City Survivability Rankings for Eye Care Center

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the top cities for Eye Care Centers across the US by Survivability Scores. See which cities offer the best chances for an Eye Care Center to succeed.

•17 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 Eye Care Center is Houston: 89.6% at a good address, 82.3% 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
  • 20 of 22 analyzed US metros average above 70% for Eye Care Center survivability at a typical address
  • The lowest-ranked city is New York City at 84.9%
  • National average chance of lasting two or more years for Eye Care Center: 74.5%
  • Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 22 US metro areas · Full methodology →

Table of Contents

Summary

According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Houston ranks as the #1 city for opening an Eye Care Center in the United States, with an 89.6% chance of lasting two or more years at a good address. Following close behind are Charlotte with 88.7%, and Denver with 88.7%. With a 74.5% national average and 1 cities clearing 80%, Eye Care Centers represent a category with meaningful upside in well-selected markets. Keep in mind that results depend heavily on the exact location; strong sites often exist within cities that seem less favorable overall. Market conditions shift frequently: use StreetSpring's live tool to confirm the current picture before committing to a location.

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

Eye Care Centers city survivability range chart: Houston vs New York City (2026)

Best-to-worst Eye Care Center survivability within individual metros: Houston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Portland 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 Eye Care Centers

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

#MetroMetro areaChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1HoustonHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX89.6%
2CharlotteCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC88.7%
3DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO88.7%
4PhoenixPhoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ88.3%
5AtlantaAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA88.3%
6OrlandoOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL88.3%
7ChicagoChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN88.3%
8MinneapolisMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI87.9%
9SeattleSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA87.9%
10Los AngelesLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA87.9%
11St. LouisSt. Louis, MO-IL87.5%
12PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD87.0%
13Washington DCWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV87.0%
14BaltimoreBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD87.0%
15MiamiMiami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL87.0%
16San DiegoSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA86.6%
17San FranciscoSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA86.6%
18DetroitDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI86.2%
19Tampa BayTampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL85.3%
20BostonBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH85.3%
21PortlandPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA84.9%
22New York CityNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ84.9%

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

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

  • At a good address: 88.7%
  • At a typical address: 78.4%
  • Best scored location: 90.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 56.0%

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

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

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 88.3%
  • At a typical address: 73.4%
  • Best scored location: 90.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 56.0%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key Insights

Cities cluster tightly: The difference between the #1 city (Houston at 89.6%) and the #22 city (New York City at 84.9%) is 4.70 percentage points. Eye Care Centers show a 0.9-point difference between the top two metros. Treat this ranking as a starting filter, not a decision.

Strong performers: 1 city shows Survivability Scores above 80%, indicating highly favorable conditions for Eye Care Centers.

National average: Across all 22 analyzed cities, the average survivability for an Eye Care Center is 74.5%.

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor Eye Care Centers:

  • Strong survivability signals: Houston leads with a 82% average chance of lasting two or more years for Eye Care Centers: significantly above the national average for this business category.
  • Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Eye Care Centers, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
  • Economic conditions: The rankings for Eye Care Centers account for Census neighborhood characteristics, including median household income and the housing vacancy rate, alongside competition and consumer spending.
  • 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.

StreetSpring's AI models project the survivability of businesses in every major U.S. neighborhood, so agents and entrepreneurs can weigh a location before opening day. The training dataset includes millions of transactions and business lifecycle events. 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 Eye Care Centers, 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 Eye Care Center 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 Eye Care Centers in cities that don't appear in our top 10. Eye Care Centers 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 Eye Care Center?

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

Houston ranks as the #1 city in the US for Eye Care Centers survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average 82% chance of lasting two or more years. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Houston, an Eye Care Center has approximately a 82% chance of still operating after two years, above the national average for this category. Charlotte ranks second, followed by Denver. 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: Houston, Charlotte, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Boston, Portland, 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.