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Montgomery County, TX — Restaurants Saturation

How many restaurants 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: Sit-down restaurants with table service. Counted together because official statistics use one 722511 code.

Measured density: Below average — 0.84× the U.S. rate (between 0.84× and 0.86× 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. 7 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 3 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

Below the U.S. rate   Montgomery County restaurants — 84–86% of the U.S. rate

415 restaurants are counted in Montgomery County — 5.4 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 84% of the U.S. rate of 6.4.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 43% between 2015 and 2023 (286 → 408). 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 77380 (Spring), 77354 (Magnolia), 77385 (Conroe) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 77355 (Magnolia), 77372 (Splendora), 77365 (Porter).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 383 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Montgomery County sits at 84% of the U.S. rate for restaurants. 3 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 84% and 86% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 77380 and 77354; the lowest measured density is in 77355 and 77372.

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

Restaurants
415–429
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (7 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
5.4
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
6.4
per 10,000 present
County index
0.84×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
383
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
199
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$13.0M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$65K
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 restaurants 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 43% since 2015

Number of restaurants 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.

286
2015
332
2018
330
2020
343
2021
371
2022
408
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
77380 Spring
232%
77354 Magnolia
133%
77385 Conroe
129%
77356 Montgomery
128%
77384 Conroe
123%
77304 Conroe
121%
77362 Pinehurst
109%
77301 Conroe
77%
77386 Spring
77%
77382 Spring
75%
77378 Willis
74%
77357 New Caney
65%
77381 Spring
61%
77303 Conroe
48%
77318 Willis
35%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
77355 Magnolia
18%
77372 Splendora
31%
77365 Porter
35%
77318 Willis
35%
77303 Conroe
48%
77381 Spring
61%
77357 New Caney
65%
77378 Willis
74%
77382 Spring
75%
77386 Spring
77%
77301 Conroe
77%
77362 Pinehurst
109%
77304 Conroe
121%
77384 Conroe
123%
77356 Montgomery
128%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few restaurants 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 = restaurants per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersRestaurants Per 10kIndexStatus
77380Spring 31,36954,843 87 14.8 232% High density
77354Magnolia 44,90011,696 43 8.5 133% Above average
77385Conroe 28,15614,095 29 8.2 129% Above average
77356Montgomery 32,5838,288 30 8.2 128% Above average
77384Conroe 26,78110,005 25 7.9 123% Above average
77304Conroe 44,22515,102 40 7.7 121% Above average
77362Pinehurst 8,0171,198 6 7.0 109% Above average
77301Conroe 37,76913,487 22 4.9 77% Below average
77386Spring 69,98011,156 37 4.9 77% Below average
77382Spring 38,9865,675 20 4.8 75% Below average
77378Willis 17,6293,061 9 4.7 74% Below average
77357New Caney 37,5926,174 17 4.2 65% Below average
77381Spring 36,13914,930 17 3.9 61% Below average
77303Conroe 28,8547,721 10 3.1 48% Far below average
77318Willis 20,7922,833 5 2.3 35% Far below average
77365Porter 46,4186,023 11 2.2 35% Far below average
77372Splendora 14,3671,201 3 2.0 31% Far below average
77355Magnolia 32,8473,476 4 1.2 18% Far below average
77302Conroe 21,5461,178 0–2 — — Not published
77305Conroe —679 0–2 — — Not published
77306Conroe 18,0861,664 0–2 — — Not published
77316Montgomery 34,6943,494 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 restaurants

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 722511 — full-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 383 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 (6.39 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.