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

StreetSpring's prediction model analyzes 100 factors across competition, spending on the specific potential business, projected revenue, projected market share, Revenue Capture Score, and mobility patterns to pinpoint which blocks in Jamaica Plain maximize success.

Is Jamaica Plain a good place to start a business?

Jamaica Plain is ranked number 49 across neighborhoods in and around Boston to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~76%. The top business types in Jamaica Plain, when placed at their ideal addresses, achieve survivability rates ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.

How much money could a business in Jamaica Plain make?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations in Jamaica Plain could lead to making ~2% more than selecting an average location, and ~4% more than one of the worst locations.

What businesses are most in demand in Jamaica Plain?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Jamaica Plain are Filipino Restaurants, Ukrainian Restaurants, and Dance Clubs.

Business Survivability in Jamaica Plain, Boston

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Jamaica Plain is a Filipino Restaurant with a ~83% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

April 24, 2026•17 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: a Filipino Restaurant in Jamaica Plain (~83% average survival rate, ~85% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #49 across all neighborhoods in and around Boston

Neighborhood average: ~76% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Last reviewed: May 3, 2026 by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

In this article:

Summary
Is Jamaica Plain 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 Jamaica Plain is a Filipino Restaurant with a ~83% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~85% chance; next is an Ukrainian Restaurant with a ~83% chance, followed by a Dance Club with a ~83% chance.

What does the data say about opening in Jamaica Plain?

**Peer neighborhoods:** Looking at demographic mix and amenity density across the 24 metros StreetSpring covers, Jamaica Plain clusters most tightly with **Cathedral Heights (Washington DC)** and **Marina (San Francisco)**. Common thread: more college-educated, high high-earner share, and higher-income. Survival outcomes for those neighborhoods provide a useful comparison set for Jamaica Plain.

**Where Jamaica Plain businesses actually fail.** Among the 93 tracked subtypes, **Bars** post the highest average survivability (83%). But across Jamaica Plain's sites, the spread for this subtype runs **74% to 89%** — a 15-point gap that says *the address matters more than the subtype*. For saturation context, Juice & Smoothie Bars are the most densely-clustered tracked subtype in the neighborhood (14 competitors within 0.5 miles).

Across all neighborhoods in and around Boston, StreetSpring's data places Jamaica Plain at #49 with a ~76% average Survivability Score.

The top business types in Jamaica Plain, when placed at their ideal addresses, achieve survivability rates ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.
But these same concepts at less optimal addresses within Jamaica Plain can score meaningfully below average. Survivability data shows that even the highest-demand business types fail at the wrong location.
The 98.0% employment rate in Jamaica Plain supports consumer spending, while a 4.0% vacancy rate reflects available storefronts — both of which shape the survivability landscape for any new business here.

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

Where in Jamaica Plain should you open a business?

Using StreetSpring, you can identify the exact address in Jamaica Plain that gives your specific business concept the highest survivability score. According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, this is the optimal address for a Filipino Restaurant in Jamaica Plain:

The locations that show up in our top-10 lists

Loading live map preview...

The highlighted area represents the address in Jamaica Plain that StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks highest for a Filipino Restaurant survivability. The most reliable survivability data for any specific location is always StreetSpring's most recent live analysis, not aggregate neighborhood rankings. StreetSpring's scoring incorporates 100 inputs, including competitive quality and density, projected consumer spending, Revenue Capture Score, and mobility data.

Check if this location is still available →

What are the best businesses to open in Jamaica Plain?

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Jamaica Plain

Filipino Restaurant — ~82%–~85% survivability range, with an average of ~83% across Jamaica Plain.
Opening an Ukrainian Restaurant in Jamaica Plain shows ~83% average survivability. Top locations reach ~85%; lower-end sites show ~81%.
Dance Club (Ranked #3): ~83% average in Jamaica Plain. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~81%.
Veterinary Clinic is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in Jamaica Plain: ~83% chance on average, best at ~85%, challenging at ~80%.
Pet Grooming Shop — ~80%–~85% survivability range, with an average of ~83% across Jamaica Plain.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Jamaica Plain

Opening a French Restaurant in Jamaica Plain shows ~83% average survivability. Top locations reach ~84%; lower-end sites show ~81%.
American Restaurant (Ranked #7): ~82% average in Jamaica Plain. Best-case storefronts: ~84%. Challenging locations: ~80%.
Pet Boarding Facility is ranked #8 for top businesses to open in Jamaica Plain: ~82% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~80%.
Kosher Restaurant — ~80%–~84% survivability range, with an average of ~82% across Jamaica Plain.
Opening a Watch Store or Repair Shop in Jamaica Plain shows ~82% average survivability. Top locations reach ~84%; lower-end sites show ~79%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

Filipino Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
Dance Club — See how this compares to other cities →

What revenue can a Jamaica Plain business expect?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, identifying the optimal address for your business type in Jamaica Plain could lead to you making ~2% more than if you selected an average location, and ~4% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.

How StreetSpring calculates location value

Even within a high-performing neighborhood, the best location varies by business type — StreetSpring scores each combination separately.
A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
Survivability Score is not just a survival metric — it's a revenue predictor, and the higher the score, the stronger the long-term financial outlook.
StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location.

