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Bexar County, TX — Bars Saturation

How many bars 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. 83 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Bars & taverns · Pubs & brewpubs (drinking-focused) · Cocktail & wine bars · Taprooms. Counted together because official statistics use one 722410 code.

Measured density: Above average — 1.21× the U.S. rate (between 1.21× and 1.45× 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. 43 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 29 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

Above the U.S. rate   Bexar County bars — 121–145% of the U.S. rate

298 bars are counted in Bexar County — 1.2 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 121% 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 7% between 2015 and 2023 (224 → 239). 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 78212 (San Antonio), 78204 (San Antonio), 78202 (San Antonio) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 78245 (San Antonio), 78228 (San Antonio), 78249 (San Antonio).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 317 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: Bexar County sits at 121% of the U.S. rate for bars. 29 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 121% and 145% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 78212 and 78204; the lowest measured density is in 78245 and 78228.

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

Bars
298–384
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (43 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
1.2
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
1.0
per 10,000 present
County index
1.21×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
317
2023 — $93M annual payroll
Residents
2,044,549
69 ZIPs with data
Workers
788,736
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
2,127,737
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+5.6%
+112,117 people
Net migration 2024
+18,294
international +15,324, domestic +2,970
Jobs located here
919,469
LODES 2022, +4.2% since 2019

Bexar County had an estimated 2,127,737 residents on July 1, 2024 — 5.6% more than in 2020 (+112,117). In the latest year it gained 29,548 people: births minus deaths +11,145, international migration +15,324, domestic migration +2,970. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

919,469 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+4.2% since 2019), and 866,309 employed residents lived there (+2.6% 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
78152 Saint Hedwig
+108.2%
78252 San Antonio
+81.4%
78261 San Antonio
+59.2%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
78214 San Antonio
−19.7%
78227 San Antonio
−14.3%
78201 San Antonio
−13.1%

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
441
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$32.5M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$74K
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 bars 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 7% since 2015

Number of bars in Bexar 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.

224
2015
233
2018
209
2020
224
2021
242
2022
239
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
78212 San Antonio
792%
78204 San Antonio
489%
78202 San Antonio
440%
78101 Adkins
378%
78217 San Antonio
326%
78231 San Antonio
251%
78257 San Antonio
225%
78255 San Antonio
215%
78216 San Antonio
213%
78238 San Antonio
213%
78214 San Antonio
200%
78148 Universal City
199%
78229 San Antonio
188%
78230 San Antonio
183%
78232 San Antonio
176%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
78245 San Antonio
29%
78228 San Antonio
47%
78249 San Antonio
60%
78254 San Antonio
61%
78250 San Antonio
64%
78253 San Antonio
67%
78233 San Antonio
69%
78260 San Antonio
75%
78227 San Antonio
81%
78251 San Antonio
93%
78218 San Antonio
94%
78219 San Antonio
106%
78240 San Antonio
108%
78258 San Antonio
119%
78223 San Antonio
123%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few bars 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 ResidentsWorkersBarsIndex
78205San Antonio Destination 1,53827,450 34 2208%
78215San Antonio Employment hub 3,50612,688 10 1006%

