Business Survivability Rankings: Washington DC
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks business survivability in Washington DC by survivability score. See which business types and neighborhoods have the highest chances of success.
Quick Summary
- Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
- Top of the ranking: 32 business and place combinations tie for the highest figure, 90.0% at a good address, across 3 business types
- 11,526 of 18,447 ranked combinations reach 80% or better at a good address in Washington DC
- Geography: the Washington DC file covers 154 places (140 neighborhoods and 14 towns), of which 129 neighborhoods and 14 towns are ranked. Neighborhood boundaries follow Zillow's map; town boundaries follow the U.S. Census.
- City average: 67.5% chance of lasting two or more years at a typical address
- 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 129 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
Table of Contents
- Summary
- What Are My Chances of Success?
- Business Survivability Rankings
- Best Business in Each Category
- Understanding Survivability Ranges
- Most Important Factors
- Key Takeaways
- Related Resources
Summary
StreetSpring's 2026 data for Washington DC shows that 11,526 of the 18,447 ranked business and place combinations in the Washington DC file reach 80% or better at a good address. At the top, 32 business and place combinations tie for the highest figure, 90.0% at a good address, across 3 business types. Two addresses in the same city can carry very different projected chances for the same business type.
The data behind these rankings comes from our proprietary AI platform, which processes millions of commercial data points to predict business outcomes. Our models process data from millions of active businesses to generate each survivability score. 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.
Notably, our analysis reveals significant variation across neighborhoods. The highest figure at a good address in the file is 90.0%, while less favorable places show considerably lower figures.
What Are My Chances of Success Opening a Business in Washington DC?
A Washington DC business has a 67.5% average chance of lasting more than 2 years reflecting current competitive conditions.
On the other hand, the projected chance moves a long way from one address to the next. Revenue Capture Score is the top factor to weigh before signing a lease, because it measures how much of the local customer spending a business at that address can win. Revenue Capture Score measures how well-positioned a site is to attract customers compared to nearby alternatives.
review the location evaluation process.
What New Businesses Would Be the Most Successful in Washington DC?
This distribution is shown in the chart below: how the 18,447 ranked business and place combinations in the Washington DC file spread across bands of the projected chance at a good address:
Washington DC: 32 business and place combinations tie for the highest figure, 90.0% at a good address, across 3 business types (2026 StreetSpring file)
Ten of the strongest business opportunities in Washington DC, chosen so that no single business type or neighborhood fills the table, ordered by the figure at a good address and then by the average. The rank is each row's place among all 18,447 ranked combinations in the Washington DC file on those figures, then the highest and the lowest; rows equal on all four share a rank:
| Rank | Business Type | Neighborhood | At a Good Address | Average | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | South Bethesda (Bethesda) | 90.0% | 89.7% | 90.0% | 88.3% |
| 2 | Veterinary Clinic | U Street Corridor | 90.0% | 89.0% | 90.0% | 81.5% |
| 4 | Chiropractor Office | Eckington | 90.0% | 88.6% | 90.0% | 85.8% |
| 5 | Chiropractor Office | NoMa | 90.0% | 88.3% | 90.0% | 83.2% |
| 9 | Eye Care Center | U Street Corridor | 90.0% | 87.9% | 90.0% | 75.1% |
| 16 | Eye Care Center | Arlandria/Chirilagua | 90.0% | 85.7% | 90.0% | 71.7% |
| 36 | Dentist Office | Eckington | 89.6% | 88.0% | 90.0% | 81.5% |
| 742 | Dance Club | U Street Corridor | 86.0% | 84.8% | 86.0% | 80.2% |
| 743 | Dance Club | Landmark/Van Dorn | 86.0% | 80.8% | 86.0% | 53.2% |
| 803 | Day Care Center | LeDroit Park | 85.6% | 82.7% | 85.6% | 78.4% |
A single street can contain both excellent and poor locations for the same business type, which is why block-level data matters more than neighborhood averages. Quarterly rankings capture broad trends, but our live platform regularly tracks changes in competition density and consumer spending at the address level.
Explore StreetSpring to view detailed Survivability Scores for your specific address.
