Retail bakery statistics show a broad industry that spans neighborhood bakery counters, grocery-store bakeries, bakery cafes, commercial production, and specialty food retail. The U.S. had 9,219 employer establishments classified as retail bakeries in 2023, while bakers held about 249,100 jobs in 2024. Consumer research also points to frequent demand: 55% of consumers eat sandwich bread at least weekly, and 56% enjoy pastries at least once a week.
Contents
- Retail bakery establishments
- Employment, wages, and outlook
- Food-store sales and industry scale
- Bakery-cafe market estimates
- Bread, bagel, and breakfast buying
- Snacks, pastries, and celebration occasions
- What consumers look for
Retail bakery establishments
The Census Bureau Profile counted 9,219 U.S. employer establishments in NAICS 311811, retail bakeries, in 2023. That classification is distinct from other bakery-related manufacturing categories. Commercial bakeries, classified as NAICS 311812, had 2,842 employer establishments in 2023. Frozen cakes, pies, and other pastries manufacturing, NAICS 311813, had 237, while cookie and cracker manufacturing, NAICS 311821, had 461.
These figures describe employer establishments, not every possible location, business, or production site. They are useful for separating retail-facing bakeries from commercial and manufacturing activity in the same broad food sector.
The Census Economic Census summary table for 2022 reported two different establishment counts for U.S. retail bakeries: 7,156 and 7,524. Because the supplied table values do not identify the underlying measure names, both figures are retained as reported rather than treated as a calculated change or combined total. The figures come from the Census data.census.gov EC2231BASIC summary table.
The same 2022 Census summary reported the following additional retail-bakery operating measures: 6,118,018; 2,049,634; 490,224; 77,170; 1,356,599; 323,699; 52,502; 78,198; 693,035; 166,525; 24,668; and 399,538. The table description supplied for these values does not specify the individual measure labels, so they should be read as separate reported values, not as revenue, payroll, employment, or establishment counts assigned by inference.
Employment, wages, and outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported about 249,100 baker jobs in 2024. Its Occupational Outlook Handbook lists a 2024 median annual wage of $36,650. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $27,560, while the highest-paid 10% earned more than $48,260.
BLS projects 6% employment growth for bakers from 2024 to 2034. It also projects about 14,000 openings per year, on average, during that period. The openings figure includes the ongoing labor-market need represented by the occupational outlook and is not a count of retail bakery locations.
Employment is distributed across several settings. Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing employed 32% of bakers in 2024, and grocery and specialty food retailers employed 24%. Self-employed workers accounted for 6%, while special food services employed 2%.
Median pay varied by the industry setting reported by BLS in May 2024. Bakers in special food services had a median annual wage of $39,000. The median was $36,880 for bakers in grocery and specialty food retailers and $36,550 for bakers in bakeries and tortilla manufacturing.
| BLS measure | Reported figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Bakers employed | About 249,100 | 2024 |
| Median annual wage | $36,650 | 2024 |
| Projected employment growth | 6% | 2024–2034 |
| Average annual openings | About 14,000 | 2024–2034 |
| Bakers in bakeries and tortilla manufacturing | 32% | 2024 |
| Bakers in grocery and specialty food retailers | 24% | 2024 |
The American Bakers Association gives a broader measure of the commercial baking industry. ABA says the industry employs almost 800,000 people, generates over $42 billion in direct wages, and has an overall economic impact of over $186 billion. ABA says bakers are found in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These figures cover the commercial baking industry and therefore should not be treated as a retail-bakery-only employment total.
Food-store sales and industry scale
The USDA Economic Research Service reported that U.S. food stores sold $717 billion of retail food and nonfood products in 2019. Grocery stores accounted for 92.1% of U.S. food-store sales. Convenience stores without gasoline accounted for 4.6%, while specialized food stores, including retail bakeries, accounted for 3.3%.
Within that 2019 food-store landscape, the 20 largest U.S. food retailers totaled $410.4 billion in sales and accounted for 65.1% of total food sales, according to USDA ERS Retail Trends. The concentration figure applies to total food sales, not specifically to bread, pastries, cakes, or bakery-cafe transactions.
Retail bakeries can therefore appear in more than one consumer pathway. A customer may buy from a specialized food store, a grocery-store bakery aisle, or a bakery-cafe format. The USDA category establishes the reported position of specialized food stores, but it does not provide a separate retail-bakery sales total in the supplied figures.
