What are the best businesses to open in Dover?

The top businesses to open in Dover include Italian Restaurant with a ~86% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~88%, followed by Chicken Shop and Bangladeshi Restaurant.

Is Dover a good place to start a business?

Dover is ranked number 5 across neighborhoods in and around Boston to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~79%. The most promising business types in the best locations score a ~2% higher chance of surviving 2 years than the average.

What businesses are most in demand in Dover?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Dover are Italian Restaurants, Chicken Shops, and Bangladeshi Restaurants.

Business Survivability in Dover, Boston

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Dover is an Italian Restaurant with a ~86% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

April 24, 2026•18 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: an Italian Restaurant in Dover (~86% average survival rate, ~88% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #5 across all neighborhoods in and around Boston

Neighborhood average: ~79% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Last reviewed by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring — May 14, 2026

In this article:

Summary
Is Dover 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 Dover is an Italian Restaurant with a ~86% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~88% chance; next is a Chicken Shop with a ~86% chance, followed by a Bangladeshi Restaurant with a ~86% chance.

What does the data say about opening in Dover?

**Comparable neighborhoods:** Among the ~2,500 neighborhoods StreetSpring scores, Dover's profile most resembles **Deer Park (Houston)** and **St Charles (St. Louis)**. All three exhibit low destination density, low vacancy, and few anchor tenants — operators with experience in any of those neighborhoods will see familiar patterns in Dover.

**Failure-mode analysis for Dover.** The single strongest subtype in our data is **Italian Restaurant** at 86% average survivability. But the within-neighborhood spread for Italian Restaurants runs **68% to 97%** — meaning a poorly-sited Italian Restaurant in Dover can score 29 points below a well-sited one. Saturation reality check: Gyms are the most-competed tracked subtype here, with 3 existing competitors within a 0.5-mile radius.

Across all neighborhoods in and around Boston, StreetSpring's data places Dover at #5 with a ~79% average Survivability Score.

The most promising business types in the best locations score a ~2% higher chance of surviving 2 years than the average.
That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Dover can drop substantially below average. The survivability gap between the best and worst addresses in a single neighborhood can be 20 points or more.
With a 95.3% employment rate, Dover has the consumer spending foundation that supports a range of brick-and-mortar business types.

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 Dover?

StreetSpring scores survivability at the exact address level in Dover — so you can compare two storefronts on the same block before committing to a lease. StreetSpring's 2026 model ranks this area #1 in Dover for an Italian Restaurant:

Reading visibility, frontage, and parking carefully

Loading live map preview...

The 2026 StreetSpring model highlights this circle as the top zone for an Italian Restaurant in Dover. StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. 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 Dover

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Dover

Italian Restaurant (Ranked #1): ~86% average in Dover. Best-case storefronts: ~88%. Challenging locations: ~85%.
Chicken Shop is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Dover: ~86% chance on average, best at ~88%, challenging at ~85%.
Bangladeshi Restaurant — ~84%–~88% survivability range, with an average of ~86% across Dover.
Opening a South American Restaurant in Dover shows ~86% average survivability. Top locations reach ~88%; lower-end sites show ~84%.
Chinese Restaurant (Ranked #5): ~86% average in Dover. Best-case storefronts: ~87%. Challenging locations: ~84%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Dover

Indonesian Restaurant is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Dover: ~86% chance on average, best at ~88%, challenging at ~84%.
Deli — ~84%–~87% survivability range, with an average of ~86% across Dover.
Opening a French Restaurant in Dover shows ~86% average survivability. Top locations reach ~88%; lower-end sites show ~85%.
Brunch Restaurant (Ranked #9): ~86% average in Dover. Best-case storefronts: ~88%. Challenging locations: ~84%.
Taiwanese Restaurant is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Dover: ~86% chance on average, best at ~88%, challenging at ~84%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

Chicken Shop — See how this compares to other cities →
Bangladeshi Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →

How much money could a business in Dover make?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, choosing an address that maximizes your Revenue Capture Score in Dover could lead to you making ~2% more than if you selected an average location, and ~3% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.

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.
Location shapes survivability more than branding, pricing, or operational quality — the data is unambiguous on this point.
StreetSpring has found that selecting the location with the highest survivability score for a business is the best way to maximize the amount of money you will make.
StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.

