Market Saturation
Checker
Enter a business category and state to find out if the market is oversaturated, competitive, balanced, underserved, or wide open - based on real data from 30M+ US businesses.
Choose a Category and State
Select a business category and state to check market saturation. Our tool compares business density across all US states to determine if a market is oversaturated or has room for growth.
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What is Market Saturation?
Market saturation measures how crowded a business category is relative to the overall market size. A saturated market means there are many businesses competing for a limited number of customers, while an underserved market has fewer businesses relative to demand.
Our Market Saturation Checker analyzes real data from over 30 million US businesses to determine where your chosen business category falls on the saturation spectrum.
Saturation Levels
This market has significantly more businesses per capita than average. Competition is fierce.
Above-average business density. A healthy but competitive market.
Business density is close to the national average. A well-balanced market.
Fewer businesses than average. There may be room for new entrants.
Very few businesses relative to the state size. A wide-open opportunity.
How is saturation calculated?
We calculate the percentage of businesses in the target state that belong to your chosen category (category share), then compare it to the average category share across all US states. The ratio between these two values determines the saturation level:
- A state with 1.5x or more the national average category share is considered oversaturated
- 1.1x to 1.5x is competitive
- 0.7x to 1.1x is balanced
- 0.3x to 0.7x is underserved
- Below 0.3x is wide open
Who should use this tool?
- Entrepreneurs evaluating where to start a new business
- Franchise owners deciding on new locations
- Investors researching market opportunities
- Marketing agencies identifying underserved markets to target