Business Survivability in Union Square, Boston
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Union Square is a Veterinary Clinic with a 85.2% 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 Union Square (85.2% average survival rate, 90.0% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #13 of 52 neighborhoods in and around Boston
- Neighborhood average: 71.8% two-year survival 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 Union Square 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 Union Square is a Veterinary Clinic with a 85.2% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 90.0% chance; next is an Eye Care Center with a 83.5% chance, followed by a Chiropractor Office with a 79.8% chance.
Is Union Square a good place to start a business?
Among the 52 neighborhoods StreetSpring ranks in and around Boston, Union Square ranks #13 for business survivability, with an average 71.8% chance of lasting two or more years.
- At its best addresses in Union Square, the top-ranked business type scores 4.8 points above its own average in the neighborhood.
- That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Union Square can drop substantially below average. The survivability gap between the best and worst addresses in a single neighborhood can be 20 points or more.
- With a 97.0% employment rate, Union Square has the consumer spending foundation that supports a range of brick-and-mortar business types.
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 Union Square?
With StreetSpring, location selection in Union Square moves from guesswork to a precise, address-level survivability score for any business type you're considering. This is the address StreetSpring's 2026 analysis recommends most strongly for a Veterinary Clinic in Union Square:
StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for a Veterinary Clinic in Union Square. Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. The model evaluates hundreds of factors, from primary and secondary competition to forecasted spend, site accessibility, and local market share potential.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Union Square?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 90.0% |
| 2 | Eye Care Center | 89.2% |
| 3 | Chiropractor Office | 89.2% |
| 4 | Dentist Office | 86.6% |
| 5 | Physical Therapy Clinic | 86.2% |
| 9 | Clothing Store | 85.0% |
| 10 | Convenience Store | 84.6% |
| 12 | Dance Club | 84.2% |
| 22 | Bar | 84.0% |
| 23 | Spa | 84.0% |
Ties at a good address: Eye Care Center and Chiropractor Office are tied; Bar and Spa are tied. A tie is a tie: the rank column is the published file's order, which looks at the average and the best address next.
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 Union Square
- #1 Opening a Veterinary Clinic in Union Square shows 85.2% average survivability. Top locations reach 90.0%; lower-end sites show 56.4%.
- #2 Eye Care Center (Ranked #2): 83.5% average in Union Square. Best-case storefronts: 90.0%. Challenging locations: 56.8%.
- #3 Chiropractor Office is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Union Square: 79.8% chance on average, best at 89.6%, challenging at 62.0%.
- #4 Dentist Office: 77.4% on average across Union Square; best at 89.6%, challenging at 57.3%.
- #5 Opening a Physical Therapy Clinic in Union Square shows 74.6% average survivability. Top locations reach 89.6%; lower-end sites show 56.4%.
Strong Performers in Union Square
- #9 Clothing Store (Ranked #9): 82.3% average in Union Square. Best-case storefronts: 85.0%. Challenging locations: 49.9%.
- #10 Convenience Store is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Union Square: 82.2% chance on average, best at 85.0%, challenging at 70.2%.
- #12 Dance Club: 73.2% on average across Union Square; best at 85.6%, challenging at 50.9%.
- #22 Opening a Bar in Union Square shows 79.8% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.0%; lower-end sites show 52.0%.
- #23 Spa (Ranked #23): 79.1% average in Union Square. Best-case storefronts: 84.0%. Challenging locations: 48.4%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
- Eye Care Center: See how this compares to other cities →
- Chiropractor Office: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Union Square make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, securing a location with maximum Revenue Capture potential in Union Square 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
- Different business models thrive in different micro-locations.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- When the question is money, the Revenue Capture Score comes first: it is StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at a specific address.
- StreetSpring scores survivability down to the exact storefront location.
What businesses should open next in Union Square?
The top businesses to open next in Union Square:
- Veterinary Clinics: 85.2% average survival rate, 90.0% at the best address
- Eye Care Centers: 83.5% average survival rate
- Chiropractor Offices: 79.8% average survival rate
Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. We have been studying the businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans. 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. Union Square's employment rate (97.0%) and housing vacancy rate (5.7%) are part of the Census context StreetSpring's model reads when it scores each business type at each address. These rankings are a snapshot; StreetSpring regularly recalculates survivability for every location in Union Square, 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 Union Square.
What type of business should you rent your Union Square storefront to?
If you own commercial space in Union Square, StreetSpring's 2026 data points to Veterinary Clinics, Eye Care Centers, and Chiropractor Offices as the tenant types with the strongest projected longevity at this location.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- StreetSpring scores survivability down to the exact storefront location. Use StreetSpring to see the survivability score for any business type at your exact storefront address before you sign a lease.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Boston Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Union Square storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes, our 2026 model places a Veterinary Clinic at the top of the survivability rankings for Union Square storefronts, with a best-case score of 90.0% and a floor of 56.4% at the most challenging addresses.
- StreetSpring scores survivability down to the exact storefront location.
What should I consider when opening a business in Union Square?
When evaluating potential locations in Union Square, start with the Survivability Score. It accounts for competition, spending, mobility, and market share in a single figure.
- Revenue Capture Score comes first when comparing locations: it turns local competition and consumer spending into the share of revenue a business can expect to win.
- StreetSpring's custom-built forecasting infrastructure powers every survivability score, combining data science with commercial real estate intelligence.
- You can check the Survivability Score for any storefront in Union Square with a free 10-minute trial of StreetSpring's live tool.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
Real estate professionals and business owners across 24 major metros use StreetSpring to ground their site-selection decisions in data, not guesswork. 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.