City Survivability Rankings for American Restaurant

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the top cities for American Restaurants across the US by Survivability Scores. See which cities offer the best chances for an American Restaurant to succeed.

•16 min read

Quick Summary

  • Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
  • The highest-ranked city for American Restaurant is Atlanta: 83.1% at a good address, 72.2% at a typical address
  • Dallas is left out of this ranking while a gap in its input data is repaired, and San Antonio is left out because it has too few scored locations to rank fairly
  • 7 of 22 analyzed US metros average above 70% for American Restaurant survivability at a typical address
  • The lowest-ranked city is New York City at 75.9%
  • National average chance of lasting two or more years for American Restaurant: 67.5%
  • Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 22 US metro areas · Full methodology →

Table of Contents

Summary

According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Atlanta ranks as the #1 city for opening an American Restaurant in the United States, with an 83.1% chance of lasting two or more years at a good address. Following close behind are Houston with 83.1%, and Charlotte with 82.7%. Our 22-city dataset shows American Restaurants achieving 67.5% average survivability nationally: Atlanta pulling notably ahead of the pack. Still, specific site selection matters: some of the best-performing blocks can be found in cities that might not look ideal on average. The best way to use these rankings is as a starting point: layer in your own market research and local knowledge before committing.

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

American Restaurants city survivability range chart: Atlanta vs New York City (2026)

Best-to-worst American Restaurant survivability within individual metros: Atlanta, Houston, Baltimore, Boston and New York City. Each box spans the middle of that metro's range; whiskers are its best and worst locations (2026).

All 22 Cities Ranked for American Restaurants

Based on StreetSpring's analysis of 22 major metropolitan areas, these cities offer the strongest prospects for American Restaurants:

#MetroMetro areaChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1AtlantaAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA83.1%
2HoustonHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX83.1%
3CharlotteCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC82.7%
4DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO82.7%
5OrlandoOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL82.7%
6SeattleSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA82.2%
7MinneapolisMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI81.8%
8St. LouisSt. Louis, MO-IL81.8%
9Washington DCWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV81.3%
10Los AngelesLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA81.3%
11DetroitDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI80.8%
12BaltimoreBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD80.8%
13San DiegoSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA80.8%
14MiamiMiami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL80.8%
15San FranciscoSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA80.4%
16PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD80.0%
17ChicagoChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN80.0%
18PhoenixPhoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ79.5%
19PortlandPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA79.5%
20Tampa BayTampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL79.0%
21BostonBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH78.6%
22New York CityNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ75.9%

1. Atlanta Metro: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

  • At a good address: 83.1%
  • At a typical address: 72.2%
  • Best scored location: 84.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 48.0%

2. Houston Metro: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

3. Charlotte Metro: Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

4. Denver Metro: Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

5. Orlando Metro: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

6. Seattle Metro: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

7. Minneapolis Metro: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

8. St. Louis Metro: St. Louis, MO-IL

9. Washington DC Metro: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

10. Los Angeles Metro: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

11. Detroit Metro: Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

12. Baltimore Metro: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

13. San Diego Metro: San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

14. Miami Metro: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL

15. San Francisco Metro: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

16. Philadelphia Metro: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

17. Chicago Metro: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

  • At a good address: 80.0%
  • At a typical address: 64.0%
  • Best scored location: 84.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 48.0%

18. Phoenix Metro: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

19. Portland Metro: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

20. Tampa Bay Metro: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

21. Boston Metro: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

22. New York City Metro: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

Key Insights

Moderate variation between cities: The difference between the #1 city (Atlanta at 83.1%) and the #22 city (New York City at 75.9%) is 7.20 percentage points. American Restaurants show a difference of under a point between the top two metros. Treat this ranking as a starting filter, not a decision.

National average: Across all 22 analyzed cities, the average survivability for an American Restaurant is 67.5%.

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor American Restaurants:

  • Strong survivability signals: Atlanta leads with a 72% average chance of lasting two or more years for American Restaurants: significantly above the national average for this business category.
  • Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for American Restaurants, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
  • Economic conditions: The rankings for American Restaurants account for Census neighborhood characteristics, including median household income and the housing vacancy rate, alongside competition and consumer spending.
  • Foot traffic infrastructure: High-scoring cities combine transit access, walkable commercial corridors, and anchor tenants that drive consistent daily traffic past storefronts.

The predictions here are powered by AI models validated against actual business outcomes nationwide. We incorporate data from thousands of neighborhoods and hundreds of thousands of individual businesses. Our forecasting system combines proprietary data with machine learning models unavailable anywhere else.

City-specific guides: For detailed neighborhood-level analysis, explore our city guides:

National guides:

How current is this ranking?

Rankings are updated quarterly. The current data reflects StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with the next full dataset refresh scheduled for Q3 2026. As market conditions shift across major metros, individual city scores can move meaningfully between updates: particularly for American Restaurants, where local competition density and consumer spending patterns respond quickly to new entrants and neighborhood change. For the most current score at any specific address, use StreetSpring's live survivability tool rather than the static ranking above.

Can an American Restaurant succeed in cities not ranked in the top 10?

Yes, our top 10 ranking reflects cities with the strongest average conditions, but lower-ranked metros can still contain exceptional individual neighborhoods. Many operators successfully open American Restaurants in cities that don't appear in our top 10. American Restaurants in particular can find strong performance in secondary markets where the right demographic concentration, household income, and limited direct competition within walking distance align, even outside our highest-ranked cities. StreetSpring's neighborhood-level data surfaces these pockets of opportunity in every city we analyze, regardless of where the city as a whole ranks nationally.

What tools can help me choose the right city for an American Restaurant?

StreetSpring's Survivability Score tool provides address-level predictions for American Restaurants across all 22 metros we track. For this category specifically, the model reads competition density, the consumer spending index for American Restaurants, and Census neighborhood characteristics such as the housing vacancy rate, and turns them into the projected chance that an American Restaurant lasts two or more years at a given address. You can check any specific address before signing a lease and compare multiple neighborhoods side by side to identify the highest-survivability site within your target city.

Try the Survivability Score tool →

Which US city has the best survivability for American Restaurants?

Atlanta ranks as the #1 city in the US for American Restaurants survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average 72% chance of lasting two or more years. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Atlanta, an American Restaurant has approximately a 72% chance of still operating after two years, above the national average for this category. Houston ranks second, followed by Charlotte. The full ranking reflects data across 22 major US metro areas: see the complete list above for all scores and neighborhood-level links.

Last reviewed: October 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

Technical note: Aggregated national survivability rankings across all 24 metros are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

View national technical data

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

Methodology: Each metro's figures pool the scored locations in its published neighborhoods. Metros are ranked the way the national data file ranks them, on the chance of lasting two or more years at a good address; the typical-address figure is shown alongside. Coverage includes 22 major US metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, Denver, Orlando, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Detroit, Baltimore, San Diego, Miami, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Phoenix, Portland, Tampa Bay, Boston, New York City. 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.