Is Irving Park a good place to start a business?

Irving Park is ranked number 49 across neighborhoods in and around Chicago to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~81%. The top business types in Irving Park, when placed at their ideal addresses, achieve survivability rates ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.

How can you find the best location to open a business in Irving 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 Irving Park maximize success.

How much money could a business in Irving Park make?

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

What businesses are most in demand in Irving Park?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Irving Park are Italian Restaurants, American Restaurants, and Filipino Restaurants.

What are the best businesses to open in Irving Park?

The top businesses to open in Irving Park include Italian Restaurant with a ~91% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~92%, followed by American Restaurant and Filipino Restaurant.

Business Survivability in Irving Park, Chicago

Q: Does Irving Park's income profile support new business openings?

Irving Park's median household income (~$107K) is above the Chicago metro median (~$103K) by approximately $5K. Income is close to the metro median, so business-type fit depends more on local demographics and competition.

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Irving Park is an Italian Restaurant with a ~91% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

April 24, 2026•18 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: an Italian Restaurant in Irving Park (~91% average survival rate, ~92% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #49 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 Irving 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 Irving Park is an Italian Restaurant with a ~91% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~92% chance; next is an American Restaurant with a ~90% chance, followed by a Filipino Restaurant with a ~89% chance.

How business-friendly is Irving Park right now?

**Pattern match:** Irving Park's neighborhood signature — captured across demographic, employment, and amenity features — most closely matches **Bowmanville (Chicago)** and **Tujunga (Los Angeles)**. The three share low destination density, few anchor tenants, and few nearby parks, which helps explain why business types that succeed in those areas tend to translate to Irving Park.

**The pattern in Irving Park.** Of 93 tracked subtypes, American Restaurant leads at **90% average survivability** — yet within the neighborhood, sites for this subtype range **76-97%** (21-point spread). That spread is the real failure surface: pick the wrong block in Irving Park and a top-subtype play still scores in the bottom quartile. Meanwhile Gyms are already saturated here — 3 competitors within a 0.5-mile radius.

Out of all neighborhoods analyzed in and around Chicago, Irving Park ranks #49 for business survivability with a ~81% average Survivability Score.

The top business types in Irving Park, when placed at their ideal addresses, achieve survivability rates ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.
However, those same business types at the weakest addresses in Irving Park can score considerably below average. Even the most in-demand concept in Irving Park will struggle if it opens at the wrong address.
Irving Park's 5.8% 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.

Pinpointing the best locations within Irving Park

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

Why the right block matters more than the right neighborhood

Loading live map preview...

This map shows the optimal location for an Italian Restaurant in Irving Park based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis. StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. The prediction model incorporates 100 location-specific factors, including competitive density, forecasted consumer spending, mobility patterns, and Revenue Capture Score.

Check if this location is still available →

Which business types have the highest survivability in Irving Park?

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Irving Park

Italian Restaurant is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Irving Park: ~91% chance on average, best at ~92%, challenging at ~89%.
American Restaurant — ~88%–~91% survivability range, with an average of ~90% across Irving Park.
Opening a Filipino Restaurant in Irving Park shows ~89% average survivability. Top locations reach ~91%; lower-end sites show ~87%.
Kosher Restaurant (Ranked #4): ~89% average in Irving Park. Best-case storefronts: ~91%. Challenging locations: ~87%.
Ukrainian Restaurant is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Irving Park: ~89% chance on average, best at ~91%, challenging at ~87%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Irving Park

Indonesian Restaurant — ~88%–~91% survivability range, with an average of ~89% across Irving Park.
Opening a Bangladeshi Restaurant in Irving Park shows ~89% average survivability. Top locations reach ~91%; lower-end sites show ~87%.
South American Restaurant (Ranked #8): ~89% average in Irving Park. Best-case storefronts: ~91%. Challenging locations: ~87%.
Chinese Restaurant is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Irving Park: ~89% chance on average, best at ~90%, challenging at ~87%.
Chicken Shop — ~88%–~91% survivability range, with an average of ~89% across Irving Park.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

American Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
Filipino Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →

What revenue can a Irving Park business expect?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, going with one of the top-scoring locations in the neighborhood rather than an average one in Irving 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

Every business type has unique location requirements that must be considered.
A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
StreetSpring's analysis shows that businesses in top-scoring locations generate meaningfully more revenue and stay open longer than those in average locations.
StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.

Which business types are most underserved in Irving Park?

