermarket registers or industry revenue.
| Food-at-home measure | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average spending per consumer unit | $5,259 | $5,703 | $6,053 | $6,224 |
| Share of total expenditures | — | — | 7.8% | 7.9% |
Source: BLS Consumer expenditures in 2024. The spending series is nominal and the share figures are BLS expenditure shares.
Food-at-home spending increased 2.8% from 2023 to 2024, reaching $6,224 per consumer unit. Within that 2024 total, average spending was $1,414 on meat, poultry, fish, and eggs and $631 on dairy products.
For channel context, 2024 food-away-from-home spending averaged $3,945 per consumer unit, represented 5.0% of average annual expenditures, and increased 0.3% from 2023 to 2024. The category includes restaurants, takeout, delivery, and similar prepared-food purchases, so it is not a supermarket measure.
BLS also reported that food away from home accounted for 39.4% of total food spending in 2023, compared with 39.0% in 2022. BLS Consumer expenditures in 2023
Online Grocery and Supermarket Transaction Trends
FMI’s 2025 benchmarks separate item-sales share from transaction value. The measures describe different aspects of digital shopping and should not be combined into a single online-revenue estimate.
| Transaction measure | 2025 value | Population or channel |
|---|---|---|
| Average in-store transaction | $49.06 | U.S. supermarket shoppers, in-store |
| Average online transaction | $106 | U.S. supermarket shoppers, online |
| Online share of grocery item sales | 8.9% | U.S. grocery item sales |
Source: FMI Food Industry Facts. Online share is item sales, not order share or total supermarket revenue share.
The average online transaction was $56.94 higher than the average in-store transaction in 2025, based on FMI’s rounded values. The online average was 116.0% higher than the in-store average, also derived from those rounded benchmarks; this is a channel comparison, not a causal effect or matched-household result.
Using the same rounded values, the average online transaction was about 2.16 times the average in-store transaction. The difference may reflect basket composition or fulfillment behavior, but the supplied benchmark does not establish why the averages differ.