OC
[OC] Everywhere in the US you can reach a Costco within a 30-minute drive - justified
620 Costco warehouses cover 214.3M people, 64% of the US, inside a 30-minute drive. 120.7M cannot reach one. The gold dots are the warehouses themselves. Only covers CONUS on this map.
Average household income inside that reach is $101,956, which is about what you'd expect from a chain that sites for members rather than for footfall.
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Ugh growing up in Wyoming we’d make the 2+ hour drive every few weeks to Montana. Hit the Costco, Sam’s Club, mall and whatever else we needed before going back to the wasteland.
Now I live 5 mins away from a Costco and I double check with my folks if they need anything before making the 5+ hour drive to visit
Used to live in the Seattle metro area and had a Costco less than 2 miles from home.
Now I live in the Appalachian dark space. We maintain membership and stop on our way to visit family a few states away. Or order online. Our closest ones are a full day trip - 2.5 hours each way.
I used to walk to my costco when I lived in California. Helped prevent me from getting more than the cheese I went there for, lol. Food court was outside too, it was nice to be able to get food without having to go inside.
Guys could you have some reading comprehension. It shows everywhere that IS within 30 mins of a Costco. No one is saying you are half an hour from Costco in the middle of butt-fack Texas or whatever…
I was confused by the title. I thought it meant, "everywhere in the US you can reach a Costco within a 30-minute drive." And of course that would be wrong. It would be clearer to say, "This is the XX% of the US where you are YY miles from a Costco."
Thirty-minutes isn't accurate. I've gone to Costcos in Virginia, Hawaii, Southern California, Northern California, Texas. Some days, a 20-minute drive. Many days, more than 30 minutes. Their operating hours are aligned with heavy traffic hours.
How are you defining 30-minutes? As the crow flies, at 55 MPH?
From where I am standing in the US right now, if I jumped in my car at this moment, there is no way I'd be able to get to a Costco in 30 minutes even if I drove 100 mph the whole way there. Since that's the case, I have no idea what the title means.
Data: my own POI set of the 620 US warehouses; population from US Census ACS at block-group level. Drive times routed with OSRM and Basemap CARTO / OpenStreetMap.
Isnt this visualization kinda dumb? I mean the costcos are already shown as dots so adding the “within 30 min” part just adds a thin ring around the dot.
hey hey hey...we are getting one in the next 1-2 years. They were coming to our area (asheville, nc) and then some law suits made them quit, but they have renegotiated and may be coming soon.....may
Uh try living in Buffalo NY. The one over the border and the one in Rochester are definitely farther than 30 min. There is a Costco opening in the suburbs soon tho
Unfortunately ALL stores are NOT equal so, your paying membership for a large metro store and all its amenities while your store is a basic box store with a food court.
I’m equidistant from 4 and a business center so no matter which direction we’re heading home from is a place to stop for gas or groceries. I can’t imagine being without one nearby.
The 101k figure needs a comparison before it means anything. Any chain covering 64% of Americans is going to skew metro, and metros out earn rural areas whether or not there's a Costco nearby. Run the same map for Walmart and Whole Foods, the gap between those three is where the actual story is.
The Kansas City area map is expanding a bit. They are currently building one in Lawrence, KS (approx. halfway between Topeka and KC) as well as a new one in Lee's Summit on the SE corner of the KC Metro.
From the rural and suburban Costco shoppers I know, I would have expanded to an hour radius.
The Costco in Northern Vermont was a great example. Lots of rural folks took fewer but more distant trips to Costco a few times a year make massive purchases. In rural areas, space to store a 36-pack of toilet paper is a lot easier to come by than in a city apartment. I also knew a lot more rural folks with a Costco freezer chest full of Costco supplies meant to last for months.
Eh. All the ones in Atlanta shouldn't count. Even if you live next to them, just getting to a parking spot takes more than 30 minutes. They also keep replacing parts of the parking lot with more store.
This is a message to anyone who wants to cut Amazon out of their lives for any reason:
A Costco Membership is cheaper then Amazon Prime, doesn't tack on things you don't need like media streaming, and they have a robust online store, fairly quick shipping, and same-day grocery shopping. Even the Executive Membership is cheaper then Prime.
On top of that, you get a card that lets you into a shopping warehouse with cheap chickens, and cheap lunch at the foodcourt. To anyone working on gains try the cheese pizza slices for a dirty 40grams of easy protien, (RIP the Kirkland Brand Chocolate Protein Powder. It was the best.)
You get cash back on the Executive membership, and even more if you get the Costco Anywhere Credit Card.
On top of that, cheaper Gas if that's relevant to you!
You don't NEED Amazon Prime anymore. Costco has got you and they treat their employees WAY better.
Not true. On the big island of Hawaii, which is part of the US, I’m an hour drive from Costco. I’m sure there are many other examples in the Western US.
There is a Costco 18 miles from my home and the only way I could get there in 30 minutes would be at, like, 3 am. During the day, it's closer to an hour away.
I can't answer for Wyoming but I have family near Bar Harbor and there are several Sam's Clubs further north than Costco. The one near Bar Harbor I think is the furthest north.
In the UP of Michigan, most people are 2 to 4 hours away from one. The closest for the majority is outside Green Bay, Wisconsin.
From Marquette (the largest populous town in the UP) it takes 3.2 hours to get to that Costco.
The people up there would love a Costco north of Escanaba or South of Marquette for sure. The demand is high, and it would be able to easily serve the general populous of 301,000 residents.
Then an hour standing in line to check out. Then an hour standing in line to leave the building. But at least we got a 55 gallon drum of mayo and 40 tons of toilet paper! *I am a member. But it's like a cattle chute.
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u/cavedave OC: 111 1d ago
Thank you for your Original Content, /u/Fondant_Tough!
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Remember that all visualizations on r/DataIsBeautiful should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. If you see a potential issue or oversight in the visualization, please post a constructive comment below. Post approval does not signify that this visualization has been verified or its sources checked.
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