What Dover needs more of (per our model)

The top businesses to open next in Dover:

Italian Restaurants — ~86% average survival rate, up to ~88% at best locations
Chicken Shops — ~86% average survival rate
Bangladeshi Restaurants — ~86% average survival rate

StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. Our training data spans 130+ business types across 24 major metros, giving our models the breadth to predict outcomes across nearly any commercial concept. With Dover's 95.3% employment rate factored in, the businesses best positioned to succeed here are those that benefit from a well-employed, spending-capable local consumer base. 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 Dover right now.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

Related Articles:

See the Boston Business Survivability Rankings
See the Boston Neighborhood Survivability Rankings

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

If you own commercial space in Dover, StreetSpring's 2026 data points to Italian Restaurants, Chicken Shops, and Bangladeshi Restaurants as the tenant types with the strongest projected longevity at this location.

Location shapes survivability more than branding, pricing, or operational quality — the data is unambiguous on this point.
StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success. Run your specific address through StreetSpring to see which tenant categories give you the best odds of stable, long-term occupancy.

Should you rent your Dover storefront to an Italian Restaurant?

The data shows an Italian Restaurant is the safest long-term bet for a Dover storefront. Top locations reach ~88% survivability; the least favorable addresses in this neighborhood score around ~85%.

StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.

What should I consider when opening a business in Dover?

Among all the criteria to weigh when opening a business in Dover, Survivability Score carries the most predictive weight — choose the address with the highest score your budget allows.

Revenue Capture Score is the single best indicator of whether a business will thrive at a location.
These predictions are generated by StreetSpring's proprietary machine learning system, validated against hundreds of thousands of real business outcomes.
StreetSpring's address-level survivability data is available free of charge — start with your top candidate locations in Dover.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.

Real estate professionals and business owners across 24 major metros use StreetSpring to ground their site-selection decisions in data, not guesswork. Aggregated survivability rankings for Boston are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Lease structure questions to ask first

Consideration	Common pitfall	What to verify before signing
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.
Lease term	Locking into 7-10 years without break clauses, then needing to relocate after year 2.	Negotiate a relocation or termination clause. Confirm assignment + sublease rights are in writing.
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.

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.

Visual Data

Dumbbell chart comparing best vs worst locations for businesses in Boston — Best vs worst neighborhood per business type in Boston — the gap shows how much location choice matters for each subtype.

Treemap of Boston business mix by survivability score — Treemap of business mix in Boston — cell size = number of locations, color = average survivability score.

Radar chart of business-subtype survivability in Dover, Boston — Top business types scored in Dover, Boston — each axis is a subtype, taller = stronger survival rate.

How we measure this: Annual rent / estimated annual revenue = rent burden ratio. Industry rule of thumb: above 12% is uncomfortable, above 18% is fatal.

**Sector-level context:** BLS data (BLS Business Employment Dynamics, March 2025 release) shows 5-year survival rates of **47.8%** (Active Life), **47.9%** (Retail Trade), **50.0%** (Restaurants), **50.5%** (Beauty & Personal Care), and **61.8%** (Health & Medical) — the five industry buckets covering most StreetSpring subtypes. Location-specific factors explain the rest of the variance.

**Worker-to-resident ratio (Dover):** LEHD daytime population data gives Dover a **0.0-to-1 worker/resident ratio** (a primarily-residential neighborhood with minimal daytime worker traffic). Median 1-mile workplace jobs: **96**; retail share within that: **0**. Worker-heavy neighborhoods skew demand toward weekday-business-hours; resident-heavy neighborhoods skew toward evenings and weekends.

Landmark anchor: Dover hosts Dover Historical Society, a history-museum that gives the neighborhood a cultural-destination layer most blocks don't have.

**Economic context that bounds the demand environment in Dover:** Per ACS, neighborhood unemployment is **4.7%** (below the 24-metro neighborhood median). BLS QCEW shows the Boston metro's average weekly wage at **$1,631** (above our 24-metro median). And Suffolk County permitted **2,338** new residential units in 2025 per Census BPS — a population-and-demand growth signal.

Related Resources

Related: