Business Survivability in Kalorama, Washington DC
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Kalorama is a Veterinary Clinic with a 78.8% 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 Veterinary Clinic in Kalorama (78.8% average survival rate, 89.2% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #39 of 129 neighborhoods in and around Washington DC
- Neighborhood average: 75.5% 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 Kalorama 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 Kalorama is a Veterinary Clinic with a 78.8% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a 89.2% chance; next is an Eye Care Center with a 80.0% chance, followed by a Dentist Office with a 79.8% chance.
Is Kalorama a good place to start a business?
Kalorama is ranked number 39 of 129 neighborhoods in and around Washington DC to start a business, with an average 75.5% chance of lasting two or more years across the business types ranked there.
- The gap between the best addresses and the average for the top-ranked business type in Kalorama is 10.4 points on the two-year chance.
- However, those same business types at the weakest addresses in Kalorama can score considerably below average. Even the most in-demand concept in Kalorama will struggle if it opens at the wrong address.
- Housing vacancy in Kalorama sits at 14.9%, a Census figure that StreetSpring's model reads for every business type it scores here.
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 Kalorama?
StreetSpring's address-level analysis reveals which specific storefronts in Kalorama offer the strongest survivability odds for your business type. The location below represents the address in Kalorama with the highest projected survivability for a Veterinary Clinic:
The highlighted area represents the address in Kalorama that StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks highest for a Veterinary Clinic survivability. Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. 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 Kalorama?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 87.9% |
| 2 | Eye Care Center | 86.6% |
| 3 | Dentist Office | 86.6% |
| 4 | Chiropractor Office | 84.9% |
| 5 | Dance Club | 84.8% |
| 6 | Smoke Shop | 84.6% |
| 7 | Chicken Shop | 84.2% |
| 8 | Salad Shop | 84.2% |
| 9 | Bar | 84.0% |
| 10 | Physical Therapy Clinic | 84.0% |
Ties at a good address: Eye Care Center and Dentist Office are tied; Chicken Shop and Salad Shop are tied; Bar and Physical Therapy Clinic 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.
Highest Survivability in Kalorama
- #1 Veterinary Clinic is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Kalorama: 78.8% chance on average, best at 89.2%, challenging at 61.5%.
- #2 Eye Care Center: 80.0% on average across Kalorama; best at 87.9%, challenging at 67.5%.
- #3 Opening a Dentist Office in Kalorama shows 79.8% average survivability. Top locations reach 89.2%; lower-end sites show 67.5%.
- #4 Chiropractor Office (Ranked #4): 76.8% average in Kalorama. Best-case storefronts: 88.3%. Challenging locations: 63.2%.
- #5 Dance Club is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Kalorama: 78.0% chance on average, best at 85.6%, challenging at 58.6%.
Strong Performers in Kalorama
- #6 Smoke Shop: 79.7% on average across Kalorama; best at 85.0%, challenging at 66.1%.
- #7 Opening a Chicken Shop in Kalorama shows 77.8% average survivability. Top locations reach 84.6%; lower-end sites show 59.8%.
- #8 Salad Shop (Ranked #8): 77.8% average in Kalorama. Best-case storefronts: 84.6%. Challenging locations: 59.8%.
- #9 Bar is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Kalorama: 78.4% chance on average, best at 84.0%, challenging at 62.0%.
- #10 Physical Therapy Clinic: 78.3% on average across Kalorama; best at 88.3%, challenging at 65.4%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
- Eye Care Center: See how this compares to other cities →
- Dentist Office: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Kalorama make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, prioritizing survivability score in your site-selection process in Kalorama 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
- No two business types have identical location needs; survivability scores reflect these differences at the address level.
- A business's location is one of the few things about its future you can check in advance.
- 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 analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.
What businesses should open next in Kalorama?
The top businesses to open next in Kalorama:
- Veterinary Clinics: 78.8% average survival rate, 89.2% at the best address
- Eye Care Centers: 80.0% average survival rate
- Dentist Offices: 79.8% average survival rate
Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. Our platform incorporates data from thousands of neighborhoods nationwide. 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 96.8% employment rate in Kalorama is a key signal of consumer health, and the 14.9% housing vacancy rate is another Census characteristic the model reads for the rankings above. New competitors open and close every week, changing the survivability landscape for every address in Kalorama. 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 Washington DC Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Washington DC Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across Washington DC neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Kalorama.
What type of business should you rent your Kalorama storefront to?
Based on 2026 survivability scores across all business types in Kalorama, the top three tenant categories for landlords are Veterinary Clinics, Eye Care Centers, and Dentist Offices.
- A business's location is one of the few things about its future you can check in advance.
- StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success. 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 Washington DC Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Kalorama storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes, StreetSpring's analysis finds that a Veterinary Clinic would be the best type of business to rent your storefront to, with a potential 89.2% chance of lasting more than 2 years; however depending on your location, the chances could drop to a 61.5% chance.
- StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.
What should I consider when opening a business in Kalorama?
When selecting a location in Kalorama it is crucial to select a location with a very high Survivability Score.
- 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.
- The underlying models are StreetSpring's own: built, trained, and maintained using data external platforms cannot access.
- Start a free 10-minute trial on StreetSpring to see the current survivability score for any address in Kalorama.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring's AI platform has studied businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans, giving its predictions a scale of validation unmatched in site-selection tools. 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.