Business Survivability in Salem, Boston
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Salem is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~85% 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 Veterinary Clinic in Salem (~85% average survival rate, ~90% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #2 across all neighborhoods in and around Boston
- Neighborhood average: ~80% 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: September 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring
In this article:
- Summary
- Is Salem 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 Salem is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~85% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~90% chance; next is a Persian Restaurant with a 80.41% chance, followed by a Diner with a 80.23% chance.
Is Salem a good place to start a business?
Salem earns the #2 spot in Boston for new business survivability, with an average score of ~80% across all business types analyzed.
- Best-case locations for the top business types in Salem produce survivability scores ~15% above the neighborhood-wide average.
- However, those high-scoring categories placed at the least-competitive addresses in Salem often fall well below average. Picking the right block — not just the right neighborhood — is what actually determines survivability.
- With 94.9% of the local population employed, Salem presents a stable consumer base — particularly for food, beverage, and service businesses that depend on repeat discretionary spending.
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 Salem?
StreetSpring's address-level analysis reveals which specific storefronts in Salem offer the strongest survivability odds for your business type. According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, this is the optimal address for a Veterinary Clinic in Salem:
StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for a Veterinary Clinic in Salem. Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. 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 Salem?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 84.20% |
| 2 | Persian Restaurant | 80.41% |
| 3 | Diner | 80.23% |
| 4 | Bangladeshi Restaurant | 79.97% |
| 5 | Dance Club | 78.80% |
| 6 | Smoke Shop | 78.72% |
| 7 | Pet Boarding Facility | 77.70% |
| 8 | Pet Grooming Shop | 76.25% |
| 9 | Gym | 75.47% |
| 10 | Laundromat | 73.18% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Salem
- Veterinary Clinic (Ranked #1): 84.20% average in Salem. Best-case storefronts: ~90%. Challenging locations: ~74%.
- Persian Restaurant is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Salem: 80.41% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~73%.
- Diner — ~71%–~84% survivability range, with an average of 80.23% across Salem.
- Opening a Bangladeshi Restaurant in Salem shows 79.97% average survivability. Top locations reach ~84%; lower-end sites show ~71%.
- Dance Club (Ranked #5): 78.80% average in Salem. Best-case storefronts: ~84%. Challenging locations: ~68%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Salem
- Smoke Shop is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Salem: 78.72% chance on average, best at ~85%, challenging at ~70%.
- Pet Boarding Facility — ~67%–~85% survivability range, with an average of 77.70% across Salem.
- Opening a Pet Grooming Shop in Salem shows 76.25% average survivability. Top locations reach ~82%; lower-end sites show ~67%.
- Gym (Ranked #9): 75.47% average in Salem. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~69%.
- Laundromat is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Salem: 73.18% chance on average, best at ~81%, challenging at ~59%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Persian Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Diner — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Salem make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, identifying the optimal address for your business type in Salem could lead to you making ~15% more than if you selected an average location, and ~68% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Site selection requires evaluating the specific combination of your business type and the exact address — neighborhood-level data is only the starting point.
- Nothing influences a business's future more than its location.
- Maximizing your Survivability Score is the most reliable path to profitability.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood — it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What businesses should open next in Salem?
The top businesses to open next in Salem:
- Veterinary Clinics — 84.20% average survival rate, ~90% at the best address
- Persian Restaurants — 80.41% average survival rate
- Diners — 80.23% average survival rate
Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. We apply advanced machine learning to one of the largest commercial real estate outcome datasets in the country. 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. Salem's employment rate (94.9%) and vacancy rate (9.7%) together define the economic context that StreetSpring's model uses to score survivability for each business type at each address. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring updates every location's survivability score weekly — you can see current scores for available storefronts in Salem 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 Veterinary Clinic survivability across Boston neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Salem.
What type of business should you rent your Salem storefront to?
StreetSpring's 2026 model places Veterinary Clinics, Persian Restaurants, and Diners at the top of the survivability rankings for Salem — making them the safest long-term tenant bets for landlords here.
- Nothing influences a business's future more than its location.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood — it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category. Use StreetSpring to see the survivability score for any business type at your exact storefront address before you sign a lease.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Boston Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Salem storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes, StreetSpring's analysis finds that a Veterinary Clinic would be the best type of business to rent your storefront to, with a potential ~90% chance of lasting more than 2 years; however depending on your location, the chances could drop to a ~74% chance.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood — it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What should I consider when opening a business in Salem?
Location decisions in Salem should be grounded in Survivability Score data, not intuition. The score directly measures the competitive and spending conditions at your exact address.
- Revenue Capture is where competition meets spending — and it's the number that matters most when choosing a location.
- Each forecast is specific to the exact address and business type, generated by StreetSpring's internally developed prediction engine.
- Access StreetSpring's current survivability data for any address in Salem for free at any time.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
Using predictive analytics, StreetSpring helps entrepreneurs and landlords make smarter location decisions. 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.