The 800 block of Massachusetts Street is pictured on Nov. 17, 2015.

Lawrence has hundreds of retail options, but when it comes to the number of home furnishing, clothing, sporting goods and other kinds of stores based on population, the city is lagging behind some other Kansas metros.

With the lead-up to Christmas — typically one of the most revenue-generating times for retailers and busiest for restaurants — the Journal-World used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Census to find out how the amount of available Lawrence shopping, eating and lodging opportunities compares with other cities.

The U.S. Census defines a metro area as containing an urban core of 50,000 or more residents. According to the data, the metros in Kansas are: Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence and Manhattan.

Retail

In nearly every major retail category, Lawrence fell short of Topeka and Manhattan on the number of stores per 10,000 residents.

The findings are based off the Census Bureau’s 2014 population estimates and the 2013 County Business Patterns, which gives economic data by industry of small areas. The data for 2013 was released this year.

The Census’ “retail trade” category is wide: it includes everything from used-car lots to book stores — any physical location where small quantities of goods are sold to the public.

Out of the five metros, Manhattan had the most home furnishing and furniture, clothing and accessories, electronics and appliances and shoe stores when adjusted for population.

Manhattan, which has about 35,000 fewer residents than Lawrence, also has more physical stores than Lawrence that sell home furnishings and furniture, clothing and accessories, shoes and sporting goods.

In Manhattan, there are 21 home furnishing and furniture stores, or about 3.7 per 10,000 people. Topeka has 36, or 2.8 per 10,000 people, and Lawrence has 18, which is 1.9 per 10,000 people.

One of the biggest discrepancies was in clothing. Manhattan has 56 stores — almost 10 per every 10,000 residents. Topeka has a total of 85, or 6.7 per 10,000 residents, and Lawrence has 41, or 4.4 per 10,000 residents.

Manhattan has about three times the amount of sporting goods stores than Lawrence, when adjusted for population. Its nine stores equates to 1.6 per 10,000 residents, while Lawrence’s five are about 0.5 per 10,000 residents. Topeka has 16, or 0.9 per 10,000 residents.

Wichita and Kansas City had the least amount of stores in most categories when adjusted for the population of their metro areas.

But, in sporting goods, Lawrence also came in behind them. Wichita has 46 sporting good stores, about 0.7 per 10,000 people, and the Kansas City metro area has 114, or about 0.6 per 10,000 people.

Lawrence also lagged behind all of the metros except Kansas City when it came to the general merchandise category, which includes department stores.

According to the data, Lawrence has 14 general merchandise stores, or 1.5 per 10,000 people. Kansas City has 299, which also equates to 1.5 per 10,000 people. Topeka had 40, or 3.1 per 10,000 residents; Manhattan has 10, or 1.8 per 10,000 people; and Wichita has 108, or 1.7 per 10,000 people.

The total number of retail locations in each metro are: Kansas City, 6,217; Wichita, 2,097; Topeka, 802; Lawrence, 379; and Manhattan, 343.

Adjusted for population, Topeka has 63 retail establishments per 10,000 people; Manhattan has 61; Lawrence, 41; Wichita, 33 and Kansas City, 30.

Food and drink

The Kansas City metro area, which includes Kansas and Missouri, has 3,655 food and drink establishments; Wichita has about 1,221; Topeka, 397; Lawrence, 269 and Manhattan, 174.

Lawrence’s 269 food and drink establishments include 95 “full service” restaurants and 98 “limited service,” or fast food. The rest comprises cafeterias, snack bars and caterers.

When adjusted for population, Lawrence came in behind both Topeka and Manhattan on the number of retail and food and drink options it offers.

Topeka and Manhattan tied for the number of restaurants, bars and other eating and drinking locations per 10,000 people. Both have about 31.

Lawrence has 29 per 10,000 people, Wichita has 19 and the Kansas City metro has 18.

Lodging

When it comes to travel accommodations, Lawrence is again middle-of-the road for locations based on population.

Manhattan has about 2.9 hotels and motels per 10,000 people; Topeka has 2.6; Lawrence, 1.9; Wichita, 1.6; and Kansas City, 1.5.

Lawrence has a total of 18 lodging locations. Manhattan has 16; Topeka, 33; Wichita, 101; and Kansas City, 298.