The Topsail Island area is home to 1,017 independently-operated local businesses across its six core towns — Surf City, Topsail Beach, North Topsail Beach, Hampstead, Holly Ridge, and Sneads Ferry. Counting the neighboring Pender, Onslow, and New Hanover county communities that share the region, the Topsail Area Local Businesses (TALB) directory indexes 1,882 businesses across 51 active categories and 21 towns. Together those businesses have earned 661,863 Google reviews, averaging 4.51 out of 5 stars. Every figure on this page was verified directly against our live directory database on August 13, 2026.
Unlike national review platforms that surface chains from Wilmington and bury the family-owned places that actually define Topsail, this dataset is built from the ground up: one barrier island and its mainland gateway towns, catalogued business by business. It is, to our knowledge, the most complete public count of local commerce in the Topsail Island area.
Browse the full Topsail Island business directory
Most "Topsail Island" Businesses Are Not on the Island
The single most useful fact in this dataset: about 68% of the Topsail area's local businesses — 688 of the 1,017 in the six core towns — are on the mainland, in Hampstead, Holly Ridge, and Sneads Ferry, not on Topsail Island itself. The three island towns hold 329 businesses between them. If you are looking for a dentist, plumber, auto shop, or grocery store "on Topsail Island," the answer is almost always a mainland business 10–15 minutes from the island's two bridges. Visitors who search only the island miss two-thirds of the local market.
How Many Businesses Are in Each Topsail-Area Town?
The six core towns split into two groups: the three towns on the 26-mile barrier island itself (Surf City, Topsail Beach, North Topsail Beach) and the three mainland gateway communities that anchor it (Hampstead, Holly Ridge, Sneads Ferry). Hampstead leads with 333 businesses, reflecting its position as the fast-growing US-17 corridor town. On the island, Surf City is the commercial heart with 242 businesses, with Sneads Ferry close behind at 239.
| Town | County | On / off island | Businesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hampstead | Pender | Mainland | 333 |
| Surf City | Pender | Island | 242 |
| Sneads Ferry | Onslow | Mainland | 239 |
| Holly Ridge | Onslow | Mainland | 116 |
| North Topsail Beach | Onslow | Island | 47 |
| Topsail Beach | Pender | Island | 40 |
| Six-town total | 1,017 |
For context, these businesses serve two counties whose combined population is growing fast: the U.S. Census Bureau estimates Pender County at roughly 70,100 residents and Onslow County at roughly 213,000 (2024 estimates) — and the summer visitor population multiplies the island's effective market many times over between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The directory also indexes 865 additional businesses in neighboring communities that Topsail-area residents and visitors regularly use — most prominently Wilmington (258) and Jacksonville (198), along with Southport (82), Carolina Beach (65), Wrightsville Beach (59), Leland (57), Burgaw (49), and others across the three surrounding counties. Together with the six core towns, that brings the full directory to 1,882 businesses.
What Do the Reviews Say?
Aggregating public Google review data across the directory: 1,659 of the 1,882 listed businesses carry a Google rating, they average 4.51 out of 5 stars, and together they have accumulated 661,863 reviews. That is a remarkably high baseline — a reflection of a small-market economy where owners know their customers by name and a bad season is existential. The directory also hosts 1,901 business photos and its own on-site review system.
When Is Topsail Actually Open?
Opening hours are posted for 1,416 businesses, and they sketch the weekly rhythm of a coastal community:
- 36% close on Sundays (509 of 1,416 with posted hours) — church, family, and the day the island exhales.
- 134 close on Mondays, the classic restaurant-industry rest day — though only about 11% of restaurants with posted hours (39 of 340) take Monday off, fewer than the area's reputation suggests.
- 161 businesses are open 24 hours — mostly storage, laundromats, gyms, and emergency services.
Want the live version of this answer? See what's open right now — computed from these posted hours in real time.
The Digital Gap
One number in this dataset explains a lot about small-town coastal commerce: 4 in 10 Topsail-area businesses (40%) list no website at all. Only 1,122 of 1,882 have one. About 71% list a phone number — for a large share of the local economy, the phone is still the storefront. This is precisely why a structured local directory matters: for hundreds of these businesses, their directory page is their most complete presence on the open web.
