In addition to the demographic area and department of commerce information, after you determine a specific area within the town, it continues to be very important to make sure the actual location is visible and fairly easily accessible within  the selected specific location, if possible.     There have been many business owners that picked a location within a strip shopping center that was just a bit too much out of the main foot traffic area, or on the second floor "in the back" and were very suprised at the lack of organic traffic, or even went out of business due to this.    A relative running a clothing store comes to mind who picked a second floor location in a strip shopping center mall.   It was too far off the staircase on the 2nd floor.    Once you have determined the location, if there is a place in the immediate vicinity, within 100 feet, sit for a few hours over the course of a few days, during the week and on weekends and see what the foot traffic is.  Of course, advertising prevents and solves many of these issues, but it is always important how accessible and visible the location is for the organic traffic just going by. 

Hi, Check out our blog article about choosing a location for your business. We also have a section on our website with tips for choosing a location. 

Have you checked with your local chamber of commerce? They often have such data. Your state department of commerce may also have data on each community in the state.