Is Brooklyn a good place to start a business?

Brooklyn is ranked number 18 across neighborhoods in and around Baltimore to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~73%. The highest-scoring business types in Brooklyn — at their optimal addresses — outperform the neighborhood average by ~2%.

What businesses are most in demand in Brooklyn?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Brooklyn are Pet Boarding Facilities, Kosher Restaurants, and Singaporean Restaurants.

How much money could a business in Brooklyn make?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations in Brooklyn could lead to making ~2% more than selecting an average location, and ~5% more than one of the worst locations.

What are the best businesses to open in Brooklyn?

The top businesses to open in Brooklyn include Pet Boarding Facility with a ~82% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~84%, followed by Kosher Restaurant and Singaporean Restaurant.

Business Survivability in Brooklyn, Baltimore

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Brooklyn is a Pet Boarding Facility with a ~82% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

April 24, 2026•17 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: a Pet Boarding Facility in Brooklyn (~82% average survival rate, ~84% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #18 across all neighborhoods in and around Baltimore

Neighborhood average: ~73% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Reviewed and updated: May 9, 2026 — Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

In this article:

Summary
Is Brooklyn 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 Brooklyn is a Pet Boarding Facility with a ~82% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~84% chance; next is a Kosher Restaurant with a ~82% chance, followed by a Singaporean Restaurant with a ~81% chance.

Should you open a business in Brooklyn?

**Pattern match:** Brooklyn's neighborhood signature — captured across demographic, employment, and amenity features — most closely matches **Orlovista (Orlando)** and **Bagley (Detroit)**. The three share less college-educated, low high-earner share, and lower-income, which helps explain why business types that succeed in those areas tend to translate to Brooklyn.

**The pattern in Brooklyn.** Of 89 tracked subtypes, Kosher Restaurant leads at **82% average survivability** — yet within the neighborhood, sites for this subtype range **74-89%** (15-point spread). That spread is the real failure surface: pick the wrong block in Brooklyn and a top-subtype play still scores in the bottom quartile. Meanwhile Bars are already saturated here — 4 competitors within a 0.5-mile radius.

StreetSpring ranks Brooklyn #18 among all analyzed neighborhoods in and around Baltimore, with a neighborhood-wide average survivability of ~73%.

The highest-scoring business types in Brooklyn — at their optimal addresses — outperform the neighborhood average by ~2%.
But at poorly chosen addresses within Brooklyn, even the top-ranked business types can fall well below the neighborhood average. Location selection remains critical — a promising concept at the wrong spot still carries significant risk.
At 92.9% employed, Brooklyn's consumer base has the spending capacity that makes the neighborhood viable for a wide range of business types — though location selection within the neighborhood still determines actual survivability.

Employment and vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

How can you find the best location to open a business in Brooklyn?

Using StreetSpring, you can identify the exact address in Brooklyn that gives your specific business concept the highest survivability score. StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies this area as the top location for a Pet Boarding Facility in Brooklyn:

Reading visibility, frontage, and parking carefully

Loading live map preview...

The 2026 model from StreetSpring places the strongest storefronts inside this circle for a Pet Boarding Facility in Brooklyn. Static rankings can't capture every recent change in competition or foot traffic; StreetSpring's live platform provides the current score for your exact address. StreetSpring's prediction model analyzes 100 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 →

The strongest business categories for Brooklyn

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Brooklyn

Pet Boarding Facility is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Brooklyn: ~82% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~80%.
Kosher Restaurant — ~80%–~84% survivability range, with an average of ~82% across Brooklyn.
Opening a Singaporean Restaurant in Brooklyn shows ~81% average survivability. Top locations reach ~83%; lower-end sites show ~79%.
American Restaurant (Ranked #4): ~81% average in Brooklyn. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~79%.
Filipino Restaurant is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Brooklyn: ~81% chance on average, best at ~82%, challenging at ~79%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Brooklyn

Japanese / Sushi Restaurant — ~78%–~82% survivability range, with an average of ~80% across Brooklyn.
Opening a Watch Store or Repair Shop in Brooklyn shows ~80% average survivability. Top locations reach ~83%; lower-end sites show ~78%.
Pet Grooming Shop (Ranked #8): ~80% average in Brooklyn. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~77%.
Day Care Center is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Brooklyn: ~80% chance on average, best at ~82%, challenging at ~77%.
Music Store — ~77%–~82% survivability range, with an average of ~80% across Brooklyn.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

The revenue potential of a Brooklyn location

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, prioritizing survivability score in your site-selection process in Brooklyn could lead to you making ~2% more than if you selected an average location, and ~5% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.

How StreetSpring calculates location value

Different business models thrive in different micro-locations.
Location is the biggest factor in a business's future success.
The businesses that outperform their category averages most consistently are those that scored highest on survivability before opening.
Two storefronts on the same street can have survivability scores that differ by 20 points or more — StreetSpring calculates each one individually.

