What is the best neighborhood in Boston to open a Grocery Store?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, the best neighborhood in Boston to open a Grocery Store is Fenway, with 70% average survivability. 0 of 88 neighborhoods analyzed exceed the 70% two-year survival threshold.

How much more revenue can a Grocery Store make in the best vs. average Boston neighborhood?

In Fenway, the best possible Grocery Store location in Boston offers approximately 9.7% more expected revenue than the average location. The worst-performing neighborhoods could yield approximately 16.3% less than average.

What is the city-wide average survivability for Grocery Store in Boston?

The city-wide average survivability for Grocery Store across Boston is 64% for surviving more than 2 years. Top neighborhoods like Fenway substantially outperform this average, reaching 70%.

What are the worst neighborhoods for Grocery Store in Boston?

The most challenging neighborhoods in Boston for Grocery Store include Wellesley with 53% average survival chance, Lexington, and Norwood. Surface conditions can change in a week — for the most current score, the live StreetSpring tool beats any static page.

What should I consider when opening a Grocery Store in Boston?

Revenue Capture Score matters more than any other single metric when predicting business outcomes. StreetSpring computes Revenue Capture Score by projecting the business's market share based on competitor quality and quantity, mobility patterns, and forecasted consumer spending for the specific business type.

Survivability Rankings for Grocery Store in Boston

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the best and worst neighborhoods in Boston to open a Grocery Store, from Fenway (70% survival) to Wellesley (53%).

April 24, 2026•16 min read

By Bobby Koons | Last reviewed: April 25, 2026 | New data weekly | Methodology

Quick Summary

#1 Neighborhood: Fenway — 70% average survivability for Grocery Store

Neighborhoods at or above 70%: 0 of 88 analyzed

City-wide average: 64% for Grocery Stores

Most challenging area: Wellesley at 53%

Revenue advantage (top vs. avg location): ~9.7% more expected revenue in Fenway

Data freshness: 2026 data · Full methodology →

Summary
10 Best Neighborhoods
Where Would a Grocery Store Make the Most Money?
What Should I Consider?
Where Should I Start?
FAQ: Best Neighborhoods
FAQ: Can a Grocery Store Succeed in Lower-Ranked Areas?
FAQ: How Often Are Rankings Updated?
FAQ: Is a Grocery Store a Good Tenant?
Landlord Survivability Data
Best Neighborhoods for Any Business

Summary

Opening a Grocery Store in Boston? Our 2026 analysis identifies Fenway as the top location with 70% average chance of surviving more than 2 years, with the best locations offering 76% and the most challenging locations in Fenway at 64%. The worst neighborhoods include Wellesley with 53% average chance. Remember that a neighborhood average smooths over wide variation — your exact block could significantly outperform.

Top-Survivability Boston Neighborhoods for Grocery Stores

**Comparable neighborhoods nationally:** Fenway resembles **Yesler Terrace (Seattle)** and **Old Town Chinatown (Portland)** most closely — all three carry more renters, many nearby parks, and white-collar job mix. Operators evaluating Fenway for Grocery Stores can read those peer neighborhoods as parallel signal.

**What goes wrong for Grocery Stores in Boston.** 88 tracked neighborhoods, scores spanning **53% to 70%** (average 64%). **Fenway** leads at 70% (no existing competitors in our index); **Wellesley** anchors the bottom at 53%. The 17-point spread is the dominant failure mode: choosing the wrong Boston neighborhood costs more upside than any operational tweak can recover.

Fenway ranks #1 of 88 neighborhoods analyzed in and around Boston for Grocery Store survivability with a score of 70% as of 2026. The top 10 neighborhoods are:

