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Kanawha County, WV — Coffee shops Saturation

How many coffee shops 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. 44 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Coffee shops · Espresso bars · Boba / bubble tea shops · Juice & smoothie bars · Ice cream & frozen yogurt shops. Counted together because official statistics use one 722515 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.29× the U.S. rate (between 0.29× and 1.53× 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. 40 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 28 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   Kanawha County coffee shops — 29–153% of the U.S. rate

13 coffee shops are counted in Kanawha County — 0.6 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 29% of the U.S. rate of 2.1.

Measured supply density is highest in 25302 (Charleston), 25314 (Charleston), 25177 (Saint Albans) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 25177 (Saint Albans), 25314 (Charleston), 25302 (Charleston).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 17 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Kanawha County sits at 29% of the U.S. rate for coffee shops. 28 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 29% and 153% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 25302 and 25314; the lowest measured density is in 25177 and 25314.

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

Coffee shops
13–93
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (40 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
0.6
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
2.1
per 10,000 present
County index
0.29×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
17
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
177,397
32 ZIPs with data
Workers
75,245
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
173,906
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
−3.5%
−6,302 people
Net migration 2024
+129
international +302, domestic −173
Jobs located here
103,430
LODES 2022, −2.6% since 2019

Kanawha County had an estimated 173,906 residents on July 1, 2024 — 3.5% fewer than in 2020 (−6,302). In the latest year it lost 696 people: births minus deaths −822, international migration +302, domestic migration −173. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

103,430 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (−2.6% since 2019), and 72,896 employed residents lived there (−6.1% 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

No ZIP had a statistically significant increase.

ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
25312 Charleston
−31.8%
25320 Charleston
−28.0%

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
7
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$195K
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$28K
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 coffee shops 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

Number of coffee shops in Kanawha 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.

0
2015
0
2018
0
2020
0
2021
0
2022
0
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
25302 Charleston
120%
25314 Charleston
90%
25177 Saint Albans
56%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
25177 Saint Albans
56%
25314 Charleston
90%
25302 Charleston
120%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few coffee shops 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 ResidentsWorkersCoffee shopsIndex
25301Charleston Employment hub 2,49813,585 3 154%
25201Tad Employment hub 64129 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

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

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersCoffee shops Per 10kIndexStatus
25301Charleston 2,49813,585 3 3.2 154% High density
25302Charleston 13,2045,414 4 2.5 120% Above average
25314Charleston 14,7942,066 3 1.9 90% Below average
25177Saint Albans 22,6655,266 3 1.2 56% Below average
25003Alum Creek 1,975369 0–2 — — Not published
25015Belle 3,8881,506 0–2 — — Not published
25035Cabin Creek 719211 0–2 — — Not published
25039Cedar Grove 62983 0–2 — — Not published
25045Clendenin 4,234295 0–2 — — Not published
25064Dunbar 9,0902,510 0–2 — — Not published
25067East Bank 85022 0–2 — — Not published
25071Elkview 11,1071,303 0–2 — — Not published
25086Glasgow 907126 0–2 — — Not published
25103Hansford 1516 0–2 — — Not published
25107Hernshaw 30637 0–2 — — Not published
25110Hugheston 36618 0–2 — — Not published
25112Institute 206324 0–2 — — Not published
25143Nitro 8,7143,137 0–2 — — Not published
25156Pinch 11953 0–2 — — Not published
25201Tad 64129 0–2 — — Not published
25202Tornado 1,45130 0–2 — — Not published
25214Winifrede 994298 0–2 — — Not published
25303South Charleston 7,3965,720 0–2 — — Not published
25304Charleston 8,6559,916 0–2 — — Not published
25305Charleston 061 0–2 — — Not published
25306Charleston 6,040868 0–2 — — Not published
25309South Charleston 12,1548,030 0–2 — — Not published
25311Charleston 9,8253,186 0–2 — — Not published
25312Charleston 10,0472,254 0–2 — — Not published
25313Charleston 11,7605,366 0–2 — — Not published
25315Charleston 3,286472 0–2 — — Not published
25317Charleston —32 0–2 — — Not published
25320Charleston 4,595805 0–2 — — Not published
25321Charleston —22 0–2 — — Not published
25322Charleston —59 0–2 — — Not published
25325Charleston —10 0–2 — — Not published
25330Charleston —48 0–2 — — Not published
25339Charleston —60 0–2 — — Not published
25356Charleston —6 0–2 — — Not published
25360Charleston —40 0–2 — — Not published
25362Charleston —28 0–2 — — Not published
25364Charleston —31 0–2 — — Not published
25387Charleston 4,7081,840 0–2 — — Not published
25389Charleston —511 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Charleston

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 Charleston retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Charleston retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Charleston 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 Kanawha County and coffee shops

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 722515 — snack & non-alcoholic beverage bars (incl. coffee shops). 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 17 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 (2.10 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.