How much money could a business in Galewood make?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations in Galewood 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 Galewood?

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 Galewood maximize success.

Is Galewood a good place to start a business?

Galewood is ranked number 50 across neighborhoods in and around Chicago to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~81%. Strong business types at their best-match addresses in Galewood consistently score ~2% higher than the overall neighborhood survivability average.

What are the best businesses to open in Galewood?

The top businesses to open in Galewood include Italian Restaurant with a ~89% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~90%, followed by Indonesian Restaurant and Bangladeshi Restaurant.

What businesses are most in demand in Galewood?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Galewood are Italian Restaurants, Indonesian Restaurants, and Bangladeshi Restaurants.

Business Survivability in Galewood, Chicago

Q: What is the median household income in Galewood?

Galewood's median household income (~$127K) is above the Chicago metro median (~$103K) by approximately $24K. Higher median income supports premium retail, upscale dining, and discretionary services.

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Galewood is an Italian Restaurant with a ~89% 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 Galewood (~89% average survival rate, ~90% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #50 across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago

Neighborhood average: ~81% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Reviewed: May 12, 2026 by Bobby Koons, StreetSpring founder

In this article:

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

What does the data say about opening in Galewood?

**Peer neighborhoods:** Looking at demographic mix and amenity density across the 24 metros StreetSpring covers, Galewood clusters most tightly with **Dover Shores West (Orlando)** and **Enumclaw (Seattle)**. Common thread: blue-collar job mix, longer commutes, and low destination density. Survival outcomes for those neighborhoods provide a useful comparison set for Galewood.

**Where Galewood businesses actually fail.** Among the 93 tracked subtypes, **Italian Restaurants** post the highest average survivability (89%). But across Galewood's sites, the spread for this subtype runs **67% to 97%** — a 30-point gap that says *the address matters more than the subtype*. For saturation context, American Restaurants are the most densely-clustered tracked subtype in the neighborhood (1 competitors within 0.5 miles).

StreetSpring ranks Galewood #50 among all analyzed neighborhoods in and around Chicago, with a neighborhood-wide average survivability of ~81%.

Strong business types at their best-match addresses in Galewood consistently score ~2% higher than the overall neighborhood survivability average.
Yet the same categories that score highest in Galewood can underperform significantly at the wrong address. Location precision within the neighborhood matters as much as choosing the neighborhood itself.
The 5.4% commercial vacancy rate in Galewood 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.

Pinpointing the best locations within Galewood

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

Why the right block matters more than the right neighborhood

Loading live map preview...

StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for an Italian Restaurant in Galewood. However, individual locations vary widely, and even in lower-scoring neighborhoods there are pockets that perform exceptionally well. The model evaluates 100 factors — from primary and secondary competition to forecasted spend, mobility flows, and local market share potential.

Check if this location is still available →

Which business types have the highest survivability in Galewood?

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Galewood

Italian Restaurant — ~87%–~90% survivability range, with an average of ~89% across Galewood.
Opening an Indonesian Restaurant in Galewood shows ~89% average survivability. Top locations reach ~90%; lower-end sites show ~87%.
Bangladeshi Restaurant (Ranked #3): ~89% average in Galewood. Best-case storefronts: ~91%. Challenging locations: ~87%.
South American Restaurant is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in Galewood: ~89% chance on average, best at ~90%, challenging at ~87%.
Chinese Restaurant — ~87%–~90% survivability range, with an average of ~89% across Galewood.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Galewood

Opening a Chicken Shop in Galewood shows ~89% average survivability. Top locations reach ~91%; lower-end sites show ~87%.
French Restaurant (Ranked #7): ~88% average in Galewood. Best-case storefronts: ~90%. Challenging locations: ~87%.
Deli is ranked #8 for top businesses to open in Galewood: ~88% chance on average, best at ~90%, challenging at ~87%.
Brunch Restaurant — ~86%–~91% survivability range, with an average of ~88% across Galewood.
Opening a Taiwanese Restaurant in Galewood shows ~88% average survivability. Top locations reach ~90%; lower-end sites show ~87%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

Bangladeshi Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →

What revenue can a Galewood business expect?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations for your business in Galewood 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

Site selection requires evaluating the specific combination of your business type and the exact address — neighborhood-level data is only the starting point.
Among all variables that affect business outcomes, location has the highest predictive weight in our models.
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.
No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 700+ business types the way StreetSpring does.

