Business Survivability in South Bronx, New York City

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in South Bronx is an Eye Care Center with a 69.6% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

•13 min read

Quick Summary

  • Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
  • Best business: an Eye Care Center in South Bronx (69.6% average survival rate, 89.6% at best locations)
  • Neighborhood rank: #84 of 180 neighborhoods in and around New York City
  • Neighborhood average: 60.6% two-year survival across the business types ranked here
  • Coverage: This ranking carries one row per business type and neighborhood. Its score is the projected chance of lasting two or more years, averaged across the price points StreetSpring scores separately in the tool (most types have 5). The 10 business types here are base types; the tool offers 500+ business types, counting each type at each of its price points.
  • Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data
  • Detailed methodology

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

In this article:

Summary

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in South Bronx is an Eye Care Center with a 69.6% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 89.6% chance; next is a Convenience Store with a 78.8% chance, followed by a Clothing Store with a 75.7% chance.


Is South Bronx a good place to start a business?

In New York City's survivability rankings, South Bronx comes in at #84 of 180 neighborhoods, with an average Survivability Score of 60.6% across the business types ranked there.

  • At its best addresses in South Bronx, the top-ranked business type scores 20.0 points above its own average in the neighborhood.
  • But at poorly chosen addresses within South Bronx, even the top-ranked business types can fall well below the neighborhood average. Location selection remains critical: a promising concept at the wrong spot still carries significant risk.
  • The 3.4% housing vacancy rate in South Bronx comes from the Census American Community Survey and describes homes and apartments, not shops or offices.

Employment and housing vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.


How can you find the best location to open a business in South Bronx?

StreetSpring's model evaluates every available address in South Bronx for your business type, ranking them by survivability so the best storefront is always identifiable. The location below represents the address in South Bronx with the highest projected survivability for an Eye Care Center:

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The highlighted area represents the address in South Bronx that StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks highest for an Eye Care Center survivability. Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform, and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. StreetSpring's scoring incorporates hundreds of inputs, including competitive quality and density, projected consumer spending, Revenue Capture Score, and local demand patterns.

Check if this location is still available →


What are the best businesses to open in South Bronx?

#Business typeChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1Eye Care Center84.9%
2Convenience Store84.6%
3Clothing Store84.6%
4Cafe84.0%
5Hair Salon84.0%
7Coffee Shop84.0%
8Spa83.6%
9Gym83.6%
21Cosmetics Shop77.8%
22Dermatology Clinic77.2%

Ties at a good address: Convenience Store and Clothing Store are tied; Cafe, Hair Salon and Coffee Shop are tied; Spa and Gym are tied. A tie is a tie: the rank column is the published file's order, which looks at the average and the best address next.

The rank column is the published file's rank within this place; a skipped number is a business type the file ranks here that this list leaves out to keep any one business family from filling it.

Highest Survivability in South Bronx

  • #1 Eye Care Center: 69.6% on average across South Bronx; best at 89.6%, challenging at 56.0%.
  • #2 Opening a Convenience Store in South Bronx shows 78.8% average survivability. Top locations reach 85.0%; lower-end sites show 49.4%.
  • #3 Clothing Store (Ranked #3): 75.7% average in South Bronx. Best-case storefronts: 85.0%. Challenging locations: 49.0%.
  • #4 Cafe is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in South Bronx: 76.5% chance on average, best at 84.0%, challenging at 48.4%.
  • #5 Hair Salon: 71.9% on average across South Bronx; best at 84.0%, challenging at 48.0%.

Strong Performers in South Bronx

  • #7 Opening a Coffee Shop in South Bronx shows 64.9% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.0%; lower-end sites show 48.0%.
  • #8 Spa (Ranked #8): 68.5% average in South Bronx. Best-case storefronts: 84.0%. Challenging locations: 48.0%.
  • #9 Gym is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in South Bronx: 65.6% chance on average, best at 84.0%, challenging at 48.0%.
  • #21 Cosmetics Shop: 61.1% on average across South Bronx; best at 84.6%, challenging at 49.0%.
  • #22 Opening a Dermatology Clinic in South Bronx shows 63.5% average survivability. Top locations reach 89.6%; lower-end sites show 56.0%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally


How much money could a business in South Bronx make?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, choosing an address that maximizes your Revenue Capture Score in South Bronx starts with the Revenue Capture Score, the most important factor in choosing a location: StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at that address.

How StreetSpring calculates location value

  • Location fit is business-type-specific: a spot that's ideal for a coffee shop may underperform for a nail salon at the same address.
  • Survivability data lets you compare locations on the same projected two-year chance before you open.
  • When the question is money, the Revenue Capture Score comes first: it is StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at a specific address.
  • StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site.

What businesses should open next in South Bronx?

The top businesses to open next in South Bronx:

  • Eye Care Centers: 69.6% average survival rate, 89.6% at the best address
  • Convenience Stores: 78.8% average survival rate
  • Clothing Stores: 75.7% average survival rate

Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform, and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. We apply advanced machine learning to one of the largest commercial real estate outcome datasets in the country. 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. The 83.5% employment rate in South Bronx is a key signal of consumer health, and the 3.4% housing vacancy rate is another Census characteristic the model reads for the rankings above. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring regularly updates every location's survivability score: you can see current scores for available storefronts in South Bronx right now.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

Related Articles:

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the most common questions about opening a business in South Bronx.


What type of business should you rent your South Bronx storefront to?

Based on 2026 survivability scores across all business types in South Bronx, the top three tenant categories for landlords are Eye Care Centers, Convenience Stores, and Clothing Stores.

  • Survivability data lets you compare locations on the same projected two-year chance before you open.
  • StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site. StreetSpring allows property owners to evaluate any address against 500+ business types, so you can prioritize the categories that score highest at your specific location.

Related: See How Landlord Representatives in New York City Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity


Should you rent your South Bronx storefront to an Eye Care Center?

StreetSpring's data confirms an Eye Care Center as the highest-survivability tenant type for South Bronx. The best addresses show a 89.6% chance of lasting more than 2 years; less optimal addresses score around 56.0%.

  • StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site.

What should I consider when opening a business in South Bronx?

Start any location decision in South Bronx with the Survivability Score: it combines 100+ location factors into one projected two-year chance.

  • Revenue Capture Score comes first when comparing locations: it turns local competition and consumer spending into the share of revenue a business can expect to win.
  • StreetSpring's proprietary algorithms power these predictions.
  • Start a free 10-minute trial on StreetSpring to see the current survivability score for any address in South Bronx.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.


StreetSpring analyzes millions of data points with AI to forecast business survivability. Aggregated survivability rankings for New York City are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Full dataset for New York City: /resources/data/new-york-city-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.