What businesses are most in demand in Near North?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Near North are Filipino Restaurants, Bangladeshi Restaurants, and South American Restaurants.

How much money could a business in Near North make?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations in Near North could lead to making ~2% more than selecting an average location, and ~4% more than one of the worst locations.

Is Near North a good place to start a business?

Near North is ranked number 20 across neighborhoods in and around Chicago to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~83%. The most promising business types in the best locations score a ~2% higher chance of surviving 2 years than the average.

Business Survivability in Near North, Chicago

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

April 24, 2026•18 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: a Filipino Restaurant in Near North (~90% average survival rate, ~92% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #20 across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago

Neighborhood average: ~83% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Reviewed and updated: May 3, 2026 — Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

In this article:

Summary
Is Near North 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 Near North is a Filipino Restaurant with a ~90% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~92% chance; next is a Bangladeshi Restaurant with a ~90% chance, followed by a South American Restaurant with a ~90% chance.

Should you open a business in Near North?

**Peer neighborhoods:** Looking at demographic mix and amenity density across the 24 metros StreetSpring covers, Near North clusters most tightly with **East Isles (Minneapolis)** and **Whiteoak (Charlotte)**. Common thread: more college-educated, more renters, and low destination density. Survival outcomes for those neighborhoods provide a useful comparison set for Near North.

**Where Near North businesses actually fail.** Among the 93 tracked subtypes, **Brazilian Restaurants** post the highest average survivability (90%). But across Near North's sites, the spread for this subtype runs **72% to 96%** — a 24-point gap that says *the address matters more than the subtype*. For saturation context, Kosher Restaurants are the most densely-clustered tracked subtype in the neighborhood (0 competitors within 0.5 miles).

StreetSpring's analysis places Near North at #20 in Chicago for new business survival odds, with a neighborhood-wide average of ~83%.

The most promising business types in the best locations score a ~2% higher chance of surviving 2 years than the average.
Even so, the weakest addresses in Near North for those same business types can underperform considerably. StreetSpring's address-level scoring exists precisely to identify which specific storefronts make the difference.
At 96.6% employed, Near North's consumer base has the spending capacity that makes the neighborhood viable for a wide range of business types — though location selection within the neighborhood still determines actual survivability.

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

How to choose a specific location in Near North

StreetSpring's Near North data goes block by block — not just neighborhood averages — so you know which specific storefront gives your concept the strongest foundation. StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies this area as the top location for a Filipino Restaurant in Near North:

Why the right block matters more than the right neighborhood

Loading live map preview...

The 2026 StreetSpring model highlights this circle as the top zone for a Filipino Restaurant in Near North. Market conditions, new competitors, and local spending patterns can change rapidly — always verify with StreetSpring's live tool before signing a lease. StreetSpring's prediction model analyzes 100 factors across competition, spending on the specific potential business, projected revenue, projected market share, Revenue Capture Score, mobility patterns, and many more.

Check if this location is still available →

What are the best businesses to open in Near North?

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Near North

Opening a Filipino Restaurant in Near North shows ~90% average survivability. Top locations reach ~92%; lower-end sites show ~88%.
Bangladeshi Restaurant (Ranked #2): ~90% average in Near North. Best-case storefronts: ~92%. Challenging locations: ~88%.
South American Restaurant is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Near North: ~90% chance on average, best at ~92%, challenging at ~88%.
Brunch Restaurant — ~88%–~92% survivability range, with an average of ~90% across Near North.
Opening a Deli in Near North shows ~90% average survivability. Top locations reach ~91%; lower-end sites show ~88%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Near North

Taiwanese Restaurant (Ranked #6): ~90% average in Near North. Best-case storefronts: ~92%. Challenging locations: ~88%.
Chinese Restaurant is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Near North: ~90% chance on average, best at ~91%, challenging at ~88%.
Brazilian Restaurant — ~88%–~92% survivability range, with an average of ~90% across Near North.
Opening a Chicken Shop in Near North shows ~90% average survivability. Top locations reach ~92%; lower-end sites show ~89%.
French Restaurant (Ranked #10): ~90% average in Near North. Best-case storefronts: ~92%. Challenging locations: ~89%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

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

What you could earn opening a business in Near North

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, securing a location with maximum Revenue Capture potential in Near North could lead to you making ~2% more than if you selected an average location, and ~4% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.