The top businesses to open next in Irving Park:

Italian Restaurants — ~91% average survival rate, up to ~92% at best locations
American Restaurants — ~90% average survival rate
Filipino Restaurants — ~89% average survival rate

StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. Our analysis covers every major metro in the country — 24 cities and 180 million++ consumers. The 93.0% employment rate in Irving Park is a key signal of consumer health; when combined with the 5.8% 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 Irving 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 Irving Park.

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

StreetSpring's analysis shows that the business types most likely to succeed long-term in Irving Park are Italian Restaurants, American Restaurants, and Filipino Restaurants.

A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success. 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 Irving Park storefront to an Italian Restaurant?

The data shows an Italian Restaurant is the safest long-term bet for a Irving Park storefront. Top locations reach ~92% survivability; the least favorable addresses in this neighborhood score around ~89%.

StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.

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

When evaluating potential locations in Irving Park, start with the Survivability Score. It accounts for competition, spending, mobility, and market share in a single figure.

StreetSpring's analysis consistently shows Revenue Capture Score predicts survival odds more accurately than demographic data or foot traffic estimates alone.
These forecasts are generated using StreetSpring's unique analytical framework.
StreetSpring's address-level survivability data is available free of charge — start with your top candidate locations in Irving Park.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.

Our analysis covers businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans across 24 major US metros. Aggregated survivability rankings for Chicago are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Permits, licensing, and zoning specifics worth flagging

Consideration	Common pitfall	What to verify before signing
Build-out budget	Underestimating mechanical, electrical, and plumbing — the "hidden" 30-50% of build-out cost.	Get 3 quotes from licensed contractors and pad budget by +20% for surprises. Confirm landlord TI allowance in writing.
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.
Insurance + compliance	General liability quoted at a starter rate, then jumping 2-3x once you add property + workers' comp + business interruption.	Get binding quotes from 2 insurers before signing the lease. Most landlords require minimum coverage levels — read those terms first.

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

Radar chart of business-subtype survivability in Irving Park, Chicago — Top business types scored in Irving 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: Supplier proximity matters more for some subtypes (restaurants, repair shops) than others (online-anchored retail).

**Neighborhood context.** Irving Park is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago in Illinois, United States, and is located on the city's Northwest Side. Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Park%2C_Chicago).

**LEHD demand-pattern signal (Irving Park):** Median 1-mile workplace jobs across Irving Park: **14,345** (LEHD LODES 2022). That works out to a **0.7:1 daytime-to-resident ratio** — a primarily-residential signal with some daytime worker pull. Of those workplace jobs, **2,271** are retail-sector. Use this to gauge whether your concept is weekday-commuter-driven or evening-and-weekend-driven.

Landmark anchor: Horner Park Chicago IL is the public-space landmark in Irving Park that shapes a meaningful share of neighborhood foot-traffic.

**Economic context that bounds the demand environment in Irving Park:** Per ACS, neighborhood unemployment is **7.0%** (above the 24-metro neighborhood median). BLS QCEW shows the Chicago metro's average weekly wage at **$1,198** (below our 24-metro median). And Cook County permitted **5,308** new residential units in 2025 per Census BPS — a population-and-demand growth signal.

**National benchmark:** Per BLS Business Employment Dynamics (March 2025), 5-year survival rates for StreetSpring's tracked industries span **47.8-61.8%**. Restaurants — the most-studied of these — survive at **50.0%** nationally, not the often-cited "80% fail" myth. The real risk premium is at the location level, which is what StreetSpring's model isolates.

Related Resources

Related:

Neighborhood-Specific Questions

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

How many people live in Irving Park?

ACS data estimates the Irving Park resident population at roughly 21.2K. The resident base is healthy — most retail and service business types have viable demand.

Does Irving Park's income profile support new business openings?

Irving Park's median household income (~~$107K) is above the Chicago metro median (~~$103K) by approximately $5K. Income is close to the metro median, so business-type fit depends more on local demographics and competition.

Does Irving Park's education level matter for picking a business type?

ACS data shows 46% of adults in Irving Park with a bachelor's degree or higher, versus the metro median of 52%. Education attainment is close to the metro median, so business-type signals come more from income and density.

How does economic hardship in Irving Park compare to the metro?

9% of Irving Park households fall below the federal poverty line — below the Chicago metro median (12%). The poverty rate tracks the metro median; business-type fit depends more on competition and demographic specifics.

What survival rates does the federal government track for small businesses?

BLS publishes 5-year cohort survival rates by industry. For sectors StreetSpring covers, the range is 47.8-61.8% — Active Life low, Health & Medical high, Restaurants and Retail in the middle around 47.9-50%. Location-specific factors drive most of the variance around these baselines.