Where the rankings might surprise you

Rank	Neighborhood	Best Locations	Average Locations	Challenging Locations
1	Fenway	73.0% – 77.0%	67.8% – 71.7%	63.0% – 67.0%
2	Magoun Square	70.0% – 74.0%	67.1% – 71.0%	63.0% – 67.0%
3	Mission Hill	74.0% – 78.0%	66.5% – 70.5%	60.0% – 64.0%
4	Roxbury	72.0% – 76.0%	66.2% – 70.1%	59.0% – 63.0%
5	Ten Hills	70.0% – 74.0%	66.0% – 69.9%	62.0% – 66.0%
6	Kenmore	69.0% – 73.0%	65.7% – 69.6%	61.0% – 65.0%
7	Davis Square	67.0% – 71.0%	65.6% – 69.5%	63.0% – 67.0%
8	Winter Hill	69.0% – 73.0%	65.5% – 69.4%	63.0% – 67.0%
9	Cambridgeport	68.0% – 72.0%	65.4% – 69.4%	64.0% – 68.0%
10	Assembly Square	68.0% – 72.0%	65.4% – 69.3%	63.0% – 67.0%

Why these rankings reflect real survival outcomes

These rankings are based on the latest available data; check StreetSpring for real-time updates. Static rankings provide a useful baseline, but the live tool captures changes that have occurred since publication.

Survivability ranges reflect best and worst storefront conditions within each neighborhood. See our full methodology →

Try StreetSpring to see if this location is still the best and see if there are locations to rent in this area right now.

Boston's Best-Earning Neighborhoods for Grocery Stores

In Fenway, the best possible location offers the opportunity of making ~9.7% more than the average location in or around Boston.

On the other hand, in Wellesley, the worst possible location could result in making ~16.3% less than the average location in the city.

Location selection is the most consequential decision any new business owner makes. Opening a Grocery Store in Boston requires careful location choice. Across 88 neighborhoods analyzed, the overall average survival chance for a new Grocery Store is 64% for lasting more than 2 years — due to a combination of many factors across competition, consumer spending, and location dynamics. Consumer spending patterns differ dramatically across business types and micro-locations.

The Most Important Factors for a Grocery Store in Boston

Among all the variables you control, location quality has the biggest downstream impact. A strong Survivability Score is the foundation everything else builds on. Revenue Capture Score matters more than any other single metric when predicting business outcomes. StreetSpring computes this by projecting the business's market share, which is based on the quality and quantity of primary, secondary, and tertiary competitors. Our forecasting engine processes data from over 24 metro areas covering 180+ million consumers. Our data shows that businesses in moderately competitive clusters survive longer than isolated storefronts on average. Our forecasting system combines proprietary data with machine learning models unavailable anywhere else.

Factor	Where new owners get tripped up	Questions to ask before you sign
Permits & licensing	Assuming a 30-day permit timeline, hitting 90+ days, paying rent on a non-operating storefront.	Call the local zoning office before signing. Confirm your use is already permitted; if not, factor a 2-3 month variance timeline.
Workforce availability	Hiring radius is smaller than you think — many neighborhoods can't staff a full team at standard wages.	Pull BLS wage data for your industry in this metro. Walk through your staffing plan with a local restaurant/retail operator before signing.
Lease term	Locking into 7-10 years without break clauses, then needing to relocate after year 2.	Negotiate a relocation or termination clause. Confirm assignment + sublease rights are in writing.

This can be summarized as:

Revenue Capture Score = Projected Market Share × Forecasted Spend on Specific Business

StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and walkability data. The live platform incorporates the most recent foot traffic, competitor, and spending data for your exact address.

Where to Launch a Grocery Store in or Around Boston

Our data ranks the top-performing neighborhoods as Fenway, Magoun Square, and Mission Hill, while the most challenging neighborhoods would be Wellesley, Lexington, and Norwood. Even neighborhoods with modest average scores can harbor exceptional individual locations. The live platform incorporates the most recent foot traffic, competitor, and spending data for your exact address.

Related Articles:

Where Grocery Stores Thrive in Boston

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, the top neighborhood for a Grocery Store in Boston is Fenway with 70% average survivability, followed by Magoun Square and Mission Hill. 0 of 88 neighborhoods analyzed exceed 70% two-year survival.

Because local conditions evolve weekly, the live survivability tool offers a more current snapshot than any published ranking.

Can a Grocery Store Succeed in Lower-Ranked Neighborhoods in Boston?

