Business Survivability in South Tacoma, Seattle
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in South Tacoma is a Chiropractor Office with a 82.1% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.
Quick Summary
- Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
- Best business: a Chiropractor Office in South Tacoma (82.1% average survival rate, 90.0% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #46 of 94 neighborhoods in and around Seattle
- Neighborhood average: 73.7% 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
- Is South Tacoma a good place to start a business?
- How to find the best location
- Best businesses to open
- How much money could a business make?
- What businesses should open next?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Summary
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in South Tacoma is a Chiropractor Office with a 82.1% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 90.0% chance; next is a Veterinary Clinic with a 82.8% chance, followed by an Eye Care Center with a 81.2% chance.
Is South Tacoma a good place to start a business?
South Tacoma holds the #46 position of 94 neighborhoods in and around Seattle for new business survivability, with an average score of 73.7% across the business types ranked there.
- For the top-ranked business type, the best addresses in South Tacoma score 7.9 points higher on the two-year chance than its average there.
- Still, those same business types at weaker addresses in South Tacoma can score well below the neighborhood mean. Even the most viable concept here requires the right address to reach its potential.
- With 94.4% of the local population employed, South Tacoma presents a stable consumer base: particularly for food, beverage, and service businesses that depend on repeat discretionary spending.
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 Tacoma?
Using StreetSpring, you can identify the exact address in South Tacoma that gives your specific business concept the highest survivability score. StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies this area as the top location for a Chiropractor Office in South Tacoma:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Chiropractor Office in South Tacoma. The most reliable survivability data for any specific location is always StreetSpring's most recent live analysis, not aggregate neighborhood rankings. Factors evaluated include competition at every distance band, consumer spending forecasts, mobility patterns, and market share projections.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in South Tacoma?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chiropractor Office | 89.6% |
| 2 | Veterinary Clinic | 89.2% |
| 3 | Eye Care Center | 88.7% |
| 4 | Dentist Office | 87.9% |
| 5 | Acupuncture Clinic | 87.9% |
| 9 | Day Care Center | 84.6% |
| 10 | Clothing Store | 84.1% |
| 11 | Florist | 84.1% |
| 15 | Cafe | 83.6% |
| 21 | Coffee Shop | 83.6% |
Ties at a good address: Dentist Office and Acupuncture Clinic are tied; Clothing Store and Florist are tied; Cafe and Coffee Shop 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 Tacoma
- #1 Chiropractor Office: 82.1% on average across South Tacoma; best at 90.0%, challenging at 61.5%.
- #2 Opening a Veterinary Clinic in South Tacoma shows 82.8% average survivability. Top locations reach 90.0%; lower-end sites show 61.5%.
- #3 Eye Care Center (Ranked #3): 81.2% average in South Tacoma. Best-case storefronts: 90.0%. Challenging locations: 56.8%.
- #4 Dentist Office is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in South Tacoma: 78.3% chance on average, best at 90.0%, challenging at 58.6%.
- #5 Acupuncture Clinic: 78.0% on average across South Tacoma; best at 90.0%, challenging at 58.6%.
Strong Performers in South Tacoma
- #9 Opening a Day Care Center in South Tacoma shows 75.7% average survivability. Top locations reach 86.0%; lower-end sites show 54.5%.
- #10 Clothing Store (Ranked #10): 77.8% average in South Tacoma. Best-case storefronts: 85.0%. Challenging locations: 57.6%.
- #11 Florist is ranked #11 for top businesses to open in South Tacoma: 76.0% chance on average, best at 85.0%, challenging at 50.4%.
- #15 Cafe: 76.8% on average across South Tacoma; best at 84.0%, challenging at 57.4%.
- #21 Opening a Coffee Shop in South Tacoma shows 75.4% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.0%; lower-end sites show 55.2%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Chiropractor Office: See how this compares to other cities →
- Veterinary Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
- Eye Care Center: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in South Tacoma make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, choosing an address that maximizes your Revenue Capture Score in South Tacoma 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
- Site selection requires evaluating the specific combination of your business type and the exact address: neighborhood-level data is only the starting point.
- A business's location is one of the few things about its future you can check in advance.
- Compare the Revenue Capture Score of each shortlisted address first: it is the top factor in choosing a location, and it estimates the revenue a business can capture there.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have different survivability scores: StreetSpring calculates each one individually.
What businesses should open next in South Tacoma?
The top businesses to open next in South Tacoma:
- Chiropractor Offices: 82.1% average survival rate, 90.0% at the best address
- Veterinary Clinics: 82.8% average survival rate
- Eye Care Centers: 81.2% average survival rate
The most reliable survivability data for any specific location is always StreetSpring's most recent live analysis, not aggregate neighborhood rankings. Our analysis covers every major metro in the country: 24 cities and 180 million++ consumers. 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 94.4% employment rate in South Tacoma is a key signal of consumer health, and the 4.5% housing vacancy rate is another Census characteristic the model reads for the rankings above. Survivability scores are live, not static: StreetSpring updates them regularly. Visit the tool to see what's currently available in South Tacoma and how each address is scoring right now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Seattle Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Seattle Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Chiropractor Office survivability across Seattle neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in South Tacoma.
What type of business should you rent your South Tacoma storefront to?
StreetSpring's analysis shows that the tenant types with the best odds of staying open and paying rent for two or more years in South Tacoma are Chiropractor Offices, Veterinary Clinics, and Eye Care Centers.
- A business's location is one of the few things about its future you can check in advance.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have different survivability scores: StreetSpring calculates each one individually. Rather than guessing which tenant type will last, landlords can verify survivability for each category at their exact address using StreetSpring.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Seattle Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your South Tacoma storefront to a Chiropractor Office?
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis strongly supports renting to a Chiropractor Office in South Tacoma: best-in-class addresses achieve 90.0% survivability, and even the lower-end sites come in at 61.5%.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have different survivability scores: StreetSpring calculates each one individually.
What should I consider when opening a business in South Tacoma?
When opening a business in South Tacoma, compare the Survivability Scores of your shortlisted addresses and favor the highest one your budget allows.
- The Revenue Capture Score is the most important factor in choosing a location: it is StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at that address.
- Every survivability score is produced by StreetSpring's private prediction engine, not available through any other platform.
- The most current survivability data for South Tacoma is on StreetSpring, and a free 10-minute trial is enough to check your specific address.
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 Seattle are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Seattle: /resources/data/seattle-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.