Bakery-cafe market estimates
IBISWorld estimated the U.S. bakery cafes market at $18.3 billion in 2024 and $18.6 billion in 2025. The 2024 market-size growth rate was reported as 0.1%, while the 2025 market-size growth rate was reported as 1.6%. IBISWorld also reported a 0.1% compound annual growth rate for U.S. bakery cafes from 2019 to 2024.
These are market estimates for bakery cafes, a format that combines bakery products with a cafe setting. They are not interchangeable with Census employer-establishment counts or with the broader ABA commercial-baking economic-impact figures. They also cover different periods: the 2019–2024 CAGR describes a historical interval, while the 2025 market-size figure is an estimate for that year.
| Bakery-cafe measure | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated market size | $18.3 billion | 2024 |
| Estimated market size | $18.6 billion | 2025 |
| Market-size growth | 0.1% | 2024 |
| Market-size growth | 1.6% | 2025 |
| Reported CAGR | 0.1% | 2019–2024 |
Bread, bagel, and breakfast buying
ABA Consumer Trends found that 55% of consumers eat sandwich bread at least once a week. Bread also carries a health-oriented perception: 74% of consumers consider bread a healthy choice in their diet. In the bread aisle, 45% browse to explore new items.
Bagels show both texture and channel preferences. ABA found that 62% of consumers prefer soft bagels, while 60% purchase most of their bagels from the grocery store. English muffins were consumed by 46% of consumers in the past 30 days, and 52% of Americans prefer savory English muffin toppings.
Buns and rolls remain tied to familiar meals. Half of Americans say buns or rolls are a must when eating hot dogs or hamburgers, and 74% of consumers believe bread items such as buns and rolls are an overall healthy choice.
The same consumer research reported that 56% of consumers enjoy pastries at least once a week, and 71% like to see pastries offered in seasonal flavors. For operators, these figures describe reported consumer preferences rather than a forecast of sales or a guarantee that a particular seasonal item will perform.
Snacks, pastries, and celebration occasions
Snack cakes and pies are a regular category for many consumers: 45% of Americans consume them once a week. At the same time, 93% of consumers are interested in limited-time-offer snack cakes and pies. The two findings pair weekly consumption with strong stated interest in temporary product variety.
Donuts also have a social dimension. ABA found that 81% of consumers purchase donuts to share with others, while 33% purchase donuts from the grocery store bakery aisle. These figures distinguish a sharing occasion from a specific retail channel.
Cookies are connected to seasonal presentation for 70% of consumers, who like cookies to reflect the season. More broadly, 90% agree that baked goods are a fun part of celebrations. That celebration measure applies to baked goods generally and does not identify a specific product, occasion, or purchase frequency.
Pretzels and crackers add further evidence of snack demand. ABA found that 52% of consumers had consumed soft and/or hard pretzels in the past 30 days, and 45% mostly buy manufacturer brands for pretzels. For crackers, 93% of parents agree they are a great kid-friendly snack, while 60% of consumers are interested in crackers with unique ingredients.
What consumers look for
The supplied ABA findings show several ways consumers may be open to bakery purchases beyond routine staples. Ninety-four percent of consumers can be persuaded to spend a little more on baked goods or buy them on impulse. This is a stated consumer-response measure, not a reported average price increase or revenue estimate.
Pizza and flatbread also sit within the broader baked-food landscape. ABA found that 49% of consumers prefer thin-crust pizza or flatbread, and 86% of Americans have consumed pizza or flatbread in the past year.
Tortillas show both annual consumption and recipe discovery behavior. Sixty-one percent of Americans consume tortillas at least once a year, while 49% of consumers have used social media for recipe ideas using tortillas.
The research also includes a specific finding about consumers using GLP-1 medications. ABA found that 95% of GLP-1 consumers had enjoyed a morning baked good in the past 30 days, while 41% said they were eating less meal-related baked goods. These measures refer to different aspects of consumption and should not be combined into a single rate.
Together, the consumer figures cover weekly staples, grocery-store purchasing, seasonal preferences, sharing occasions, impulse openness, and recipe-led discovery. They do not provide a single national retail-bakery sales forecast, but they do quantify the range of occasions and product types connected with baked goods.