What are the best businesses to open in Gage Park?

The top businesses to open in Gage Park include Italian Restaurant with a ~90% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~91%, followed by Ukrainian Restaurant and Kosher Restaurant.

What businesses are most in demand in Gage Park?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Gage Park are Italian Restaurants, Ukrainian Restaurants, and Kosher Restaurants.

How much money could a business in Gage Park make?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations in Gage Park could lead to making ~2% more than selecting an average location, and ~3% more than one of the worst locations.

How can you find the best location to open a business in Gage Park?

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 Gage Park maximize success.

Business Survivability in Gage Park, Chicago

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Gage Park is an Italian Restaurant with a ~90% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

April 24, 2026•17 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: an Italian Restaurant in Gage Park (~90% average survival rate, ~91% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #38 across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago

Neighborhood average: ~82% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Last reviewed by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring — April 30, 2026

In this article:

Summary
Is Gage Park 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 Gage Park is an Italian Restaurant with a ~90% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~91% chance; next is an Ukrainian Restaurant with a ~90% chance, followed by a Kosher Restaurant with a ~89% chance.

Is Gage Park a good place to start a business?

**Peer neighborhoods:** Looking at demographic mix and amenity density across the 24 metros StreetSpring covers, Gage Park clusters most tightly with **South Austin (Chicago)** and **Yale Heights (Baltimore)**. Common thread: lower employment, longer commutes, and low high-earner share. Survival outcomes for those neighborhoods provide a useful comparison set for Gage Park.

**Where Gage Park businesses actually fail.** Among the 93 tracked subtypes, **Ukrainian Restaurants** post the highest average survivability (90%). But across Gage Park's sites, the spread for this subtype runs **71% to 97%** — a 26-point gap that says *the address matters more than the subtype*. For saturation context, Bars are the most densely-clustered tracked subtype in the neighborhood (2 competitors within 0.5 miles).

Gage Park earns the #38 spot in Chicago for new business survivability, with an average score of ~82% across all business types analyzed.

Best-case locations for the top business types in Gage Park produce survivability scores ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.
But these same concepts at less optimal addresses within Gage Park can score meaningfully below average. Survivability data shows that even the highest-demand business types fail at the wrong location.
Gage Park's employment rate of 87.7% and commercial vacancy of 9.9% are two of the inputs StreetSpring's model uses to differentiate survivability within this neighborhood.

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

Pinpointing the best locations within Gage Park

StreetSpring's model evaluates every available address in Gage Park for your business type, ranking them by survivability so the best storefront is always identifiable. The map below shows the highest-scoring storefront area for an Italian Restaurant in Gage Park per 2026 data:

Walking the neighborhood: what to look for

Loading live map preview...

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of 100 location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for an Italian Restaurant in Gage Park. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point — the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. Factors evaluated include competition at every distance band, consumer spending forecasts, mobility patterns, and market share projections.

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Top-ranked business types for Gage Park

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Gage Park

Opening an Italian Restaurant in Gage Park shows ~90% average survivability. Top locations reach ~91%; lower-end sites show ~88%.
Ukrainian Restaurant (Ranked #2): ~90% average in Gage Park. Best-case storefronts: ~92%. Challenging locations: ~87%.
Kosher Restaurant is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Gage Park: ~89% chance on average, best at ~92%, challenging at ~88%.
American Restaurant — ~88%–~91% survivability range, with an average of ~89% across Gage Park.
Opening an Indonesian Restaurant in Gage Park shows ~89% average survivability. Top locations reach ~91%; lower-end sites show ~88%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Gage Park

Filipino Restaurant (Ranked #6): ~89% average in Gage Park. Best-case storefronts: ~91%. Challenging locations: ~87%.
Chicken Shop is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Gage Park: ~89% chance on average, best at ~91%, challenging at ~88%.
Pet Grooming Shop — ~87%–~91% survivability range, with an average of ~89% across Gage Park.
Opening a Bangladeshi Restaurant in Gage Park shows ~89% average survivability. Top locations reach ~91%; lower-end sites show ~88%.
South American Restaurant (Ranked #10): ~89% average in Gage Park. Best-case storefronts: ~91%. Challenging locations: ~87%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

The revenue potential of a Gage Park location

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, following the survivability data rather than relying on intuition or foot traffic estimates in Gage Park 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

StreetSpring calculates survivability for each business type separately at each address — so the best location for your concept may differ from the neighborhood's overall top-ranked site.
Location shapes survivability more than branding, pricing, or operational quality — the data is unambiguous on this point.
The businesses that outperform their category averages most consistently are those that scored highest on survivability before opening.
StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for over 700 business types.

