City Survivability Rankings for Hair Salon

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the top cities for Hair Salons across the US by Survivability Scores. See which cities offer the best chances for a Hair Salon 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 Hair Salon is Chicago: 83.5% at a good address, 71.6% 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
  • 13 of 22 analyzed US metros average above 70% for Hair Salon survivability at a typical address
  • The lowest-ranked city is Phoenix at 79.0%
  • National average chance of lasting two or more years for Hair Salon: 70.0%
  • Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 22 US metro areas · Full methodology →

Table of Contents

Summary

According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Chicago ranks as the #1 city for opening a Hair Salon in the United States, with an 83.5% chance of lasting two or more years at a good address. Following close behind are New York City with 83.5%, and Philadelphia with 83.1%. Hair Salons consistently deliver a 70.0% survivability average across our 22 analyzed metros, with top-ranked Chicago demonstrating the strongest conditions. That said, city averages don't tell the whole story: there are standout locations even in areas that appear less suitable at first glance. Use this data to narrow your shortlist, then visit each top city in person to assess foot traffic and competitive density.

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

Hair Salons city survivability range chart: Chicago vs Phoenix (2026)

Best-to-worst Hair Salon survivability within individual metros: Chicago, New York City, Detroit, Houston and Phoenix. Each box spans the middle of that metro's range; whiskers are its best and worst locations (2026).

All 22 Cities Ranked for Hair Salons

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

#MetroMetro areaChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1ChicagoChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN83.5%
2New York CityNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ83.5%
3PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD83.1%
4MiamiMiami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL83.1%
5Los AngelesLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA83.1%
6San FranciscoSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA83.1%
7BostonBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH83.1%
8SeattleSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA82.7%
9DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO82.7%
10AtlantaAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA82.7%
11CharlotteCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC82.7%
12DetroitDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI82.7%
13BaltimoreBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD82.7%
14Washington DCWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV82.7%
15OrlandoOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL82.7%
16St. LouisSt. Louis, MO-IL82.7%
17PortlandPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA82.7%
18Tampa BayTampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL82.7%
19San DiegoSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA82.2%
20MinneapolisMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI82.2%
21HoustonHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX80.8%
22PhoenixPhoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ79.0%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 82.7%
  • At a typical address: 70.4%
  • Best scored location: 84.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 48.0%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key Insights

Cities cluster tightly: The difference between the #1 city (Chicago at 83.5%) and the #22 city (Phoenix at 79.0%) is 4.50 percentage points. For Hair Salons, Chicago leads New York City by less than a point. Either metro works. The specific site decides the outcome.

National average: Across all 22 analyzed cities, the average survivability for a Hair Salon is 70.0%.

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor Hair Salons:

  • Strong survivability signals: Chicago leads with a 72% average chance of lasting two or more years for Hair Salons: significantly above the national average for this business category.
  • Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Hair Salons, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
  • Low market saturation: Top cities for Hair Salons have fewer direct competitors per square mile than lower-ranked metros, leaving meaningful whitespace for well-positioned new entrants.
  • Geographic distribution: The top cities span multiple U.S. regions, giving franchise operators or multi-location owners diverse market options without concentrating risk.

Our AI platform forecasts business outcomes at the address level, giving entrepreneurs and landlords alike a data-driven edge. We apply advanced machine learning to massive commercial real estate datasets to build accurate models. StreetSpring's predictions leverage proprietary datasets covering competition, spending, and mobility.

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 Hair Salons, 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 Hair Salon 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 Hair Salons in cities that don't appear in our top 10. Hair Salons 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 Hair Salon?

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

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