Business Survivability in Cambridge, Boston
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Cambridge is a Veterinary Clinic with a 65.4% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.
Quick Summary
- Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
- Best business: a Veterinary Clinic in Cambridge (65.4% average survival rate, 90.0% at best locations)
- Town rank: #72 of 72 towns around Boston
- Town average: an average Survivability Score of 54.8% across the business types ranked here
- Coverage: This ranking carries one row per business type and neighborhood. Its score is the projected chance of lasting two or more years, averaged across the price points StreetSpring scores separately in the tool (most types have 5). The 10 business types here are base types; the tool offers 500+ business types, counting each type at each of its price points.
- Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data
- Detailed methodology
Last reviewed: October 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring
In this article:
- Summary
- Is Cambridge a good place to start a business?
- How to find the best location
- Best businesses to open
- How much money could a business make?
- What businesses should open next?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Summary
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Cambridge is a Veterinary Clinic with a 65.4% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 90.0% chance; next is a Chiropractor Office with a 66.0% chance, followed by a Physical Therapy Clinic with a 62.2% chance.
Is Cambridge a good place to start a business?
Cambridge holds the #72 position of 72 towns around Boston for new business survivability, with an average score of 54.8% across the business types ranked there.
- For the top-ranked business type, the best addresses in Cambridge score 24.6 points higher on the two-year chance than its average there.
- However, those same business types at the weakest addresses in Cambridge can score considerably below average. Even the most in-demand concept in Cambridge will struggle if it opens at the wrong address.
- Cambridge's employment rate of 97.8% and housing vacancy rate of 18.0% are two of the Census inputs StreetSpring's model reads for this neighborhood.
Employment and housing vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
How can you find the best location to open a business in Cambridge?
StreetSpring scores each block in Cambridge so you can see which ones give a business the best two-year chance. Here is the top survivability address for a Veterinary Clinic in Cambridge, per StreetSpring's 2026 model:
The highlighted area represents the address in Cambridge that StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks highest for a Veterinary Clinic survivability. For the most current predictions, visit StreetSpring to analyze your specific location in real-time. StreetSpring's scoring incorporates hundreds of inputs, including competitive quality and density, projected consumer spending, Revenue Capture Score, and local demand patterns.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Cambridge?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 81.5% |
| 2 | Chiropractor Office | 78.5% |
| 3 | Physical Therapy Clinic | 75.6% |
| 4 | Dentist Office | 74.7% |
| 5 | Pet Boarding Facility | 73.8% |
| 6 | Cosmetics Shop | 73.3% |
| 7 | Hair Salon | 72.8% |
| 9 | Pet Store | 72.4% |
| 10 | International Grocery Store | 72.0% |
| 13 | Spa | 71.4% |
The rank column is the published file's rank within this place; a skipped number is a business type the file ranks here that this list leaves out to keep any one business family from filling it.
Highest Survivability in Cambridge
- #1 Veterinary Clinic: 65.4% on average across Cambridge; best at 90.0%, challenging at 56.0%.
- #2 Opening a Chiropractor Office in Cambridge shows 66.0% average survivability. Top locations reach 90.0%; lower-end sites show 56.0%.
- #3 Physical Therapy Clinic (Ranked #3): 62.2% average in Cambridge. Best-case storefronts: 89.2%. Challenging locations: 56.0%.
- #4 Dentist Office is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in Cambridge: 62.0% chance on average, best at 89.2%, challenging at 56.0%.
- #5 Pet Boarding Facility: 57.6% on average across Cambridge; best at 82.3%, challenging at 49.0%.
Strong Performers in Cambridge
- #6 Opening a Cosmetics Shop in Cambridge shows 56.8% average survivability. Top locations reach 82.8%; lower-end sites show 49.0%.
- #7 Hair Salon (Ranked #7): 55.6% average in Cambridge. Best-case storefronts: 83.6%. Challenging locations: 48.0%.
- #9 Pet Store is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Cambridge: 56.7% chance on average, best at 82.3%, challenging at 49.0%.
- #10 International Grocery Store: 55.9% on average across Cambridge; best at 81.0%, challenging at 49.0%.
- #13 Opening a Spa in Cambridge shows 56.0% average survivability. Top locations reach 83.1%; lower-end sites show 48.0%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
- Chiropractor Office: See how this compares to other cities →
- Physical Therapy Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Cambridge make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, identifying the optimal address for your business type in Cambridge starts with the Revenue Capture Score, the most important factor in choosing a location: StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at that address.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- StreetSpring calculates survivability for each business type separately at each address, so the best location for your concept may differ from the neighborhood's overall top-ranked site.
- Location is the part of a new business you can compare address by address before committing.
- Compare the Revenue Capture Score of each shortlisted address first: it is the top factor in choosing a location, and it estimates the revenue a business can capture there.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have different survivability scores: StreetSpring calculates each one individually.
What businesses should open next in Cambridge?
The top businesses to open next in Cambridge:
- Veterinary Clinics: 65.4% average survival rate, 90.0% at the best address
- Chiropractor Offices: 66.0% average survival rate
- Physical Therapy Clinics: 62.2% average survival rate
For the most current predictions, visit StreetSpring to analyze your specific location in real-time. We apply advanced machine learning to one of the largest commercial real estate outcome datasets in the country. StreetSpring scores 500+ business types: 153 base business types, most of them at 5 price points, which is 569 type-and-price combinations you can choose in the tool. Cambridge sits at 97.8% employment and 18.0% housing vacancy in Census data, context the model reads alongside competition and consumer spending. These rankings are a snapshot; StreetSpring regularly recalculates survivability for every location in Cambridge, incorporating the latest competitive openings, closures, and spending data: check current locations now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Boston Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Boston Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across Boston neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Cambridge.
What type of business should you rent your Cambridge storefront to?
For landlords in Cambridge, StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies Veterinary Clinics, Chiropractor Offices, and Physical Therapy Clinics as the business types most likely to produce stable, long-term tenancy.
- Location is the part of a new business you can compare address by address before committing.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have different survivability scores: StreetSpring calculates each one individually. StreetSpring allows property owners to evaluate any address against 500+ business types, so you can prioritize the categories that score highest at your specific location.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Boston Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Cambridge storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, a Veterinary Clinic ranks as the top tenant type for your Cambridge storefront: best-case locations show a 90.0% survival rate, while the most challenging addresses drop to 56.0%.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have different survivability scores: StreetSpring calculates each one individually.
What should I consider when opening a business in Cambridge?
When selecting a location in Cambridge it is crucial to select a location with a very high Survivability Score.
- Revenue Capture is where competition meets spending, and it's the number that matters most when choosing a location.
- Every survivability score is produced by StreetSpring's private prediction engine, not available through any other platform.
- StreetSpring's live survivability scores start with a free 10-minute trial: check your specific address now.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring's models are built from millions of real business outcomes, making predictions grounded in what actually happened. Aggregated survivability rankings for Boston are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Boston: /resources/data/boston-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.