The biggest opportunity gaps in Jamaica Plain

The top businesses to open next in Jamaica Plain:

Filipino Restaurants — ~83% average survival rate, up to ~85% at best locations
Ukrainian Restaurants — ~83% average survival rate
Dance Clubs — ~83% average survival rate

The most reliable survivability data for any specific location is always StreetSpring's most recent live analysis, not aggregate neighborhood rankings. Our models are built using machine learning trained on millions of commercial real estate data points. The 98.0% employment rate in Jamaica Plain is a key signal of consumer health; when combined with the 4.0% vacancy rate, it produces a competitive landscape that favors the business types ranked above. The data behind these rankings is updated weekly, so the best available storefront in Jamaica Plain today may score differently than it did last month — check StreetSpring's live tool for the current picture.

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 Jamaica Plain.

What type of business should you rent your Jamaica Plain storefront to?

StreetSpring's 2026 model places Filipino Restaurants, Ukrainian Restaurants, and Dance Clubs at the top of the survivability rankings for Jamaica Plain — making them the safest long-term tenant bets for landlords here.

A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location. StreetSpring can show you which specific address in your portfolio scores highest for each tenant type.

Should you rent your Jamaica Plain storefront to a Filipino Restaurant?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, a Filipino Restaurant ranks as the top tenant type for your Jamaica Plain storefront — best-case locations show a ~85% survival rate, while the most challenging addresses drop to ~82%.

StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location.

What should I consider when opening a business in Jamaica Plain?

StreetSpring's Survivability Score for your Jamaica Plain 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 forecasting tools are purpose-built for commercial location decisions and are not available through any publicly accessible data source.
You can check the Survivability Score for any storefront in Jamaica Plain at no cost using StreetSpring's live tool.

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

Area to check	What can go wrong	How to de-risk it
Foot traffic seasonality	Looking at a peak-summer Tuesday and assuming year-round volume.	Walk the block at 3 different times across 2 different weeks. Ask neighboring tenants for their slow-season % drop.
Workforce availability	Hiring radius is smaller than you think — many neighborhoods can't staff a full team at standard wages.	Pull BLS wage data for your industry in this metro. Walk through your staffing plan with a local restaurant/retail operator before signing.
Permits & licensing	Assuming a 30-day permit timeline, hitting 90+ days, paying rent on a non-operating storefront.	Call the local zoning office before signing. Confirm your use is already permitted; if not, factor a 2-3 month variance timeline.

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

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 Jamaica Plain, Boston — Top business types scored in Jamaica Plain, Boston — each axis is a subtype, taller = stronger survival rate.

Bubble chart of business subtypes in Boston by survivability score and location density — Every business subtype in Boston plotted by score vs location count — bubble size shows market depth.

How we measure this: Supplier proximity matters more for some subtypes (restaurants, repair shops) than others (online-anchored retail).

**Authoritative baseline:** BLS Business Employment Dynamics, March 2025 release publishes 5-year survival rates by industry. For sectors StreetSpring covers, the range runs from **47.8%** (Active Life) to **61.8%** (Health & Medical), with restaurants at **50.0%** and retail at **47.9%**. Location-specific factors drive the actual variance around these baselines.

**Jamaica Plain at a glance.** Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of 4.4 square miles (11 km2) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Plain))

**Daytime worker density (Jamaica Plain):** LEHD LODES Workplace Area Characteristics show a **0.3:1 daytime-to-resident ratio** for Jamaica Plain — a primarily-residential signal with some daytime worker pull. Median workplace jobs within a 1-mile radius of grid points in Jamaica Plain: **9,024**, of which roughly **503** are retail-sector. Higher daytime ratios favor weekday-lunch / commuter-traffic businesses; balanced ratios favor residential + weekend demand patterns.

Landmark anchor: Bigfoot Research sits in Jamaica Plain as a history-museum anchor — the kind of cultural draw that shapes weekend foot-traffic patterns nearby.

**Three local anchors for Jamaica Plain:** **2.0%** neighborhood unemployment (below the 24-metro median, ACS), **$1,631/week** average wage in the Boston area (above our metro median, BLS QCEW), and **2,338** new residential units permitted in Suffolk County in 2025 (Census BPS). These three together describe the demand-and-labor environment any new Jamaica Plain business operates within.

Related Resources

Related:

Beyond the Numbers: Local Context

Further questions, with answers anchored on this neighborhood's actual data.

Is Jamaica Plain a high-employment or high-unemployment area?

ACS labor-force data shows an employment rate of about 98% in Jamaica Plain, versus 96% across Boston. A strong employment rate signals steadier local spending and lower retail churn.

What's the vacancy picture in Jamaica Plain?

ACS data shows a housing vacancy rate of approximately 4% in Jamaica Plain, versus the Boston metro median of 5%. Vacancy is close to the metro median — lease economics are typical for the area.

How does Boston's survivability compare to national sector averages?

BLS publishes 5-year cohort survival rates by industry. For sectors StreetSpring covers, the range is 47.8-61.8% — Active Life low, Health & Medical high, Restaurants and Retail in the middle around 47.9-50%. Location-specific factors drive most of the variance around these baselines.