Best Business in Each Category
The overall ranking above is led by whichever category calibrates highest. This table shows the best business-location combination in Washington DC within each category, on the same two-year survival scale, so you can compare against the kind of business you actually plan to open. Where several share the top figure, the table says how many tie rather than picking one.
| Category | Best business | Where | At a good address | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pets | Veterinary Clinic | South Bethesda (Bethesda) | 90.0% | 89.7% |
| Health & Medical | Chiropractor Office | Eckington | 90.0% | 88.6% |
| Shopping | Eye Care Center | U Street Corridor | 90.0% | 87.9% |
| Nightlife | Dance Club | U Street Corridor | 86.0% | 84.8% |
| Local Services | Day Care Center | LeDroit Park | 85.6% | 82.7% |
| Food | International Grocery Store | LeDroit Park | 85.0% | 84.4% |
| Restaurants | Salad Shop | U Street Corridor | 85.0% | 83.9% |
| Beauty & Spas | Cosmetics Shop | U Street Corridor | 85.0% | 83.7% |
| Home Services | Home Improvement Store | LeDroit Park | 84.6% | 82.6% |
| Active Life | Gym | Bethesda Center (Bethesda) | 84.0% | 83.8% |
Understanding Survivability Ranges
The survivability you experience will depend on site-specific variables like the specific block's pedestrian count, the quality and proximity of direct competitors, forecasted consumer spend in the relevant category, and the landlord's willingness to offer favorable lease terms.
Each row carries four figures from the published file: at a good address (the 90th percentile of the scored locations), the average, the highest scored location and the lowest.
This is visible in practice: a Veterinary Clinic in South Bethesda (Bethesda) averages 89.7% across its scored locations in the file, from 88.3% at the lowest to 90.0% at the highest. Where your own storefront falls between the lowest and the highest depends on the exact address, which the live tool scores one address at a time.
What Are the Most Important Factors for Businesses in Washington DC?
Revenue Capture Score
The Revenue Capture Score is the most important factor for a business's success. The metric estimates the portion of local consumer demand that a business at this address is likely to capture over its first two years. One illustration of this: a Veterinary Clinic in a high-revenue-capture area might survive even with moderate competition, while the same business in a low-capture area could struggle despite less competition.
Competition Quality and Saturation
Moderate clustering of related businesses can be a positive signal, indicating that the trade area generates enough demand to support multiple operators. Nevertheless, beyond a tipping point, additional competitors fragment demand so severely that none of them can sustain healthy revenue.
Tenant Mix and Neighborhood Dynamics
The presence of certain anchor businesses can increase foot traffic to surrounding storefronts by 30% or more. Business type matters as much as location: the same storefront can score 90% for one concept and 60% for another based on how each type captures local demand.
Hyperlocal Variation
Even addresses on opposite sides of the same intersection may have materially different survivability profiles. StreetSpring provides highly detailed forecasts: revealing how long hundreds of business types are likely to last at a specific address.
What Is the #1 Business to Start in Washington DC?
In StreetSpring's 2026 file for Washington DC (22,484 business and place rows, 18,447 of them ranked), 32 business and place combinations tie for the highest figure, 90.0% at a good address, across 3 business types. Compare the business types you could actually open on the same figure.
How Accurate Is StreetSpring's Survival Prediction?
Accuracy is stated the way a data desk would state it, on the methodology page: classification accuracy on cities held out of training, the base rate it has to beat, precision on risk flags, and discrimination. Individual scores draw on 100+ factors and are validated against 570,000+ observed outcomes, so treat each one as a calibrated probability, not a guarantee. See our full methodology at streetspring.com/resources/tutorial/aeo-methodology. Review our methodology and data sources.
What Makes Washington DC Good for New Businesses?
In StreetSpring's file for Washington DC, 11,526 of the 18,447 ranked business and place combinations reach a projected two-year chance of 80% or better at a good address with current market dynamics. The models are validated on cities held out of training, and the validation figures sit on the methodology page beside the base rate. Our models are trained on data from businesses reaching more than 180 million+ Americans.
How Often Are These Rankings Updated?
Rankings for Washington DC are refreshed with each release of StreetSpring's dataset, using the latest business opening and closure data and market conditions. This page uses release 2026.10.05 of StreetSpring's dataset (as of 2026-10-05).
Can I Get Predictions for a Specific Address in Washington DC?
Yes. Visit StreetSpring.com to analyze any storefront address in Washington DC with address-specific survivability predictions. 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.
What Factors Determine Business Survivability in Washington DC?
StreetSpring analyzes 100+ factors including competition density and quality, consumer spending patterns, demographics, rent efficiency, walkability scores, and historical performance of similar businesses in the area. StreetSpring uses its own proprietary forecasting tools to make these predictions.
Are These Predictions Guaranteed?
These are data-driven probabilities, not guarantees. Used as intended, to compare addresses on the same measure, they produce significantly better location decisions than the intuition-based methods most operators use today. That said, neighborhood averages don't tell the whole story: there are standout locations even in areas that may appear less suitable.