Where the next great business in Brooklyn should go

The top businesses to open next in Brooklyn:

Pet Boarding Facilities — ~82% average survival rate, up to ~84% at best locations
Kosher Restaurants — ~82% average survival rate
Singaporean Restaurants — ~81% average survival rate

Static rankings can't capture every recent change in competition or foot traffic; StreetSpring's live platform provides the current score for your exact address. StreetSpring's accuracy is built on studying businesses that serve more than 180 million+ Americans across 24 cities. StreetSpring's model accounts for Brooklyn's 92.9% employment rate when projecting survivability — businesses reliant on discretionary spend benefit disproportionately in well-employed neighborhoods. Survivability scores are recalculated weekly as new competitors open and spending patterns shift — visit StreetSpring to see the current score for any open location in Brooklyn right now.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

Related Articles:

See the Baltimore Business Survivability Rankings
See the Baltimore Neighborhood Survivability Rankings

Frequently Asked Questions

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

What type of business should you rent your Brooklyn storefront to?

According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, the strongest tenant types for a storefront in Brooklyn are Pet Boarding Facilities, Kosher Restaurants, and Singaporean Restaurants.

Location is the biggest factor in a business's future success.
Two storefronts on the same street can have survivability scores that differ by 20 points or more — 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.

Should you rent your Brooklyn storefront to a Pet Boarding Facility?

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis strongly supports renting to a Pet Boarding Facility in Brooklyn: best-in-class addresses achieve ~84% survivability, and even the lower-end sites come in at ~80% — above average for most business types.

Two storefronts on the same street can have survivability scores that differ by 20 points or more — StreetSpring calculates each one individually.

What should I consider when opening a business in Brooklyn?

Location decisions in Brooklyn should be grounded in Survivability Score data, not intuition. The score directly measures the competitive and spending conditions at your exact address.

The most important driver of a high Survivability Score is the Revenue Capture Score for the business at the location it selects.
StreetSpring's forecasting tools are purpose-built for commercial location decisions and are not available through any publicly accessible data source.
You can access the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring for free.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.

Powered by machine learning models trained on real business outcomes, StreetSpring delivers actionable insights. Aggregated survivability rankings for Baltimore are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

How seasonality plays out here

Consideration	Common pitfall	What to verify before signing
Permitted hours	Late-night or early-morning ops blocked by zoning, neighborhood association, or shared-wall restrictions.	Confirm the permitted hours-of-operation are in your lease AND in the local code. Pull recent variances or complaints from the zoning portal.
Anchor co-tenancy	Signing next to a high-traffic anchor that closes 6 months later, leaving you orphaned.	Ask for a co-tenancy clause — rent abatement or termination right if the anchor leaves. Standard for strong markets.
Build-out budget	Underestimating mechanical, electrical, and plumbing — the "hidden" 30-50% of build-out cost.	Get 3 quotes from licensed contractors and pad budget by +20% for surprises. Confirm landlord TI allowance in writing.

Full dataset for Baltimore: /resources/data/baltimore-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Neighborhood-Specific Questions

Additional questions with answers drawn directly from local data sources.

Are storefronts and homes filling up or sitting empty in Brooklyn?

ACS data shows a housing vacancy rate of approximately 10% in Brooklyn, versus the Baltimore metro median of 7%. Elevated vacancy can mean softening demand or short-term opportunity to negotiate rent — verify against commercial-corridor activity before committing.

Is Brooklyn more single-occupant or family-household?

Brooklyn's average household has 2.7 people — above the Baltimore metro average (2.4). Household composition is close to the metro average.

How educated is the population in Brooklyn?

16% of Brooklyn adults have at least a bachelor's degree — below the Baltimore metro median of 41%. Lower education attainment shifts demand toward value retail, services, and everyday needs.

Is Brooklyn's population younger or older than the Baltimore average?

Brooklyn's median age is 35 versus a Baltimore metro median of 39 — younger by 3 years. This shapes which business types tend to survive: A younger profile tends to drive demand for nightlife, fitness, and casual dining over family-oriented services.

How does economic hardship in Brooklyn compare to the metro?

22% of Brooklyn households fall below the federal poverty line — above the Baltimore metro median (11%). Elevated poverty constrains discretionary retail; survivability is highest for essential services and value-oriented operators.

Lease structure questions to ask first

**National benchmark:** Per BLS Business Employment Dynamics (March 2025), 5-year survival rates for StreetSpring's tracked industries span **47.8-61.8%**. Restaurants — the most-studied of these — survive at **50.0%** nationally, not the often-cited "80% fail" myth. The real risk premium is at the location level, which is what StreetSpring's model isolates.

**About Brooklyn** — Brooklyn is one of the southernmost neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland. It is located near Anne Arundel County along Governor Ritchie Highway which is also Maryland Route 2. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn%2C_Baltimore))

**Daytime population context (Brooklyn):** Per US Census LEHD LODES, the median 1-mile workplace-jobs population within Brooklyn is **1,314** — about **0.0× the resident population**, which qualifies as a primarily-residential neighborhood with minimal daytime worker traffic. Retail-sector jobs in that radius: **242**. This shapes which business models have a natural demand floor here.

Landmark anchor: Garrett Park is the public-space landmark in Brooklyn that shapes a meaningful share of neighborhood foot-traffic.

**Economic indicators for Brooklyn:** Three local signals — neighborhood unemployment **7.1%** (ACS; above the median we track), Baltimore-area average weekly wage **$1,321** (BLS QCEW; in line with our metro median), and **544** new residential units permitted in Baltimore (Independent City) in 2025 (Census BPS). Use these to ground demand and labor-cost assumptions for your specific business plan.