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Montgomery County, TX — Fast food Saturation

How many fast food 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. 25 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Fast food · Quick-service restaurants · Takeout & delivery counters · Pizza delivery · Sandwich & burger chains. Counted together because official statistics use one 722513 code.

Measured density: Below average — 0.89× the U.S. rate (between 0.89× and 0.90× 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. 5 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 2 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   Montgomery County fast food — 89–90% of the U.S. rate

464 fast food are counted in Montgomery County — 6.0 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 89% of the U.S. rate of 6.7.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 45% between 2015 and 2023 (320 → 464). 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 77384 (Conroe), 77380 (Spring), 77301 (Conroe) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 77316 (Montgomery), 77355 (Magnolia), 77303 (Conroe).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 442 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Montgomery County sits at 89% of the U.S. rate for fast food. 2 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 89% and 90% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 77384 and 77380; the lowest measured density is in 77316 and 77355.

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

Fast food
464–474
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (5 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
6.0
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
6.7
per 10,000 present
County index
0.89×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
442
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
671,730
21 ZIPs with data
Workers
197,300
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
749,613
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+19.9%
+124,193 people
Net migration 2024
+30,399
international +6,480, domestic +23,919
Jobs located here
220,765
LODES 2022, +12.4% since 2019

Montgomery County had an estimated 749,613 residents on July 1, 2024 — 19.9% more than in 2020 (+124,193). In the latest year it gained 34,268 people: births minus deaths +3,956, international migration +6,480, domestic migration +23,919. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

220,765 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+12.4% since 2019), and 293,572 employed residents lived there (+16.1% 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
77303 Conroe
+39.7%
77384 Conroe
+37.6%
77357 New Caney
+35.6%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant decrease.

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
129
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$7.6M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$59K
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 fast food 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 45% since 2015

Number of fast food in Montgomery 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.

320
2015
380
2018
396
2020
413
2021
447
2022
464
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
77384 Conroe
151%
77380 Spring
140%
77301 Conroe
135%
77354 Magnolia
127%
77318 Willis
115%
77356 Montgomery
110%
77304 Conroe
107%
77362 Pinehurst
104%
77357 New Caney
103%
77385 Conroe
102%
77381 Spring
96%
77386 Spring
83%
77365 Porter
73%
77378 Willis
70%
77382 Spring
65%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
77316 Montgomery
25%
77355 Magnolia
30%
77303 Conroe
46%
77372 Splendora
60%
77382 Spring
65%
77378 Willis
70%
77365 Porter
73%
77386 Spring
83%
77381 Spring
96%
77385 Conroe
102%
77357 New Caney
103%
77362 Pinehurst
104%
77304 Conroe
107%
77356 Montgomery
110%
77318 Willis
115%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few fast food 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.

All ZIP codes

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

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersFast food Per 10kIndexStatus
77384Conroe 26,78110,005 32 10.1 151% High density
77380Spring 31,36954,843 55 9.4 140% Above average
77301Conroe 37,76913,487 40 9.0 135% Above average
77354Magnolia 44,90011,696 43 8.5 127% Above average
77318Willis 20,7922,833 17 7.7 115% Above average
77356Montgomery 32,5838,288 27 7.4 110% Above average
77304Conroe 44,22515,102 37 7.1 107% Above average
77362Pinehurst 8,0171,198 6 7.0 104% Above average
77357New Caney 37,5926,174 28 6.9 103% Above average
77385Conroe 28,15614,095 24 6.8 102% Above average
77381Spring 36,13914,930 28 6.4 96% Below average
77386Spring 69,98011,156 42 5.6 83% Below average
77365Porter 46,4186,023 24 4.9 73% Below average
77378Willis 17,6293,061 9 4.7 70% Below average
77382Spring 38,9865,675 18 4.3 65% Below average
77372Splendora 14,3671,201 6 4.0 60% Below average
77303Conroe 28,8547,721 10 3.1 46% Far below average
77355Magnolia 32,8473,476 7 2.0 30% Far below average
77316Montgomery 34,6943,494 6 1.6 25% Far below average
77302Conroe 21,5461,178 0–2 — — Not published
77305Conroe —679 5 — — Not published
77306Conroe 18,0861,664 0–2 — — Not published
77353Magnolia —86 0–2 — — Not published
77387Spring —166 0–2 — — Not published
77393Spring —208 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Spring

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 Spring retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Spring retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Spring 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 Montgomery County and fast food

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 722513 — limited-service restaurants. 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 442 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 (6.67 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.