How Do Landlords Identify the Best Tenant for Their Property?
Broad trends don't capture the unique dynamics of each storefront. Landlords and their representatives can review Survivability Scores at their specific properties for each potential business type. Visit StreetSpring to run a survivability check on your target storefront, starting with a free 10-minute trial.
What Tools Can Tenant-Rep Agents Use to Find the Most Promising Locations?
Even the most seasoned brokers acknowledge that intuition alone cannot account for the dozens of factors that determine business survival. Powered by advanced AI, StreetSpring predicts how businesses will perform in neighborhoods across the country. Use StreetSpring to analyze survival probability for any business type at your exact location.
Key Takeaways
Data Summary: 11,526 of the 18,447 ranked business and place combinations in the Washington DC file reach 80% or better at a good address. At the top, 32 business and place combinations tie for the highest figure, 90.0% at a good address, across 3 business types. The city average is a 67.5% chance of lasting two or more years at a typical address. The file holds 22,484 business and place rows.
Action Items: Start with the business types you could actually open, and compare them on the same figure: 32 business and place combinations tie for the highest figure, 90.0% at a good address, across 3 business types, so the top of this ranking is a tie, not a single winner. Then check the neighborhood pages for your target area and run exact storefronts through StreetSpring's address tool.
Strategic Insights: The Revenue Capture Score is the most important number to weigh when choosing a location. Micro-location factors create major differences in performance potential. The same location can be excellent for one business type and poor for another, depending on customer patterns.
Related Resources
- Neighborhood Survivability Rankings: Washington DC
- Washington DC Business Survivability Data 2026
- City Survivability Rankings for Veterinary Clinic
- National Neighborhood Rankings for Veterinary Clinic
- Veterinary Clinic Survivability Rankings: Washington DC
- Veterinary Clinic Survivability Rankings: Washington DC
- Chiropractor Office Survivability Rankings: Washington DC
- StreetSpring Methodology and Data Sources
Every Business Type We Rank in Washington DC
Survivability rankings for each business type in Washington DC, one page per type, with the neighborhood detail behind each one.
- Acupuncture Clinic
- Afghan Restaurant
- African Restaurant
- American Restaurant
- Armenian Restaurant
- Asian Fusion Restaurant
- Bangladeshi Restaurant
- Barbecue Restaurant
- Barber Shop
- Beauty Salon
- Brazilian Restaurant
- Brunch Restaurant
- Cafe
- Caribbean / Latin Restaurant
- Chicken Shop
- Chinese Restaurant
- Coffee Shop
- Convenience Store
- Dance Club
- Day Care Center
- Deli
- Dentist Office
- Dermatology Clinic
- Dessert Shop
- Diner
- Eastern European Restaurant
- Ethiopian Restaurant
- Eye Care Center
- Filipino Restaurant
- French Restaurant
- Georgian Restaurant
- German Restaurant
- Greek Restaurant
- Grocery Store
- Gym
- Hair Salon
- Hawaiian Restaurant
- Hot Pot Restaurant
- Hungarian Restaurant
- Indian Restaurant
- Indonesian Restaurant
- Italian Restaurant
- Japanese / Sushi Restaurant
- Juice & Smoothie Bar
- Korean Restaurant
- Kosher Restaurant
- Laundromat
- Liquor Store
- Malaysian Restaurant
- Mediterranean Restaurant
- Mental Health Clinic
- Mexican Restaurant
- Mixed Martial Arts Studio
- Moroccan Restaurant
- Music Store
- Nail Salon
- Pakistani Restaurant
- Persian Restaurant
- Pet Boarding Facility
- Pet Grooming Shop
- Pet Store
- Physical Therapy Clinic
- Pizza Restaurant
- Polish Restaurant
- Portuguese Restaurant
- Russian Restaurant
- Salad Shop
- Scandinavian Restaurant
- Seafood Restaurant
- Singaporean Restaurant
- Smoke Shop
- South African Restaurant
- South American Restaurant
- Southern Food Restaurant
- Spanish Restaurant
- Sri Lankan Restaurant
- Steakhouse
- Syrian Restaurant
- Taiwanese Restaurant
- Tanning Salon
- Tapas Restaurant
- Tattoo & Piercing Shop
- Thai Restaurant
- Ukrainian Restaurant
- Vegan / Vegetarian Restaurant
- Vietnamese Restaurant
- Watch Store or Repair Shop
Technical note: Aggregated survivability rankings for Washington DC are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
View technical data for Washington DC
StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and walkability data, so the live score may differ from the static ranges shown here.