Where the next great business in Galewood should go

The top businesses to open next in Galewood:

Italian Restaurants — ~89% average survival rate, up to ~90% at best locations
Indonesian Restaurants — ~89% average survival rate
Bangladeshi Restaurants — ~89% average survival rate

However, individual locations vary widely, and even in lower-scoring neighborhoods there are pockets that perform exceptionally well. The model draws from 100+ location-specific factors to generate each survivability score. With Galewood's 95.2% employment rate factored in, the businesses best positioned to succeed here are those that benefit from a well-employed, spending-capable local consumer base. StreetSpring updates survivability scores for available locations weekly — check the live tool now to see which storefronts in Galewood 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 Galewood.

What type of business should you rent your Galewood storefront to?

Our 2026 survivability data for Galewood shows that Italian Restaurants, Indonesian Restaurants, and Bangladeshi Restaurants rank as the top tenant categories for minimizing vacancy risk.

Among all variables that affect business outcomes, location has the highest predictive weight in our models.
No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 700+ business types the way StreetSpring does. Rather than guessing which tenant type will last, landlords can verify survivability for each category at their exact address using StreetSpring.

Should you rent your Galewood storefront to an Italian Restaurant?

The data shows an Italian Restaurant is the safest long-term bet for a Galewood storefront. Top locations reach ~90% survivability; the least favorable addresses in this neighborhood score around ~87%.

No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 700+ business types the way StreetSpring does.

What should I consider when opening a business in Galewood?

Don't commit to a storefront in Galewood without first checking its Survivability Score — the difference between a 70% and a 90% score at two addresses on the same block can determine your long-term outcome.

A strong Revenue Capture Score reflects the ideal balance of manageable competition and robust consumer spending at that specific address.
Every survivability score is produced by StreetSpring's private prediction engine — not available through any other platform.
The most current survivability data for Galewood is free to access on StreetSpring — no account required to check your specific address.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.

StreetSpring's AI platform has analyzed thousands of business openings to identify success patterns. Aggregated survivability rankings for Chicago are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Build-out budget rules-of-thumb for this neighborhood

Area to check	What can go wrong	How to de-risk it
Outdoor seating / sidewalk use	Signing assuming you can add patio seating, then learning the city requires a separate sidewalk-cafe permit with long lead times.	Check the city's sidewalk-cafe permit process up front. Confirm landlord allows outdoor build-out in the lease language.
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.
CAM + hidden costs	Stated rent looks great, then CAM fees, signage charges, and after-hours utilities add 15-30%.	Get the full operating expense breakdown for the past 2 years. Ask which costs are landlord-capped vs. uncapped.

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

Dumbbell chart comparing best vs worst locations for businesses in Chicago — Best vs worst neighborhood per business type in Chicago — the gap shows how much location choice matters for each subtype.

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

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

**A bit of history.** Austin is one of the 77 officially-designated community areas of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Located on the city's West Side, it is the third-largest community area by population and the second-largest geographically. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin%2C_Chicago))

**Daytime vs. resident population (Galewood):** US Census LEHD workplace data shows Galewood carries a **0.1× daytime/resident ratio** (a primarily-residential neighborhood with minimal daytime worker traffic), with median 1-mile workplace jobs of **5,834** (and **820** retail-sector jobs within that radius). A useful read on demand timing for any new storefront concept here.

Landmark anchor: Galewood's park anchor is Aiello Park, which sets weekend and warm-weather foot-traffic patterns for the surrounding blocks.

**Three local anchors for Galewood:** **4.8%** neighborhood unemployment (in line with the 24-metro median, ACS), **$1,198/week** average wage in the Chicago area (below our metro median, BLS QCEW), and **5,308** new residential units permitted in Cook County in 2025 (Census BPS). These three together describe the demand-and-labor environment any new Galewood business operates within.

**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

Local-context questions, answered with neighborhood-specific numbers.

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

BLS Business Employment Dynamics data (March 2025 release) shows 5-year survival rates spanning 47.8% (Active Life) to 61.8% (Health & Medical) across the 11 sectors StreetSpring tracks. Restaurants — the most studied category — survive at 50% nationally, well above the often-cited "80% fail" myth.

What is the median household income in Galewood?

Galewood's median household income (~~$127K) is above the Chicago metro median (~~$103K) by approximately $24K. Higher median income supports premium retail, upscale dining, and discretionary services.

What's the typical commute pattern in Galewood?

Median commute time in Galewood is about 36 minutes, versus 35 minutes across the Chicago metro. Commute patterns are typical for the metro, so foot traffic timing should not be a primary differentiator.