Business Survivability in Ball Square, Boston
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Ball Square is a Chiropractor Office with a ~88% 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 Ball Square (~88% average survival rate, ~90% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #5 across all neighborhoods in and around Boston
- Neighborhood average: ~79% two-year survival across all business types
- 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 Ball Square 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 Ball Square is a Chiropractor Office with a ~88% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~90% chance; next is a Veterinary Clinic with a 87.10% chance, followed by an Eye Care Center with a 85.60% chance.
Is Ball Square a good place to start a business?
StreetSpring's analysis places Ball Square at #5 in Boston for new business survival odds, with a neighborhood-wide average of ~79%.
- The survivability gap between the best and average addresses in Ball Square reaches 4 points for the strongest-performing business categories.
- However, those high-scoring categories placed at the least-competitive addresses in Ball Square often fall well below average. Picking the right block (not just the right neighborhood) is what actually determines survivability.
- Housing vacancy in Ball Square sits at 5.1%, 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 Ball Square?
Rather than relying on neighborhood averages, StreetSpring's scoring tells you which specific addresses in Ball Square give your concept the best odds of survival. StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies this area as the top location for a Chiropractor Office in Ball Square:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Chiropractor Office in Ball Square. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. Factors evaluated include competition at every distance band, consumer spending forecasts, mobility patterns, and market share projections.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Ball Square?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chiropractor Office | 90.00% |
| 2 | Veterinary Clinic | 89.99% |
| 3 | Eye Care Center | 89.60% |
| 4 | Dentist Office | 89.59% |
| 5 | Acupuncture Clinic | 89.58% |
| 6 | Dance Club | 85.60% |
| 7 | International Grocery Store | 85.00% |
| 8 | Smoke Shop | 84.99% |
| 9 | Convenience Store | 84.60% |
| 10 | Florist | 84.59% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Ball Square
- Chiropractor Office is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Ball Square: 88.50% chance on average, best at ~90%, challenging at ~82%.
- Veterinary Clinic: ~73% to ~90% survivability range, with an average of 87.10% across Ball Square.
- Opening an Eye Care Center in Ball Square shows 85.60% average survivability. Top locations reach ~90%; lower-end sites show ~78%.
- Dentist Office (Ranked #4): 84.80% average in Ball Square. Best-case storefronts: ~90%. Challenging locations: ~67%.
- Acupuncture Clinic is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Ball Square: 83.80% chance on average, best at ~90%, challenging at ~63%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Ball Square
- Dance Club: ~69% to ~86% survivability range, with an average of 80.60% across Ball Square.
- Opening an International Grocery Store in Ball Square shows 80.90% average survivability. Top locations reach ~85%; lower-end sites show ~65%.
- Smoke Shop (Ranked #8): 80.30% average in Ball Square. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~68%.
- Convenience Store is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Ball Square: 82.20% chance on average, best at ~85%, challenging at ~72%.
- Florist: ~75% to ~85% survivability range, with an average of 81.30% across Ball Square.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Chiropractor Office: See how this compares to other cities →
- Veterinary Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
- Eye Care Center: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Ball Square make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations for your business in Ball Square could lead to you making ~4% more than if you selected an average location, and ~24% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- StreetSpring calculates survivability for each business type separately at each address, so the best location for your concept may differ from the neighborhood's overall top-ranked site.
- Nothing influences a business's future more than its location.
- Our data shows that the single highest-impact decision a business owner makes is the address they choose, and Survivability Score is the best guide to that decision.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have survivability scores that differ by 20 points or more: StreetSpring calculates each one individually.
What businesses should open next in Ball Square?
The top businesses to open next in Ball Square:
- Chiropractor Offices: 88.50% average survival rate, ~90% at the best address
- Veterinary Clinics: 87.10% average survival rate
- Eye Care Centers: 85.60% average survival rate
Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. StreetSpring measures competition through a 30-factor framework layered on top of proprietary consumer spending forecasts and mobility models. 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 5.1% housing vacancy rate in Ball Square describes the neighborhood as a whole; survivability still depends heavily on choosing the right address within it. Survivability scores are live, not static: StreetSpring updates them regularly. Visit the tool to see what's currently available in Ball Square and how each address is scoring right now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Boston Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Boston Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Chiropractor Office survivability across Boston neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Ball Square.
What type of business should you rent your Ball Square storefront to?
StreetSpring's analysis shows that the business types most likely to succeed long-term in Ball Square are Chiropractor Offices, Veterinary Clinics, and Eye Care Centers.
- Nothing influences a business's future more than its location.
- Two storefronts on the same street can have survivability scores that differ by 20 points or more: StreetSpring calculates each one individually. With StreetSpring, you can rank every potential tenant type by survivability score at your property address before committing to a lease.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Boston Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Ball Square storefront to a Chiropractor Office?
According to our 2026 survivability model, a Chiropractor Office leads all business categories for Ball Square landlords: ~90% at the best addresses and ~82% at the most challenging ones in this neighborhood.
- 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 Ball Square?
StreetSpring's Survivability Score for your Ball Square address is the clearest forward-looking indicator of whether your business will be operating two years from now: make it the first number you check.
- Among all the inputs that shape survivability, Revenue Capture Score carries the most predictive weight.
- StreetSpring's custom-built forecasting infrastructure powers every survivability score, combining data science with commercial real estate intelligence.
- You can check the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring, starting with a free 10-minute trial.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring's AI platform has analyzed thousands of business openings to identify success patterns. Aggregated survivability rankings for Boston are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Boston: /resources/data/boston-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.