Business Survivability in Clayton, St. Louis
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Clayton is a Chiropractor Office with a 81.5% 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 Clayton (81.5% average survival rate, 90.0% at best locations)
- Town rank: #38 of 69 towns around St. Louis
- Town average: an average Survivability Score of 72.1% 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 Clayton 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 Clayton is a Chiropractor Office with a 81.5% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 90.0% chance; next is a Dentist Office with a 80.4% chance, followed by an Acupuncture Clinic with a 80.3% chance.
Is Clayton a good place to start a business?
In St. Louis's survivability rankings, Clayton comes in at #38 of 69 towns, with an average Survivability Score of 72.1% across the business types ranked there.
- At its best addresses in Clayton, the top-ranked business type scores 8.5 points above its own average in the neighborhood.
- That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Clayton can drop substantially below average. The survivability gap between the best and worst addresses in a single neighborhood can be 20 points or more.
- The 96.3% employment rate in Clayton supports consumer spending, while its 9.1% housing vacancy rate measures the share of homes and apartments standing empty: the model reads both as neighborhood characteristics.
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 Clayton?
With StreetSpring, location selection in Clayton moves from guesswork to a precise, address-level survivability score for any business type you're considering. The map below shows the highest-scoring storefront area for a Chiropractor Office in Clayton per 2026 data:
StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for a Chiropractor Office in Clayton. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. The model evaluates hundreds of factors, from primary and secondary competition to forecasted spend, site accessibility, and local market share potential.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Clayton?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chiropractor Office | 89.6% |
| 2 | Dentist Office | 89.2% |
| 3 | Acupuncture Clinic | 89.2% |
| 7 | Eye Care Center | 88.3% |
| 8 | Veterinary Clinic | 84.9% |
| 9 | Convenience Store | 84.6% |
| 10 | Clothing Store | 84.6% |
| 11 | Spa | 84.0% |
| 12 | Hair Salon | 84.0% |
| 13 | Coffee Shop | 84.0% |
Ties at a good address: Dentist Office and Acupuncture Clinic are tied; Convenience Store and Clothing Store are tied; Spa, Hair Salon 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 Clayton
- #1 Chiropractor Office (Ranked #1): 81.5% average in Clayton. Best-case storefronts: 90.0%. Challenging locations: 63.2%.
- #2 Dentist Office is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Clayton: 80.4% chance on average, best at 90.0%, challenging at 59.8%.
- #3 Acupuncture Clinic: 80.3% on average across Clayton; best at 90.0%, challenging at 59.8%.
- #7 Opening an Eye Care Center in Clayton shows 80.4% average survivability. Top locations reach 89.6%; lower-end sites show 59.0%.
- #8 Veterinary Clinic (Ranked #8): 78.2% average in Clayton. Best-case storefronts: 90.0%. Challenging locations: 64.5%.
Strong Performers in Clayton
- #9 Convenience Store is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Clayton: 74.0% chance on average, best at 85.0%, challenging at 53.5%.
- #10 Clothing Store: 73.8% on average across Clayton; best at 85.0%, challenging at 54.4%.
- #11 Opening a Spa in Clayton shows 76.8% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.0%; lower-end sites show 55.2%.
- #12 Hair Salon (Ranked #12): 75.8% average in Clayton. Best-case storefronts: 84.0%. Challenging locations: 56.1%.
- #13 Coffee Shop is ranked #13 for top businesses to open in Clayton: 73.6% chance on average, best at 84.0%, challenging at 52.5%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Chiropractor Office: See how this compares to other cities →
- Dentist Office: See how this compares to other cities →
- Acupuncture Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Clayton make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, prioritizing survivability score in your site-selection process in Clayton 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-specific factors can dramatically alter outcomes even within the same neighborhood.
- Location is the part of a new business you can compare address by address before committing.
- 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.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood: it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What businesses should open next in Clayton?
The top businesses to open next in Clayton:
- Chiropractor Offices: 81.5% average survival rate, 90.0% at the best address
- Dentist Offices: 80.4% average survival rate
- Acupuncture Clinics: 80.3% average survival rate
Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. StreetSpring has analyzed hundreds of thousands of business outcomes across major U.S. metros. 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. A housing vacancy rate of 9.1% means the Census estimates that share of Clayton's homes and apartments to be vacant; the model reads it as one input among many. New competitors open and close every week, changing the survivability landscape for every address in Clayton. StreetSpring's regular updates mean you can always see the current score for any available storefront.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the St. Louis Business Survivability Rankings
- See the St. Louis Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Chiropractor Office survivability across St. Louis neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Clayton.
What type of business should you rent your Clayton storefront to?
StreetSpring's analysis shows that the 3 best businesses to rent your storefront out to in Clayton are Chiropractor Offices, Dentist Offices, and Acupuncture Clinics.
- Location is the part of a new business you can compare address by address before committing.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood: it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category. StreetSpring can show you which specific address in your portfolio scores highest for each tenant type.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in St. Louis Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Clayton storefront to a Chiropractor Office?
The data shows a Chiropractor Office in Clayton is the safest long-term bet for a storefront there. Top locations reach 90.0% survivability; lower-end sites show 63.2%.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood: it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What should I consider when opening a business in Clayton?
When selecting a location in Clayton it is crucial to select a location with a very high Survivability Score.
- Revenue Capture is where competition meets spending, and it's the number that matters most when choosing a location.
- These predictions are generated by StreetSpring's proprietary machine learning system, validated against hundreds of thousands of real business outcomes.
- Check StreetSpring's current survivability data for any address in Clayton, starting with a free 10-minute trial.
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 St. Louis are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for St. Louis: /resources/data/st-louis-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.