City Survivability Rankings for Barber Shop

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the top cities for Barber Shops across the US by Survivability Scores. See which cities offer the best chances for a Barber Shop 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 Barber Shop is Denver: 83.1% at a good address, 71.8% 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 Barber Shop survivability at a typical address
  • The lowest-ranked city is New York City at 76.8%
  • National average chance of lasting two or more years for Barber Shop: 67.8%
  • Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 22 US metro areas · Full methodology →

Table of Contents

Summary

According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Denver ranks as the #1 city for opening a Barber Shop in the United States, with an 83.1% chance of lasting two or more years at a good address. Following close behind are Atlanta with 82.7%, and Charlotte with 82.7%. The 22-city analysis shows Barber Shops performing at a 67.8% national average, with strong geographic concentration of top scores in a handful of metros. City-wide statistics are directional, not definitive; the best decision comes from analyzing your specific storefront. These rankings reflect data through early 2026: check StreetSpring for the latest figures before any location decision.

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

Barber Shops city survivability range chart: Denver vs New York City (2026)

Best-to-worst Barber Shop survivability within individual metros: Denver, Atlanta, Washington DC, 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 Barber Shops

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

#MetroMetro areaChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO83.1%
2AtlantaAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA82.7%
3CharlotteCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC82.7%
4SeattleSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA82.2%
5OrlandoOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL82.2%
6HoustonHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX82.2%
7MinneapolisMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI81.8%
8BaltimoreBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD81.8%
9St. LouisSt. Louis, MO-IL81.8%
10San DiegoSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA81.3%
11DetroitDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI81.3%
12Washington DCWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV81.3%
13MiamiMiami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL81.3%
14PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD80.8%
15Los AngelesLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA80.8%
16San FranciscoSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA80.4%
17ChicagoChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN80.0%
18Tampa BayTampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL79.5%
19PhoenixPhoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ79.5%
20PortlandPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA79.5%
21BostonBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH79.0%
22New York CityNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ76.8%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 79.0%
  • At a typical address: 63.9%
  • Best scored location: 84.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 48.0%

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

Key Insights

Moderate variation between cities: The difference between the #1 city (Denver at 83.1%) and the #22 city (New York City at 76.8%) is 6.30 percentage points. For Barber Shops, Denver leads Atlanta by 0.4 points. Either metro works. The specific site decides the outcome.

National average: Across all 22 analyzed cities, the average survivability for a Barber Shop is 67.8%.

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor Barber Shops:

  • Strong survivability signals: Denver leads with a 72% average chance of lasting two or more years for Barber Shops: significantly above the national average for this business category.
  • Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Barber Shops, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
  • Foot traffic infrastructure: High-scoring cities combine transit access, walkable commercial corridors, and anchor tenants that drive consistent daily traffic past storefronts.
  • Supply chain access: Cities at the top of this ranking benefit from mature supplier networks for this category, reducing operating costs and inventory lead times.

Our survivability predictions are built on one of the largest commercial real estate datasets available, covering 24 major metros. We have been studying the businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans. StreetSpring uses its own proprietary forecasting tools to make these predictions.

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 Barber Shops, 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 a Barber Shop 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 Barber Shops in cities that don't appear in our top 10. Barber Shops 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 a Barber Shop?

StreetSpring's Survivability Score tool provides address-level predictions for Barber Shops across all 22 metros we track. For this category specifically, the model reads competition density, the consumer spending index for Barber Shops, and Census neighborhood characteristics such as the housing vacancy rate, and turns them into the projected chance that a Barber Shop 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 Barber Shops?

Denver ranks as the #1 city in the US for Barber Shops 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 Denver, a Barber Shop has approximately a 72% chance of still operating after two years, above the national average for this category. Atlanta 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: Denver, Atlanta, Charlotte, Seattle, Orlando, Houston, Minneapolis, Baltimore, St. Louis, San Diego, Detroit, Washington DC, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Tampa Bay, Phoenix, Portland, 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.