Yes — neighborhood averages mask significant block-by-block variation. Even in neighborhoods ranked outside the top 10, individual storefronts with strong foot traffic, low direct competition, and favorable lease terms can outperform the area average. Even neighborhoods with modest average scores can harbor exceptional individual locations. Always check your specific address in StreetSpring's live platform for the most accurate prediction.

When Does StreetSpring Update Boston Grocery Store Rankings?

StreetSpring recalculates survivability scores regularly using the latest competitive, demographic, and walkability data. Rankings are updated quarterly; the live tool always reflects the most current predictions for any address in Boston.

The Landlord's View of Grocery Stores in Boston

In Fenway, StreetSpring forecasts a 67.8% – 71.7% average chance for a new Grocery Store to survive more than 2 years, depending on the exact storefront. Check the current Survivability Score for any address instantly.

Landlord Survivability Data for Grocery Store in Boston

If you own commercial property in Boston and are considering a Grocery Store tenant, here is what the data shows: Fenway properties offer the best survivability outlook (67.8% – 71.7%), Magoun Square is strong but slightly lower (67.1% – 71.0%), and Mission Hill rounds out the top 3 (66.5% – 70.5%). Our tool shows the survivability outlook for any business type at your exact address, updated weekly.

StreetSpring provides highly detailed forecasts — revealing how long hundreds of business types are likely to last at a specific address.

What Are the Best Neighborhoods in Boston to Open a Grocery Store?

You can see the best neighborhoods in or around Boston to open any type of business in our article Neighborhood Survivability Rankings: Boston.

Technical note: Aggregated survivability rankings for Boston are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

View technical data for Boston

StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and walkability data, so the live score may differ from the static ranges shown here.

Visual Data

Dumbbell chart comparing best vs worst locations for businesses in boston — Best vs worst neighborhood per business type — the gap shows how much location choice matters within a city.

Bubble chart of business subtypes in Boston by survivability score and location density — Every business subtype in Boston plotted by score vs location count — bubble size shows market depth. Find Grocery Store relative to its peers.

How we measure this: Address-level scoring decomposes into Site Economics, Market Demand, Competition, Accessibility, Neighborhood Character, and Performance History — six axes.

**About Boston** — Boston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It serves as a cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston))

**City-wide daytime/nighttime spread (Boston):** Boston's neighborhoods span the daytime-density range from sparse residential to dense commercial. Median daytime/resident ratio: **0.25**; top-quartile ratio: **2.36** across 129 tracked neighborhoods (LEHD LODES 2022). That's a strongly-residential profile — pick the right side of the ratio for your concept's demand-timing.

**Boston operating-cost snapshot:** Against our 24-metro median, Boston's commercial electricity is **10.9¢/kWh** (above 10.8¢ median), state minimum wage is **$15.00/hr** (below $15.00), combined sales tax is **6.2%** (below 7.7%), and effective commercial property tax is **1.20%** (above 0.96%). Operating-cost positioning: **average**.

**How we benchmark:** BLS Business Employment Dynamics, March 2025 release reports **50.0% 5-year survival** for Grocery Stores nationally. StreetSpring's Boston model — which incorporates competitive density, traffic patterns, and rent dynamics — produces an average **survivability score of 70%** for Grocery Stores across the city.

Related Resources

Same business type in other cities:

City Survivability Rankings for Grocery Store

Related:

Local Context FAQ

Beyond the general FAQ — data-anchored answers for this specific location.

What's the broader economic environment in Boston?

ACS data puts Boston's employment rate at ~96% and median household income at ~$135K. StreetSpring's Grocery Stores model averages 70% across the metro, weighting both macro and site-specific factors.

What's the single biggest factor in survival for a Grocery Store in Boston?

The address you sign for. Across Boston, Grocery Stores score 37-91% depending on location — a 54-point spread that captures competitive density, demographic fit, accessibility, and visibility at each storefront.

How many Boston neighborhoods has StreetSpring scored for Grocery Stores?

StreetSpring's Boston model covers Grocery Stores across all tracked neighborhoods — the average score is 70%, with neighborhood-level scores spanning 37-91%. Real-time scores at the address level capture finer variation than these neighborhood averages.

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