We Analyzed 16,463 Catholic Businesses. Here's What We Found.
The largest dataset of Catholic-owned businesses ever assembled reveals surprising patterns about where Catholic commerce thrives — and where it doesn't.
Discover Catholic Business has spent months building the most comprehensive directory of Catholic-owned businesses in the United States. The dataset now contains 16,463 businesses across 23 categories, spanning all 50 states.
Nobody else has this data. There is no government registry of Catholic businesses. No census question about the faith of business owners. This directory was built one listing at a time — through scraping, sourcing, manual verification, and community submissions.
We decided to analyze what we found.
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The 5 Headline Findings
1. Michigan dominates — and it's not even close.
Michigan has 2,660 Catholic businesses in the directory, more than any other state. That is 16% of the entire dataset from a single state.
Texas (2,327) and Florida (2,143) follow, but Michigan's lead reflects the deep Catholic institutional roots of the state — particularly in cities like Grand Rapids (163 businesses), Traverse City (71), Lansing (56), and Jackson (55).
2. The top 10 cities account for 14% of all listings.
| City | Businesses | |------|-----------| | San Antonio, TX | 195 | | Houston, TX | 193 | | Grand Rapids, MI | 163 | | Fort Wayne, IN | 133 | | Tampa, FL | 131 | | Cincinnati, OH | 128 | | Jacksonville, FL | 103 | | Miami, FL | 97 | | South Bend, IN | 95 | | Dallas, TX | 93 |
San Antonio edges out Houston for the top spot by just 2 listings. The Texas-Florida-Midwest triangle is the heartland of Catholic commerce.
3. Home services is the largest real category — by a wide margin.
| Category | Businesses | |----------|-----------| | Home Services | 2,418 | | Fitness & Health | 1,830 | | Finance | 1,635 | | Funeral Services | 1,204 | | Real Estate | 1,132 |
Catholic business owners overwhelmingly serve practical, local needs. Plumbers, electricians, roofers, contractors — the people who keep Catholic homes running. Health, financial services, and funeral homes round out the top five.
4. Some categories are vanishingly small.
| Category | Businesses | |----------|-----------| | Pets | 8 | | Monastic | 12 | | Apparel | 24 | | Books | 37 | | Pilgrimages | 91 |
Only 8 pet businesses in the entire directory. Only 12 monastic enterprises (though those 12 include some of the most compelling stories in the dataset — see our monastery roundup). And just 24 apparel companies, suggesting a wide-open market for Catholic-owned clothing brands.
At the state level, the gaps are equally striking. Hawaii has zero Catholic businesses in the directory — the only U.S. state with no representation. Alaska and Vermont each have just 1.
5. The Indiana anomaly.
Indiana ranks 4th nationally with 1,096 businesses — ahead of states with much larger populations (Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York). The explanation: Fort Wayne (133) and South Bend (95) are Catholic strongholds, and the state's Catholic institutional infrastructure — including the University of Notre Dame — creates density that larger states lack.
The Full State Breakdown
The full state breakdown, city data, and category deep dive below are for paid subscribers.
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The Top 15 States
| Rank | State | Businesses | % of Total | |------|-------|-----------|-----------| | 1 | Michigan | 2,660 | 16.2% | | 2 | Texas | 2,327 | 14.1% | | 3 | Florida | 2,143 | 13.0% | | 4 | Indiana | 1,096 | 6.7% | | 5 | Ohio | 992 | 6.0% | | 6 | Louisiana | 975 | 5.9% | | 7 | Illinois | 886 | 5.4% | | 8 | Pennsylvania | 433 | 2.6% | | 9 | Georgia | 425 | 2.6% | | 10 | Minnesota | 314 | 1.9% | | 11 | Kentucky | 278 | 1.7% | | 12 | North Carolina | 186 | 1.1% | | 13 | New York | 183 | 1.1% | | 14 | Oklahoma | 179 | 1.1% | | 15 | South Carolina | 175 | 1.1% |
What the Data Tells Us
The Midwest is the center of Catholic commerce. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Minnesota together account for over 36% of all listings. This tracks with historical Catholic immigration patterns — Polish, German, Irish, and Italian families settled these states in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and their economic footprint endures.
