Business Survivability in Chatham, Chicago
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Chatham is a Chiropractor Office with a 71.3% 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 Chiropractor Office in Chatham (71.3% average survival rate, 89.6% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #75 of 99 neighborhoods in and around Chicago
- Neighborhood average: 57.9% 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 Chatham 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 Chatham is a Chiropractor Office with a 71.3% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 89.6% chance; next is a Clothing Store with a 66.4% chance, followed by a Convenience Store with a 71.5% chance.
Is Chatham a good place to start a business?
In Chicago's survivability rankings, Chatham comes in at #75 of 99 neighborhoods, with an average Survivability Score of 57.9% across the business types ranked there.
- At its best addresses in Chatham, the top-ranked business type scores 18.3 points above its own average in the neighborhood.
- That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Chatham 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 78.2% of the local population employed, Chatham presents a stable consumer base: particularly for food, beverage, and service businesses that depend on repeat discretionary spending.
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 Chatham?
StreetSpring scores each block in Chatham so you can see which ones give a business the best two-year chance. This is the address StreetSpring's 2026 analysis recommends most strongly for a Chiropractor Office in Chatham:
This map shows the optimal location for a Chiropractor Office in Chatham based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis. Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform, and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. The prediction model incorporates hundreds of location-specific factors, including competitive density, forecasted consumer spending, mobility patterns, and Revenue Capture Score.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Chatham?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chiropractor Office | 89.2% |
| 2 | Clothing Store | 85.0% |
| 3 | Convenience Store | 84.6% |
| 4 | Bar | 84.0% |
| 5 | Hair Salon | 83.6% |
| 6 | Laundromat | 83.6% |
| 7 | Coffee Shop | 83.6% |
| 8 | Spa | 83.6% |
| 9 | Cafe | 83.2% |
| 10 | Veterinary Clinic | 81.9% |
Ties at a good address: Hair Salon, Laundromat, Coffee Shop 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.
Highest Survivability in Chatham
- #1 Opening a Chiropractor Office in Chatham shows 71.3% average survivability. Top locations reach 89.6%; lower-end sites show 58.1%.
- #2 Clothing Store (Ranked #2): 66.4% average in Chatham. Best-case storefronts: 85.0%. Challenging locations: 49.9%.
- #3 Convenience Store is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Chatham: 71.5% chance on average, best at 85.0%, challenging at 51.2%.
- #4 Bar: 69.3% on average across Chatham; best at 84.0%, challenging at 48.4%.
- #5 Opening a Hair Salon in Chatham shows 71.3% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.0%; lower-end sites show 50.2%.
Strong Performers in Chatham
- #6 Laundromat (Ranked #6): 67.3% average in Chatham. Best-case storefronts: 84.0%. Challenging locations: 48.9%.
- #7 Coffee Shop is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Chatham: 67.1% chance on average, best at 84.0%, challenging at 48.9%.
- #8 Spa: 65.3% on average across Chatham; best at 84.0%, challenging at 49.8%.
- #9 Opening a Cafe in Chatham shows 74.3% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.0%; lower-end sites show 49.4%.
- #10 Veterinary Clinic (Ranked #10): 70.1% average in Chatham. Best-case storefronts: 86.6%. Challenging locations: 58.1%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Chiropractor Office: See how this compares to other cities →
- Clothing Store: See how this compares to other cities →
- Convenience Store: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Chatham make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, choosing an address that maximizes your Revenue Capture Score in Chatham 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
- Location fit is business-type-specific: a spot that's ideal for a coffee shop may underperform for a nail salon at the same address.
- The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
- 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.
- Every survivability score StreetSpring produces is specific to the exact address and business type, not averaged across a zip code or neighborhood.
What businesses should open next in Chatham?
The top businesses to open next in Chatham:
- Chiropractor Offices: 71.3% average survival rate, 89.6% at the best address
- Clothing Stores: 66.4% average survival rate
- Convenience Stores: 71.5% average survival rate
Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform, and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. Our training data spans 500+ business types across 24 major metros, giving our models the breadth to predict outcomes across nearly any commercial concept. 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. The 15.3% housing vacancy rate in Chatham describes the neighborhood as a whole; survivability still depends heavily on choosing the right address within it. StreetSpring regularly updates survivability scores for available locations: check the live tool now to see which storefronts in Chatham are currently available and how they score.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Chicago Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Chicago Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Chiropractor Office survivability across Chicago neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Chatham.
What type of business should you rent your Chatham storefront to?
StreetSpring's 2026 model places Chiropractor Offices, Clothing Stores, and Convenience Stores at the top of the survivability rankings for Chatham, making them the safest long-term tenant bets for landlords here.
- The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
- Every survivability score StreetSpring produces is specific to the exact address and business type, not averaged across a zip code or neighborhood. 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 Chicago Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Chatham storefront to a Chiropractor Office?
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis strongly supports renting to a Chiropractor Office in Chatham: best-in-class addresses achieve 89.6% survivability, and even the lower-end sites come in at 58.1%.
- Every survivability score StreetSpring produces is specific to the exact address and business type, not averaged across a zip code or neighborhood.
What should I consider when opening a business in Chatham?
StreetSpring's Survivability Score for your Chatham address is the projected chance a business of your type is still operating two years from now: check it early.
- Revenue Capture is where competition meets spending, and it's the number that matters most when choosing a location.
- These forecasts are generated using StreetSpring's unique analytical framework.
- StreetSpring's address-level survivability data starts with a free 10-minute trial: begin with your top candidate locations in Chatham.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring's AI platform has analyzed thousands of business openings to identify success patterns. Aggregated survivability rankings for Chicago are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Chicago: /resources/data/chicago-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.