The State With The Most Trader Joe's Has Over 200 Locations

From the hidden gems in the Trader Joe's freezer aisle to expensive Trader Joe's items that are still absolutely worth it, the grocer continues to offer more and more cult fandom-worthy products every year. But considering that Trader Joe's got its start as a quirky neighborhood grocer in 1967, it's still amazing that the chain now has over 600 — 631 to be exact — locations across America. It's not surprising that over 200 of those stores are located in the state where the store got its start: California. The first Trader Joe's was located in Pasadena, and today there are four of TJ's locations in the city. Additionally, some of the biggest cities in the state also have multiple locations: Los Angeles has 11 stores, making it the highest number for a city in California; while San Francisco has seven and San Diego has eight.

There isn't another state that even comes close to the number of California Trader Joe's stores, which accounts for around a third of all of the store's locations. California has over 39 million residents, and New York, for comparison, has over 19 million. But New York only has 38 locations in the state. The third largest amount of locations is in Washington state, with 29.

With a much smaller population than California, it may make sense that Vermont only has one Trader Joe's location, in South Burlington. The same goes for Maine, with one location in Portland. Arkansas also only has one location, in Little Rock. There are a number of states that, sadly for them, do not have any Trader Joe's locations, including Alaska and Hawaii — potentially because the logistics of distribution into these locations could be complicated. That said, a number of states on the mainland also remain without a Trader Joe's, including Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

With its continued popularity for providing customers with unique, store-specific items at affordable prices, Trader Joe's influences us to completely ignore our shopping list, and we can't get enough. Luckily, the chain continues to add stores, and there are a number of new Trader Joe's locations in the works. In April 2025, 21 new stores opened, including in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and five additional locations in California. Coming up are new stores opening soon in McKinney, Texas; Miller Place, New York; and New Orleans, Louisiana, though the chain hasn't released official opening dates. The grocer's strategy tends toward expanding locations in areas where it already has a market presence, so time will tell if the beloved chain ever makes it to every single state.