How StreetSpring calculates location value

Location fit is business-type-specific: a spot that's ideal for a coffee shop may underperform for a nail salon at the same address.
A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
StreetSpring has found that selecting the location with the highest survivability score for a business is the best way to maximize the amount of money you will make.
Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for over 700 business types at any given storefront.

What businesses should open next in Near North?

The top businesses to open next in Near North:

Filipino Restaurants — ~90% average survival rate, up to ~92% at best locations
Bangladeshi Restaurants — ~90% average survival rate
South American Restaurants — ~90% average survival rate

Market conditions, new competitors, and local spending patterns can change rapidly — always verify with StreetSpring's live tool before signing a lease. Our models are built using machine learning trained on millions of commercial real estate data points. The 14.3% commercial vacancy rate in Near North 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. Survivability scores are recalculated weekly as new competitors open and spending patterns shift — visit StreetSpring to see the current score for any open location in Near North right now.

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 Near North.

What type of business should you rent your Near North storefront to?

For landlords in Near North, StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies Filipino Restaurants, Bangladeshi Restaurants, and South American Restaurants as the business types most likely to produce stable, long-term tenancy.

A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for over 700 business types at any given storefront. Use StreetSpring to see the survivability score for any business type at your exact storefront address before you sign a lease.

Should you rent your Near North storefront to a Filipino Restaurant?

The data shows a Filipino Restaurant is the safest long-term bet for a Near North storefront. Top locations reach ~92% survivability; the least favorable addresses in this neighborhood score around ~88%.

Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for over 700 business types at any given storefront.

What should I consider when opening a business in Near North?

Before committing to any location in Near North, the highest-priority metric to check is the Survivability Score — it encodes every relevant location factor into a single, actionable number.

Where survivability is highest, Revenue Capture Score is invariably strong — the two are tightly correlated across every business type we've analyzed.
Each forecast is specific to the exact address and business type, generated by StreetSpring's internally developed prediction engine.
StreetSpring's address-level survivability data is available free of charge — start with your top candidate locations in Near North.

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.

The hidden costs of operating in this neighborhood

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.
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.
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.

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

How we measure this: Foot traffic measured at the city-block level using a combination of pedestrian-network analysis and Walk Score.

**A bit of history.** The Near North Side is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago in Illinois, United States. It is the northernmost of the three areas that constitute central Chicago, the others being the Loop and the Near South Side. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_North_Side%2C_Chicago))

**LEHD demand-pattern signal (Near North):** Median 1-mile workplace jobs across Near North: **375,621** (LEHD LODES 2022). That works out to a **14.9:1 daytime-to-resident ratio** — a strong commercial-corridor / CBD signal. Of those workplace jobs, **15,026** are retail-sector. Use this to gauge whether your concept is weekday-commuter-driven or evening-and-weekend-driven.

Landmark anchor: Museum Of Science And Industry sits in Near North as a history-museum anchor — the kind of cultural draw that shapes weekend foot-traffic patterns nearby.

**Three local anchors for Near North:** **3.4%** neighborhood unemployment (below 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 Near North 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

Further questions, with answers anchored on this neighborhood's actual data.

What does the employment picture in Near North look like for new businesses?

Roughly 97% of Near North's working-age population is employed, against a Chicago metro median of 94%. A strong employment rate signals steadier local spending and lower retail churn.

What's the home ownership rate in Near North, and why does it matter?

35% of Near North households own their home, against 45% across the Chicago metro. The ownership profile is typical for the metro.

What's the typical commute pattern in Near North?

Median commute time in Near North is about 28 minutes, versus 35 minutes across the Chicago metro. A shorter commute usually means residents work close to home — that boosts mid-day weekday demand for cafes, lunch spots, and convenience services.

What's the poverty rate in Near North, and what does it imply for businesses?

The poverty rate in Near North is approximately 10%, compared to the Chicago metro median of 12%. The poverty rate tracks the metro median; business-type fit depends more on competition and demographic specifics.