The Sun Belt is rising. Texas and Florida together account for 27% of listings, reflecting both Catholic immigration from Latin America and the general population shift to these states. San Antonio and Houston alone have nearly 400 Catholic businesses between them.
The Northeast is surprisingly underrepresented. New York (183), Massachusetts (146), and Pennsylvania (433) — historically the most Catholic states in the country — have fewer listings than you might expect. This likely reflects the directory's ongoing data collection rather than actual business density. These states are prime targets for expansion.
Louisiana punches above its weight. With 975 businesses, Louisiana has nearly as many listings as Ohio despite having one-third the population. The Cajun Catholic culture of Lafayette (78 businesses), New Orleans (64), and Metairie (68) creates Catholic business density that is unmatched per capita.
Category Deep Dive
The 23 categories reveal where Catholic entrepreneurs concentrate:
Service-dominant economy. The top 5 categories are all service businesses (home services, fitness/health, finance, funeral, real estate). Catholic entrepreneurs overwhelmingly serve local, practical needs rather than manufacturing or technology.
The funeral industry connection. With 1,204 listings, funeral services is the 4th largest category. Catholic funeral homes have a natural competitive advantage — they understand the Rite of Christian Burial, the tradition of vigils, and the specific needs of Catholic families. This category represents a genuine economic moat.
Coffee is the breakout category. At 360 listings, coffee is larger than education (281), wedding services (234), or media (136). The rise of Catholic coffee brands — from Mystic Monk to dozens of small roasters — reflects a broader trend of faith-as-brand in consumer goods.
Media and publishing remain small. Media (136), church supply (129), and books (37) are dwarfed by service categories. The Catholic media ecosystem, while culturally important, is a fraction of the Catholic business economy.
The City Data
Beyond the top 10, the city-level data reveals Catholic business clusters that track closely with diocese strength:
| City | Businesses | Notable | |------|-----------|---------| | Louisville, KY | 92 | Strong Archdiocese presence | | Indianapolis, IN | 84 | Growing Catholic community | | Lafayette, LA | 78 | Cajun Catholic heartland | | Traverse City, MI | 71 | Northern Michigan Catholic corridor | | Metairie, LA | 68 | New Orleans metro Catholic suburb | | Corpus Christi, TX | 66 | South Texas Catholic stronghold | | Peoria, IL | 66 | Bishop Sheen's home diocese | | New Orleans, LA | 64 | Historic Catholic city | | Lansing, MI | 56 | State capital Catholic community | | El Paso, TX | 55 | Border Catholic culture | | Austin, TX | 55 | Growing Catholic population | | Dayton, OH | 52 | Marianist heritage (University of Dayton) |
What This Data Means
This is a snapshot, not a census. The directory grows every week as new businesses are submitted and discovered. But even as a snapshot, it reveals something important:
Catholic economic life in America is real, measurable, and geographically concentrated.
It clusters around strong dioceses, Catholic universities, and communities where the faith has been present for generations. It is overwhelmingly local and service-oriented. And it is far larger than most people assume — 16,463 businesses is not a niche. It is an economy.
The question is whether Catholic consumers will support it intentionally, or whether it will continue to operate invisibly, unconnected to the broader community it serves.
Know someone who'd find this data useful? Parish leaders, diocesan staff, Catholic media — this is the kind of report that gets forwarded. Send it along.
Explore the full directory at discovercatholicbusiness.com →
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Methodology: Data reflects the Discover Catholic Business directory as of February 2026. Businesses are included based on Catholic ownership, affiliation, or significant service to the Catholic community. Location data is parsed from self-reported business addresses. Businesses with no location data (789) are excluded from geographic analysis. The directory is not a statistical sample — it is an ongoing census effort. State abbreviations follow USPS conventions.
Sources: Discover Catholic Business, internal directory analysis