Business Survivability in Roxbury, Boston
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Roxbury is a Pet Grooming Shop with a ~79% 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 Pet Grooming Shop in Roxbury (~79% average survival rate, ~80% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #68 across all neighborhoods in and around Boston
- Neighborhood average: ~78% two-year survival across all business types
- Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data
- Detailed methodology
Last reviewed: September 2026 by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring
In this article:
- Summary
- Is Roxbury 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 Roxbury is a Pet Grooming Shop with a ~79% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~80% chance; next is a Veterinary Clinic with a 78.93% chance, followed by a French Restaurant with a 78.55% chance.
Is Roxbury a good place to start a business?
Across all neighborhoods in and around Boston, StreetSpring's data places Roxbury at #68 with a ~78% average Survivability Score.
- At the strongest addresses in Roxbury, the most viable business types score ~2% higher than the average survivability rate across all locations.
- That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Roxbury can drop substantially below average. The survivability gap between the best and worst addresses in a single neighborhood can be 20 points or more.
- Roxbury's 6.1% commercial vacancy rate signals the current availability of storefronts and shapes the competitive environment that survivability scores reflect.
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 Roxbury?
StreetSpring's address-level analysis reveals which specific storefronts in Roxbury offer the strongest survivability odds for your business type. StreetSpring's 2026 model ranks this area #1 in Roxbury for a Pet Grooming Shop:
StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for a Pet Grooming Shop in Roxbury. Market conditions, new competitors, and local spending patterns can change rapidly — always verify with StreetSpring's live tool before signing a lease. The model evaluates hundreds of factors — from primary and secondary competition to forecasted spend, site accessibility, and local market share potential.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Roxbury?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting 2+ years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pet Grooming Shop | 78.94% |
| 2 | Veterinary Clinic | 78.93% |
| 3 | French Restaurant | 78.55% |
| 4 | Brunch Restaurant | 78.53% |
| 5 | Scandinavian Restaurant | 78.52% |
| 6 | Pet Boarding Facility | 78.51% |
| 7 | Kosher Restaurant | 78.39% |
| 8 | Japanese / Sushi Restaurant | 78.28% |
| 9 | Dance Club | 78.27% |
| 10 | Ukrainian Restaurant | 78.20% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Roxbury
- Pet Grooming Shop (Ranked #1): 78.94% average in Roxbury. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~78%.
- Veterinary Clinic is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Roxbury: 78.93% chance on average, best at ~86%, challenging at ~84%.
- French Restaurant — ~78%–~79% survivability range, with an average of 78.55% across Roxbury.
- Opening a Brunch Restaurant in Roxbury shows 78.53% average survivability. Top locations reach ~79%; lower-end sites show ~77%.
- Scandinavian Restaurant (Ranked #5): 78.52% average in Roxbury. Best-case storefronts: ~79%. Challenging locations: ~78%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Roxbury
- Pet Boarding Facility is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Roxbury: 78.51% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~79%.
- Kosher Restaurant — ~77%–~79% survivability range, with an average of 78.39% across Roxbury.
- Opening a Japanese / Sushi Restaurant in Roxbury shows 78.28% average survivability. Top locations reach ~79%; lower-end sites show ~77%.
- Dance Club (Ranked #9): 78.27% average in Roxbury. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~79%.
- Ukrainian Restaurant is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Roxbury: 78.20% chance on average, best at ~79%, challenging at ~77%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Pet Grooming Shop — See how this compares to other cities →
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- French Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Roxbury make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations for your business in Roxbury 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
- Site-specific factors can dramatically alter outcomes even within the same neighborhood.
- The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it.
- The businesses that outperform their category averages most consistently are those that scored highest on survivability before opening.
- Every survivability score StreetSpring produces is specific to the exact address and business type — not averaged across a zip code or neighborhood.
What businesses should open next in Roxbury?
The top businesses to open next in Roxbury:
- Pet Grooming Shops — 78.94% average survival rate, up to ~80% at best locations
- Veterinary Clinics — 78.93% average survival rate
- French Restaurants — 78.55% average survival rate
Market conditions, new competitors, and local spending patterns can change rapidly — always verify with StreetSpring's live tool before signing a lease. We apply advanced machine learning to one of the largest commercial real estate outcome datasets in the country. Roxbury sits at 90.8% employment and 6.1% commercial vacancy — conditions that set the ceiling and floor for Revenue Capture potential across all business types here. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring updates every location's survivability score weekly — you can see current scores for available storefronts in Roxbury 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 Pet Grooming Shop survivability across Boston neighborhoods
Visual Data
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Roxbury.
What type of business should you rent your Roxbury storefront to?
For landlords in Roxbury, StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies Pet Grooming Shops, Veterinary Clinics, and French Restaurants as the business types most likely to produce stable, long-term tenancy.
- The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it.
- Every survivability score StreetSpring produces is specific to the exact address and business type — not averaged across a zip code or neighborhood. StreetSpring allows property owners to evaluate any address against 500+ business types — so you can prioritize the categories that score highest at your specific location.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Boston Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Roxbury storefront to a Pet Grooming Shop?
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, a Pet Grooming Shop ranks as the top tenant type for your Roxbury storefront — best-case locations show a ~80% survival rate, while the most challenging addresses drop to ~78%.
- Every survivability score StreetSpring produces is specific to the exact address and business type — not averaged across a zip code or neighborhood.
What should I consider when opening a business in Roxbury?
When evaluating potential locations in Roxbury, start with the Survivability Score. It accounts for competition, spending, mobility, and market share in a single figure.
- Revenue Capture Score matters more than any other single metric when predicting business outcomes.
- StreetSpring uses its own proprietary forecasting tools to identify the Revenue Capture Score for each unique business.
- You can check the Survivability Score for any storefront in Roxbury at no cost using StreetSpring's live tool.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring combines proprietary data with advanced analytics to predict which businesses will succeed. 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.