Business Survivability in Chatham, Chicago
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Chatham is a Kosher Restaurant with a ~82% 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 Kosher Restaurant in Chatham (~82% average survival rate, ~83% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #56 across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago
- Neighborhood average: ~81% 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 Chatham 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 Chatham is a Kosher Restaurant with a ~82% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~83% chance; next is an Italian Restaurant with a 82.42% chance, followed by a Filipino Restaurant with a 82.38% chance.
Is Chatham a good place to start a business?
StreetSpring's analysis places Chatham at #56 in Chicago for new business survival odds, with a neighborhood-wide average of ~81%.
- The top business types in Chatham, when placed at their ideal addresses, achieve survivability rates ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.
- Even so, the weakest addresses in Chatham for those same business types can underperform considerably. StreetSpring's address-level scoring exists precisely to identify which specific storefronts make the difference.
- The 15.3% commercial vacancy rate in Chatham is a leading indicator of the neighborhood's business health; StreetSpring factors this directly into each business type's survivability score.
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 Chatham?
StreetSpring can pinpoint which exact blocks in Chatham maximize a business's chances of success. According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, this is the optimal address for a Kosher Restaurant in Chatham:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Kosher Restaurant in Chatham. However, individual locations vary widely, and even in lower-scoring neighborhoods there are pockets that perform exceptionally well. 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 Chatham?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting 2+ years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kosher Restaurant | 82.45% |
| 2 | Italian Restaurant | 82.42% |
| 3 | Filipino Restaurant | 82.38% |
| 4 | Pet Grooming Shop | 82.28% |
| 5 | Singaporean Restaurant | 82.27% |
| 6 | Indonesian Restaurant | 82.14% |
| 7 | Diner | 82.11% |
| 8 | Ukrainian Restaurant | 82.10% |
| 9 | American Restaurant | 82.09% |
| 10 | Chicken Shop | 82.08% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Chatham
- Kosher Restaurant is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Chatham: 82.45% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~82%.
- Italian Restaurant — ~82%–~83% survivability range, with an average of 82.42% across Chatham.
- Opening a Filipino Restaurant in Chatham shows 82.38% average survivability. Top locations reach ~83%; lower-end sites show ~81%.
- Pet Grooming Shop (Ranked #4): 82.28% average in Chatham. Best-case storefronts: ~83%. Challenging locations: ~81%.
- Singaporean Restaurant is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Chatham: 82.27% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~82%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Chatham
- Indonesian Restaurant — ~81%–~83% survivability range, with an average of 82.14% across Chatham.
- Opening a Diner in Chatham shows 82.11% average survivability. Top locations reach ~83%; lower-end sites show ~81%.
- Ukrainian Restaurant (Ranked #8): 82.10% average in Chatham. Best-case storefronts: ~83%. Challenging locations: ~81%.
- American Restaurant is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Chatham: 82.09% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~81%.
- Chicken Shop — ~82%–~84% survivability range, with an average of 82.08% across Chatham.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Kosher Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Italian Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Filipino Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Chatham make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, prioritizing survivability score in your site-selection process in Chatham 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
- No two business types have identical location needs; survivability scores reflect these differences at the address level.
- The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it.
- 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.
- 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 Chatham?
The top businesses to open next in Chatham:
- Kosher Restaurants — 82.45% average survival rate, up to ~83% at best locations
- Italian Restaurants — 82.42% average survival rate
- Filipino Restaurants — 82.38% average survival rate
However, individual locations vary widely, and even in lower-scoring neighborhoods there are pockets that perform exceptionally well. StreetSpring has analyzed hundreds of thousands of business outcomes across major U.S. metros. The 15.3% commercial vacancy rate in Chatham means there is available space for new entrants — but it also signals that survivability depends heavily on choosing the right address within the neighborhood, not just the neighborhood itself. New competitors open and close every week, changing the survivability landscape for every address in Chatham. StreetSpring's weekly updates mean you can always see the current score for any available storefront. 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.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Chicago Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Chicago Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Kosher Restaurant survivability across Chicago neighborhoods
Visual Data
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Chatham.
What type of business should you rent your Chatham storefront to?
StreetSpring's 2026 model places Kosher Restaurants, Italian Restaurants, and Filipino Restaurants at the top of the survivability rankings for Chatham — making them the safest long-term tenant bets for landlords here.
- The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood — it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category. 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 Chicago Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Chatham storefront to a Kosher Restaurant?
StreetSpring's data confirms a Kosher Restaurant as the highest-survivability tenant type for Chatham. The best addresses show a ~83% chance of lasting more than 2 years; less optimal addresses score around ~82%.
- 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 Chatham?
In Chatham, the single most important factor in your site-selection decision is the Survivability Score of the specific address you're evaluating.
- 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 live scoring tool is free: enter any address in Chatham to see its current Survivability Score for your business type.
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 Chicago are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Chicago: /resources/data/chicago-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.