Business Survivability in Forest Hills, Washington DC

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Forest Hills is a Chiropractor Office with a 76.8% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

•14 min read

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 Forest Hills (76.8% average survival rate, 90.0% at best locations)
  • Neighborhood rank: #98 of 129 neighborhoods in and around Washington DC
  • Neighborhood average: 62.8% 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 Forest Hills is a Chiropractor Office with a 76.8% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 90.0% chance; next is a Convenience Store with a 61.8% chance, followed by a Dentist Office with a 71.0% chance.


Is Forest Hills a good place to start a business?

In Washington DC's survivability rankings, Forest Hills comes in at #98 of 129 neighborhoods, with an average Survivability Score of 62.8% across the business types ranked there.

  • For the top-ranked business type, the best addresses in Forest Hills score 13.2 points higher on the two-year chance than its average there.
  • That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Forest Hills can drop substantially below average. The survivability gap between the best and worst addresses in a single neighborhood can be 20 points or more.
  • Forest Hills's employment rate of 97.7% and housing vacancy rate of 2.3% are two of the Census inputs StreetSpring's model reads for this neighborhood.

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 Forest Hills?

StreetSpring narrows the decision down to the exact address, showing which blocks in Forest Hills produce the highest survivability scores for your concept. StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies this area as the top location for a Chiropractor Office in Forest Hills:

Loading live map preview...

According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, this circle outlines the best area for a Chiropractor Office in Forest Hills. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. StreetSpring's prediction model analyzes hundreds of factors across competition, spending on the specific potential business, projected revenue, projected market share, Revenue Capture Score, mobility patterns, and many more.

Check if this location is still available →


What are the best businesses to open in Forest Hills?

#Business typeChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1Chiropractor Office88.7%
2Convenience Store84.1%
3Dentist Office84.0%
4Physical Therapy Clinic84.0%
5Cafe83.6%
8Laundromat82.6%
10Eye Care Center81.9%
11Gym80.4%
12Smoke Shop79.6%
13Dance Club79.6%

Ties at a good address: Dentist Office and Physical Therapy Clinic are tied; Smoke Shop and Dance Club 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 Forest Hills

  • #1 Chiropractor Office (Ranked #1): 76.8% average in Forest Hills. Best-case storefronts: 90.0%. Challenging locations: 62.4%.
  • #2 Convenience Store is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Forest Hills: 61.8% chance on average, best at 85.0%, challenging at 49.4%.
  • #3 Dentist Office: 71.0% on average across Forest Hills; best at 90.0%, challenging at 56.8%.
  • #4 Opening a Physical Therapy Clinic in Forest Hills shows 70.3% average survivability. Top locations reach 90.0%; lower-end sites show 56.4%.
  • #5 Cafe (Ranked #5): 66.0% average in Forest Hills. Best-case storefronts: 84.0%. Challenging locations: 48.9%.

Strong Performers in Forest Hills

  • #8 Laundromat is ranked #8 for top businesses to open in Forest Hills: 59.9% chance on average, best at 84.0%, challenging at 48.0%.
  • #10 Eye Care Center: 66.7% on average across Forest Hills; best at 90.0%, challenging at 56.0%.
  • #11 Opening a Gym in Forest Hills shows 64.0% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.0%; lower-end sites show 48.0%.
  • #12 Smoke Shop (Ranked #12): 67.3% average in Forest Hills. Best-case storefronts: 85.0%. Challenging locations: 51.7%.
  • #13 Dance Club is ranked #13 for top businesses to open in Forest Hills: 67.0% chance on average, best at 85.6%, challenging at 52.2%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally


How much money could a business in Forest Hills make?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, choosing an address that maximizes your Revenue Capture Score in Forest Hills 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

  • The right address for one business type may be the wrong one for another: always evaluate fit for your specific concept.
  • Every site-selection decision starts with location, the one factor you can check before you sign a lease.
  • 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 gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate.

What businesses should open next in Forest Hills?

The top businesses to open next in Forest Hills:

  • Chiropractor Offices: 76.8% average survival rate, 90.0% at the best address
  • Convenience Stores: 61.8% average survival rate
  • Dentist Offices: 71.0% average survival rate

Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. 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. A housing vacancy rate of 2.3% means the Census estimates that share of Forest Hills's homes and apartments to be vacant; the model reads it as one input among many. These rankings are a snapshot; StreetSpring regularly recalculates survivability for every location in Forest Hills, incorporating the latest competitive openings, closures, and spending data: check current locations now.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

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Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Forest Hills.


What type of business should you rent your Forest Hills storefront to?

If you own commercial space in Forest Hills, StreetSpring's 2026 data points to Chiropractor Offices, Convenience Stores, and Dentist Offices as the tenant types with the strongest projected longevity at this location.

  • Every site-selection decision starts with location, the one factor you can check before you sign a lease.
  • StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate. StreetSpring's tool, free for a 10-minute trial, lets you check the survivability score for any business type at any address in Forest Hills: a powerful filter when evaluating prospective tenants.

Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Washington DC Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity


Should you rent your Forest Hills storefront to a Chiropractor Office?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, a Chiropractor Office ranks as the top tenant type for your Forest Hills storefront: best-case locations show a 90.0% survival rate, while the most challenging addresses drop to 62.4%.

  • StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate.

What should I consider when opening a business in Forest Hills?

When evaluating potential locations in Forest Hills, start with the Survivability Score. It accounts for competition, spending, mobility, and market share in a single figure.

  • 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.
  • StreetSpring uses its own proprietary forecasting tools to identify the Revenue Capture Score for each unique business.
  • StreetSpring's live scoring tool starts with a free 10-minute trial: enter any address in Forest Hills to see its current Survivability Score for your business type.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.


Using predictive analytics, StreetSpring helps entrepreneurs and landlords make smarter location decisions. Aggregated survivability rankings for Washington DC are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Full dataset for Washington DC: /resources/data/washington-dc-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.