What is the best neighborhood in Boston to open a Hair Salon?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, the best neighborhood in Boston to open a Hair Salon is Fenway, with 80% average survivability. 60 of 88 neighborhoods analyzed exceed the 70% two-year survival threshold.

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

In Fenway, the best possible Hair Salon location in Boston offers approximately 12.9% more expected revenue than the average location. The worst-performing neighborhoods could yield approximately 21.2% less than average.

What is the city-wide average survivability for Hair Salon in Boston?

The city-wide average survivability for Hair Salon across Boston is 71% for surviving more than 2 years. Top neighborhoods like Fenway substantially outperform this average, reaching 80%.

What are the worst neighborhoods for Hair Salon in Boston?

The most challenging neighborhoods in Boston for Hair Salon include Wellesley with 56% average survival chance, Lexington, and Needham. These averages are directional, not definitive; the best decision comes from analyzing your specific storefront.

Is a Hair Salon a good tenant for Boston landlords?

In Fenway, StreetSpring forecasts a 77.0% – 81.6% average chance for a new Hair Salon to survive more than 2 years, depending on the exact storefront. Our tool shows the survivability outlook for any business type at your exact address, updated weekly.

How often are Hair Salon rankings in Boston updated?

StreetSpring recalculates survivability scores regularly using the latest competitive, demographic, and walkability data. The live tool always shows the most current predictions for any address in Boston.

What should I consider when opening a Hair Salon in Boston?

Our models show that Revenue Capture Score explains more outcome variance than any other individual metric. 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 Hair Salon in Boston

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the best and worst neighborhoods in Boston to open a Hair Salon, from Fenway (80% survival) to Wellesley (56%).

April 24, 2026•16 min read

By Bobby Koons | Last reviewed by Bobby Koons on April 28, 2026 | Methodology

Quick Summary

#1 Neighborhood: Fenway — 80% average survivability for Hair Salon

Neighborhoods at or above 70%: 60 of 88 analyzed

City-wide average: 71% for Hair Salons

Most challenging area: Wellesley at 56%

Revenue advantage (top vs. avg location): ~12.9% more expected revenue in Fenway

Data freshness: 2026 data · Full methodology →

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

Summary

Of all the neighborhoods in and around Boston, Fenway ranks #1 for opening a Hair Salon with 80% average chance of surviving more than 2 years, with the best locations offering 85% and the most challenging locations in Fenway at 74%. The worst neighborhoods include Wellesley with 56% average chance. A low-ranking neighborhood can still contain high-potential storefronts — the address matters most.

Where in Boston Should You Open a Hair Salon?

**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 Hair Salons can read those peer neighborhoods as parallel signal.

**What goes wrong for Hair Salons in Boston.** 88 tracked neighborhoods, scores spanning **56% to 80%** (average 71%). **Fenway** leads at 80% (27 existing competitors); **Wellesley** anchors the bottom at 56%. The 24-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 Hair Salon survivability with a score of 80% as of 2026. The top 10 neighborhoods are:

Why these rankings reflect real survival outcomes

Rank	Neighborhood	Best Locations	Average Locations	Challenging Locations
1	Fenway	82.0% – 86.0%	77.0% – 81.6%	73.0% – 77.0%
2	Riverside	81.0% – 85.0%	76.5% – 81.2%	73.0% – 77.0%
3	Allston	81.0% – 85.0%	74.9% – 79.5%	68.0% – 72.0%
4	Cambridgeport	81.0% – 85.0%	74.8% – 79.5%	70.0% – 74.0%
5	East Cambridge	81.0% – 85.0%	74.8% – 79.5%	70.0% – 74.0%
6	Cambridge	78.0% – 82.0%	74.7% – 79.4%	72.0% – 76.0%
7	Haymarket	79.0% – 83.0%	74.5% – 79.2%	72.0% – 76.0%
8	Government Center	78.0% – 82.0%	74.5% – 79.2%	71.0% – 75.0%
9	Brighton	83.0% – 87.0%	74.4% – 79.0%	64.0% – 68.0%
10	Kenmore	80.0% – 84.0%	74.2% – 78.8%	69.0% – 73.0%

Reading the gap between #1 and #10

Neighborhood averages mask significant block-by-block variation — always check your specific address. Our live tool reflects the latest competitive landscape — these static rankings may already be slightly out of date.

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.

The Top Revenue Neighborhoods for Hair Salons in Boston

In Fenway, the best possible location offers the opportunity of making ~12.9% more than the average location in or around Boston.

On the other hand, in Wellesley, the worst possible location could result in making ~21.2% less than the average location in the city.

The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it. Opening a Hair Salon in Boston requires careful location choice. Across 88 neighborhoods analyzed, the overall average survival chance for a new Hair Salon is 71% for lasting more than 2 years — due to a combination of many factors across competition, consumer spending, and location dynamics. Two businesses on the same block can have very different survivability scores depending on their category.

What Should I Consider When Opening a Hair Salon in or Around Boston?