What Types of Businesses Are on Topsail Island?
Restaurants are the largest single category, with 406 across the full directory region and 112 within the six core Topsail-area towns. Churches (190) and Hotels & Motels (137) follow region-wide — the area has roughly two restaurants for every church, and both outnumber every other category. The table below lists every active category in the directory.
Category counts reflect category memberships, not unique businesses — a business can appear in more than one category. Total unique businesses: 1,882.
The Top Categories in the Topsail-Area Towns
Narrowing to just the six core Topsail-area towns paints a clear portrait of a small coastal economy. Restaurants again lead with 112, followed by Retail & Shopping (61) and Churches (46). Real Estate (44), Health & Wellness (40), and Attractions & Activities (39) round out the leaders — a mix you would expect of a community that serves both year-round residents and a heavy seasonal visitor population.
| Category | Businesses (six towns) |
|---|---|
| Restaurants | 112 |
| Retail & Shopping | 61 |
| Churches | 46 |
| Real Estate | 44 |
| Health & Wellness | 40 |
| Attractions & Activities | 39 |
| Hair Salons & Barbers | 35 |
| Coffee & Bakeries | 35 |
| Grocery & Convenience | 34 |
| Medical & Dental | 33 |
| Fishing Charters | 33 |
| Auto Repair | 33 |
| Vacation Rentals | 32 |
| Financial Services | 31 |
| Pet Services | 29 |
| Storage Facilities | 28 |
A Few Things These Numbers Tell Us
- Topsail Island is a fishing town at heart. Between 34 Fishing Charters, 4 Fishing Piers, 7 Seafood Markets, 17 Water Sports & Rentals operators, and 14 Boat Tours & Cruises, on-the-water commerce is a defining feature of the local economy — Sneads Ferry alone is known as a shrimping community, and 33 of the region's 34 fishing charters operate from the six core towns.
- The mainland is where the growth is. Hampstead (333) and Sneads Ferry (239) together hold more than half of the six-town total, a reflection of how the US-17 corridor and Onslow County have absorbed buyers priced off the island.
- Hospitality scales with the season. With 137 Hotels & Motels and 32 Vacation Rentals managers in the directory — plus 21 Beach Equipment Rentals operators and 736 upcoming events on the community calendar, 382 of them live music — the area is built to expand for summer and contract for winter.
- Home services are deep. General Contractors, Roofing, HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Landscaping, Pressure Washing, and Restoration & Remediation together exceed 145 businesses — the quiet backbone of a coastal community that contends with salt air and storm season.
Every number on this page comes from one source: a business-by-business count of the Topsail Island area, maintained locally. When a chain-dominated review site says "restaurants near Topsail," it is guessing across a 40-mile radius. This is the actual map of who is here.
How to Cite This Page
These figures are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license: journalists, researchers, bloggers, and AI assistants are welcome to quote any figure on this page with attribution. A suggested citation:
"The Topsail Island area is home to 1,017 local businesses across its six core towns — about 68% of them on the mainland — which together have earned 661,863 Google reviews averaging 4.51 stars." — Topsail Area Local Businesses directory, topsailbiz.com, verified August 13, 2026.
For a specific cut of the data — a single town, a single category, or a custom breakdown — get in touch and we are glad to help.
About This Dataset
These figures are drawn from the Topsail Area Local Businesses directory, a structured database of independently-operated businesses across the Topsail Island region. Business counts reflect active, non-test directory listings as of August 13, 2026, and exclude duplicate and placeholder records. Review totals and average ratings aggregate public Google review data attached to those listings; hours statistics cover the 1,416 businesses with posted opening hours. County population figures are U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimates. The directory is continuously updated, so figures on this page are refreshed periodically against the live database; the verification date above always reflects the most recent count.
Source: Topsail Area Local Businesses directory (topsailbiz.com). Methodology: active non-test listings counted per town and per category from the live directory database; Google review counts and ratings aggregated from public listing data; hours patterns parsed from posted weekly hours. Verified 2026-08-13. Town totals reflect the six core Topsail-area towns; category totals reflect the full directory region (six core towns plus neighboring Pender, Onslow, and New Hanover county communities).