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

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

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersBars Per 10kIndexStatus
78205San Antonio 1,53827,450 34 22.3 2208% Very high density
78215San Antonio 3,50612,688 10 10.2 1006% Very high density
78212San Antonio 27,43717,744 29 8.0 792% Very high density
78204San Antonio 11,9838,463 8 4.9 489% Very high density
78202San Antonio 10,2242,080 5 4.4 440% Very high density
78101Adkins 7,2671,203 3 3.8 378% Very high density
78217San Antonio 34,05529,218 16 3.3 326% Very high density
78231San Antonio 9,7444,196 3 2.5 251% Very high density
78257San Antonio 10,99213,340 4 2.3 225% High density
78255San Antonio 17,3792,055 4 2.2 215% High density
78216San Antonio 41,18057,443 15 2.1 213% High density
78238San Antonio 26,03222,529 8 2.1 213% High density
78214San Antonio 22,1185,361 5 2.0 200% High density
78148Universal City 22,1875,565 5 2.0 199% High density
78229San Antonio 35,66444,600 11 1.9 188% High density
78230San Antonio 41,38725,818 10 1.8 183% High density
78232San Antonio 36,63628,263 9 1.8 176% High density
78248San Antonio 14,4885,706 3 1.7 172% High density
78256San Antonio 13,4538,698 3 1.7 167% High density
78210San Antonio 34,9403,882 6 1.6 161% High density
78201San Antonio 41,98112,885 7 1.4 143% Above average
78209San Antonio 43,40027,895 8 1.4 138% Above average
78247San Antonio 51,93316,760 8 1.3 132% Above average
78213San Antonio 40,52611,441 6 1.3 129% Above average
78023Helotes 28,4626,287 4 1.3 125% Above average
78223San Antonio 58,98311,227 8 1.2 123% Above average
78258San Antonio 52,44828,091 8 1.2 119% Above average
78240San Antonio 57,92112,883 7 1.1 108% Above average
78219San Antonio 17,92420,054 3 1.1 106% Above average
78218San Antonio 39,42827,125 5 0.9 94% Below average
78251San Antonio 59,43530,862 7 0.9 93% Below average
78227San Antonio 44,0359,904 4 0.8 81% Below average
78260San Antonio 38,0232,931 3 0.8 75% Below average
78233San Antonio 48,91116,432 4 0.7 69% Below average
78253San Antonio 69,2828,600 5 0.7 67% Below average
78250San Antonio 57,3238,556 4 0.6 64% Below average
78254San Antonio 77,8935,612 5 0.6 61% Below average
78249San Antonio 63,43938,532 5 0.6 60% Below average
78228San Antonio 56,16513,311 3 0.5 47% Far below average
78245San Antonio 96,01511,642 3 0.3 29% Far below average
78002Atascosa 7,035354 0–2 — — Not published
78054Macdona —15 0–2 — — Not published
78069Somerset 7,038293 0–2 — — Not published
78073Von Ormy 10,0881,698 0–2 — — Not published
78109Converse 63,0676,733 0–2 — — Not published
78112Elmendorf 9,7691,122 0–2 — — Not published
78150Jbsa Randolph 0341 0–2 — — Not published
78152Saint Hedwig 4,521266 0–2 — — Not published
78203San Antonio 5,200805 0–2 — — Not published
78206San Antonio —46 0–2 — — Not published
78207San Antonio 55,47414,917 0–2 — — Not published
78208San Antonio 3,861861 0–2 — — Not published
78211San Antonio 30,8575,629 0–2 — — Not published
78220San Antonio 19,4235,655 0–2 — — Not published
78221San Antonio 42,17827,803 0–2 — — Not published
78222San Antonio 26,4767,861 0–2 — — Not published
78224San Antonio 22,2329,271 0–2 — — Not published
78225San Antonio 13,1041,757 0–2 — — Not published
78226San Antonio 6,5546,178 0–2 — — Not published
78234Jbsa Ft Sam Houston 7,1493,700 0–2 — — Not published
78235San Antonio 2,3042,491 0–2 — — Not published
78236Jbsa Lackland 7,6351,916 0–2 — — Not published
78237San Antonio 37,3795,378 0–2 — — Not published
78239San Antonio 28,6093,152 0–2 — — Not published
78242San Antonio 36,1681,572 0–2 — — Not published
78243San Antonio 23285 0–2 — — Not published
78244San Antonio 38,0926,002 0–2 — — Not published
78246San Antonio —270 0–2 — — Not published
78252San Antonio 21,790576 0–2 — — Not published
78259San Antonio 29,8269,381 0–2 — — Not published
78261San Antonio 26,6572,548 0–2 — — Not published
78263San Antonio 4,2532,247 0–2 — — Not published
78264San Antonio 11,84111,153 0–2 — — Not published
78265San Antonio —115 0–2 — — Not published
78268San Antonio —96 0–2 — — Not published
78269San Antonio —176 0–2 — — Not published
78270San Antonio —29 0–2 — — Not published
78278San Antonio —62 0–2 — — Not published
78279San Antonio —675 0–2 — — Not published
78280San Antonio —30 0–2 — — Not published
78283San Antonio —34 0–2 — — Not published
78284San Antonio —91 0–2 — — Not published
78288San Antonio —22,342 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in San Antonio

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 San Antonio retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse San Antonio retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse San Antonio 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 Bexar County and bars

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 722410 — drinking places (alcoholic beverages). 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: 317 establishments and $93M 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 (1.01 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.