The biggest opportunity gaps in Gage Park

The top businesses to open next in Gage Park:

Italian Restaurants — ~90% average survival rate, up to ~91% at best locations
Ukrainian Restaurants — ~90% average survival rate
Kosher Restaurants — ~89% average survival rate

Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point — the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. Our analysis covers every major metro in the country — 24 cities and 180 million++ consumers. The 87.7% employment rate in Gage Park is a key signal of consumer health; when combined with the 9.9% vacancy rate, it produces a competitive landscape that favors the business types ranked above. StreetSpring updates survivability scores for available locations weekly — check the live tool now to see which storefronts in Gage Park are currently available and how they score.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

Related Articles:

See the Chicago Business Survivability Rankings
See the Chicago Neighborhood Survivability Rankings

Frequently Asked Questions

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

What type of business should you rent your Gage Park storefront to?

According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, the strongest tenant types for a storefront in Gage Park are Italian Restaurants, Ukrainian Restaurants, and Kosher Restaurants.

Location shapes survivability more than branding, pricing, or operational quality — the data is unambiguous on this point.
StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for over 700 business types. StreetSpring can show you which specific address in your portfolio scores highest for each tenant type.

Should you rent your Gage Park storefront to an Italian Restaurant?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, an Italian Restaurant ranks as the top tenant type for your Gage Park storefront — best-case locations show a ~91% survival rate, while the most challenging addresses drop to ~88%.

StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for over 700 business types.

What should I consider when opening a business in Gage Park?

The Survivability Score for your specific address in Gage Park is the most reliable signal you have before signing a lease — prioritize it above foot traffic estimates and demographic summaries.

The most important driver of a high Survivability Score is the Revenue Capture Score for the business at the location it selects.
StreetSpring's custom-built forecasting infrastructure powers every survivability score, combining data science with commercial real estate intelligence.
You can check the Survivability Score for any storefront in Gage Park at no cost using StreetSpring's live tool.

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 Chicago are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Permits, licensing, and zoning specifics worth flagging

Factor	Where new owners get tripped up	Questions to ask before you sign
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.
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.
Parking & visibility	Storefront looks great from the sidewalk but is invisible from the road.	Drive past at 30 mph from both directions. Count street parking + nearest paid lot capacity at peak hours.

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.

Visual Data

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

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

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

How we measure this: Most retail competition operates within a 500-meter radius — outside that, behavioral economics show customers don't routinely switch.

**About this neighborhood.** Gage Park is one of Chicago's 77 well-defined community areas, located on the city's southwest side; it is also the name of a park within the neighborhood. Gage Park's population is largely working-class, and its housing stock is mostly bungalows. Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gage_Park%2C_Chicago).

**Daytime vs. resident population (Gage Park):** US Census LEHD workplace data shows Gage Park carries a **0.1× daytime/resident ratio** (a primarily-residential neighborhood with minimal daytime worker traffic), with median 1-mile workplace jobs of **6,782** (and **1,004** retail-sector jobs within that radius). A useful read on demand timing for any new storefront concept here.

Landmark anchor: Fire Museum of Greater Chicago sits in Gage Park as a museum anchor — adding a cultural-destination layer to neighborhood foot-traffic.

**Gage Park economic snapshot:** ACS reports neighborhood unemployment at **12.3%** (above the 24-metro neighborhood median we track). The Chicago metro's BLS QCEW average weekly wage is **$1,198** (below our metro median), and the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey logged **5,308** new residential permits in Cook County in 2025 — useful triangulation for population-growth and labor-cost assumptions in this neighborhood.

**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.

Related Resources

Related:

Local Data Questions

Additional questions with answers drawn directly from local data sources.

How does income in Gage Park compare to the rest of Chicago?

ACS data shows median household income in Gage Park at roughly $73K, compared to $103K across the Chicago metro. Lower median income tends to favor value-oriented retail, fast-casual food, and necessity-driven services.

What's the typical household size in Gage Park, and what does it tell us?

Average household size in Gage Park is 3.4, versus 2.3 across the Chicago metro. Larger households suggest more families — favorable for family dining, kid-oriented retail, and household services.

What's the local customer base size in Gage Park?

ACS data estimates the Gage Park resident population at roughly 45.8K. A larger resident base supports a broader range of business types and can absorb more direct competitors.