City Survivability Rankings for Pet Store

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the top cities for Pet Stores across the US by Survivability Scores. See which cities offer the best chances for a Pet Store 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 Pet Store is Denver: 84.1% at a good address, 73.0% 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
  • 6 of 22 analyzed US metros average above 70% for Pet Store survivability at a typical address
  • The lowest-ranked city is New York City at 74.7%
  • National average chance of lasting two or more years for Pet Store: 67.9%
  • 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 Pet Store in the United States, with an 84.1% chance of lasting two or more years at a good address. Following close behind are Charlotte with 83.7%, and Atlanta with 83.7%. StreetSpring's 22-city analysis places the national average for Pet Stores at 67.9%, a baseline that Denver comfortably exceeds. Market conditions change daily and it is best to use StreetSpring's most current data to ensure there have not been major shifts. Pair these survivability scores with StreetSpring's live tool to get a real-time view before making a final decision.

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

Pet Stores city survivability range chart: Denver vs New York City (2026)

Best-to-worst Pet Store survivability within individual metros: Denver, Charlotte, Washington DC, Phoenix 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 Pet Stores

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

#MetroMetro areaChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO84.1%
2CharlotteCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC83.7%
3AtlantaAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA83.7%
4OrlandoOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL83.2%
5SeattleSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA82.8%
6MinneapolisMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI82.8%
7HoustonHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX82.8%
8BaltimoreBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD82.3%
9St. LouisSt. Louis, MO-IL82.3%
10PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD81.8%
11San DiegoSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA81.8%
12Washington DCWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV81.8%
13DetroitDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI81.4%
14MiamiMiami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL81.0%
15ChicagoChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN80.5%
16Los AngelesLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA80.0%
17San FranciscoSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA80.0%
18Tampa BayTampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL79.6%
19BostonBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH79.6%
20PortlandPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA79.6%
21PhoenixPhoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ79.2%
22New York CityNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ74.7%

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

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

  • At a good address: 83.7%
  • At a typical address: 72.6%
  • Best scored location: 85.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 49.0%

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

  • At a good address: 83.7%
  • At a typical address: 72.3%
  • Best scored location: 85.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 49.0%

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

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

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 82.3%
  • At a typical address: 68.9%
  • Best scored location: 85.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 49.0%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 80.5%
  • At a typical address: 65.8%
  • Best scored location: 85.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 49.0%

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

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 79.6%
  • At a typical address: 64.3%
  • Best scored location: 85.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 49.0%

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

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

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 84.1%) and the #22 city (New York City at 74.7%) is 9.40 percentage points. A 0.4-point gap between Denver and Charlotte is small. Address-level differences inside a single metro run much wider for Pet Stores.

Challenging markets: 1 city falls below 60% survivability, suggesting more difficult market conditions.

National average: Across all 22 analyzed cities, the average survivability for a Pet Store is 67.9%.

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor Pet Stores:

  • Strong survivability signals: Denver leads with a 73% average chance of lasting two or more years for Pet Stores: significantly above the national average for this business category.
  • Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Pet Stores, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
  • Economic conditions: The rankings for Pet Stores account for Census neighborhood characteristics, including median household income and the housing vacancy rate, alongside competition and consumer spending.
  • Low market saturation: Top cities for Pet Stores have fewer direct competitors per square mile than lower-ranked metros, leaving meaningful whitespace for well-positioned new entrants.

Our survivability predictions are built on one of the largest commercial real estate datasets available, covering 24 major metros. Our models are built using machine learning trained on millions of commercial real estate data points. Every forecast is powered by StreetSpring's private data models.

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 Pet Stores, 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 Pet Store 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 Pet Stores in cities that don't appear in our top 10. Pet Stores 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 Pet Store?

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

Denver ranks as the #1 city in the US for Pet Stores survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average 73% chance of lasting two or more years. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Denver, a Pet Store has approximately a 73% chance of still operating after two years, above the national average for this category. Charlotte ranks second, followed by Atlanta. 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, Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando, Seattle, Minneapolis, Houston, Baltimore, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Diego, Washington DC, Detroit, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tampa Bay, Boston, Portland, Phoenix, 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.