The address you sign for is the most consequential decision in launching this business. A high Survivability Score is a non-negotiable starting point. Our models show that Revenue Capture Score explains more outcome variance than any other individual metric. StreetSpring computes this by projecting the business's market share, which is based on the quality and quantity of primary, secondary, and tertiary competitors. StreetSpring's training dataset includes millions of transactions and business lifecycle events. Our data shows that businesses in moderately competitive clusters survive longer than isolated storefronts on average. StreetSpring uses its own proprietary forecasting tools to make these predictions.

Area to check	What can go wrong	How to de-risk it
Outdoor seating / sidewalk use	Signing assuming you can add patio seating, then learning the city requires a separate sidewalk-cafe permit with long lead times.	Check the city's sidewalk-cafe permit process up front. Confirm landlord allows outdoor build-out in the lease language.
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.
Parking & visibility	Storefront looks great from the sidewalk but is invisible from the road.	Drive past at 30 mph from both directions. Count street parking + nearest paid lot capacity at peak hours.

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. Real-time data from StreetSpring accounts for recent openings, closures, and seasonal shifts that static rankings cannot.

Pinpointing the Right Neighborhood for a Hair Salon in Boston

Based on our analysis, the leading neighborhoods are Fenway, Riverside, and Allston, while the most challenging neighborhoods would be Wellesley, Lexington, and Needham. Location-level factors like visibility and adjacent tenants can override neighborhood-level trends. New competitor openings and closures happen weekly — the live tool ensures you see the latest picture.

Related Articles:

Which Boston Neighborhoods Are Strongest for Hair Salons?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, the top neighborhood for a Hair Salon in Boston is Fenway with 80% average survivability, followed by Riverside and Allston. 60 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.

Should You Consider Lower-Survivability Areas of Boston for a Hair Salon?

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. Remember that a neighborhood average smooths over wide variation — your exact block could significantly outperform. Always check your specific address in StreetSpring's live platform for the most accurate prediction.

How Fresh Is Our Boston Hair Salon Ranking Data?

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.

What Makes a Hair Salon a Strong (or Weak) Boston Tenant?

In Fenway, StreetSpring forecasts a 77.0% – 81.6% average chance for a new Hair Salon to survive more than 2 years, depending on the exact storefront. Check the current Survivability Score for any address instantly.

Landlord Survivability Data for Hair Salon in Boston

From a risk-assessment perspective, a Hair Salon tenant in Fenway carries the lowest risk with average survivability of 77.0% – 81.6%. Riverside presents moderate risk (76.5% – 81.2%), and Allston carries comparatively higher risk at 74.9% – 79.5%. Our tool shows the survivability outlook for any business type at your exact address, updated weekly.

StreetSpring's predictions are granular enough to distinguish between two storefronts on the same block.

Top-Survivability Boston Neighborhoods for Hair Salons

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

Waterfall chart of best and worst Hair Salon neighborhoods in Boston — Top and bottom neighborhoods for Hair Salon in Boston — each step shows the gap from the city average. Wider spread = location matters more.

Headline survivability statistic for Hair Salon in Boston — Headline survivability stat for Hair Salon in Boston.

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.

How we measure this: We compare each address to the ~30-50 most similar addresses within 1 mile to surface its relative ranking.

**A bit of background on 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))

**Daytime/resident distribution (Boston):** LEHD LODES data across 129 Boston neighborhoods: median ratio **0.25:1**, top-quartile **2.36:1** — a strongly-residential commercial-corridor profile. Use this to triangulate which neighborhood matches your concept's natural demand-timing (weekday-commuter vs. evening-and-weekend).

**Where Boston sits on operating costs:** Commercial power **10.9¢/kWh** (above the 24-metro median), state min wage **$15.00/hr** (below), combined sales tax **6.2%** (below), and commercial property tax **1.20%** (above). Composite read: **average** for operating overhead. None of these are dispositive on their own — but they bound the runway a new Boston storefront has to find product-market fit.

**How we benchmark:** BLS Business Employment Dynamics, March 2025 release reports **50.5% 5-year survival** for Hair Salons nationally. StreetSpring's Boston model — which incorporates competitive density, traffic patterns, and rent dynamics — produces an average **survivability score of 68%** for Hair Salons across the city.

Related Resources

Same business type in other cities:

Related:

Survivability Rankings for Acupuncture Clinic in Atlanta

Local Context FAQ

More questions answered with neighborhood-specific data from our 2026 corpus.

Is Boston a strong economic environment for opening a Hair Salon?

Broader metro: ~96% employment rate, ~$135K median income per ACS. Hair Salons survivability in Boston averages 68%, with the model layering business-specific and site-specific factors on top.

What other business types score similarly to Hair Salons in Boston?

Boston subtypes scoring within 2 points of Hair Salons's 68% average include Clothing Store, Laundromat, Children's Clothing & Toys Store. Survivability convergence at the metro level usually reflects shared local factors like saturation density or demographic fit.

How does Boston compare to other US metros for Hair Salons?

Across 24 US metros, Boston sits at rank #14 for Hair Salons, averaging 68% on StreetSpring's survivability scale. National range: 66-69%.

What are the top metros nationally for opening a Hair Salon?

Per StreetSpring's 24-metro model, the top three US cities for Hair Salons survivability are Dallas, Orlando, San Antonio. Boston ranks #14, averaging 68%.

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