The 50 Biggest Independent-Retail Cities in America
Where are the most independent storefronts? We ranked U.S. cities and towns by their raw count of shoppable independent retail.
Published June 8, 2026 · Useful Economy Research
America's retail capitals
By sheer count of independent storefronts, New York, New York leads the country with 26,306 shoppable retail shops. The leaderboard below is dominated by the largest metros — population drives raw counts — but it's a useful map of where independent retail clusters thickest.
Top 50 cities by independent-retail count
Shoppable independent retail storefronts per city/town.
| # | City | State | Stores |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | New York | 26,306 |
| 2 | Houston | Texas | 22,727 |
| 3 | Los Angeles | California | 21,667 |
| 4 | Chicago | Illinois | 15,251 |
| 5 | Brooklyn | New York | 13,414 |
| 6 | Miami | Florida | 11,741 |
| 7 | Las Vegas | Nevada | 11,674 |
| 8 | San Antonio | Texas | 10,867 |
| 9 | Dallas | Texas | 10,826 |
| 10 | Atlanta | Georgia | 9,410 |
| 11 | Phoenix | Arizona | 9,377 |
| 12 | Austin | Texas | 8,850 |
| 13 | San Diego | California | 8,617 |
| 14 | San Francisco | California | 8,577 |
| 15 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 8,557 |
| 16 | Orlando | Florida | 8,390 |
| 17 | Portland | Oregon | 8,151 |
| 18 | Tampa | Florida | 7,324 |
| 19 | Jacksonville | Florida | 7,210 |
| 20 | Charlotte | North Carolina | 6,987 |
| 21 | Denver | Colorado | 6,927 |
| 22 | Indianapolis | Indiana | 6,796 |
| 23 | Seattle | Washington | 6,659 |
| 24 | Tucson | Arizona | 5,917 |
| 25 | Nashville | Tennessee | 5,816 |
| 26 | Columbus | Ohio | 5,707 |
| 27 | St Louis | Missouri | 5,625 |
| 28 | Fort Worth | Texas | 5,575 |
| 29 | Louisville | Kentucky | 5,473 |
| 30 | San Jose | California | 5,432 |
| 31 | Cincinnati | Ohio | 5,342 |
| 32 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 5,329 |
| 33 | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | 5,185 |
| 34 | Raleigh | North Carolina | 5,067 |
| 35 | Albuquerque | New Mexico | 5,045 |
| 36 | Minneapolis | Minnesota | 4,924 |
| 37 | Memphis | Tennessee | 4,706 |
| 38 | Colorado Springs | Colorado | 4,641 |
| 39 | Sacramento | California | 4,583 |
| 40 | Honolulu | Hawaii | 4,437 |
| 41 | El Paso | Texas | 4,386 |
| 42 | Tulsa | Oklahoma | 4,257 |
| 43 | Knoxville | Tennessee | 3,985 |
| 44 | Baltimore | Maryland | 3,964 |
| 45 | Scottsdale | Arizona | 3,951 |
| 46 | Bronx | New York | 3,913 |
| 47 | Sarasota | Florida | 3,794 |
| 48 | Kansas City | Missouri | 3,727 |
| 49 | Fresno | California | 3,616 |
| 50 | Boston | Massachusetts | 3,586 |
Raw counts, not per-capita. Some large cities split across multiple place labels (e.g. New York City's boroughs), which can divide their totals.
Frequently asked questions
- Which U.S. city has the most independent retail stores?
- New York, New York has the most, with 26,306 shoppable independent retail storefronts in this dataset.
Find independent stores near you
Useful Economy indexes products from independent local retailers across the country. Search by what you want, or browse by city.
Start browsing →Data source: Foursquare Open Source Places (US slice), analyzed by Useful Economy. Population: U.S. Census 2023 estimates.