What businesses are most in demand in Scottsdale?

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

Is Scottsdale a good place to start a business?

Scottsdale is ranked number 83 across neighborhoods in and around Chicago to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~76%. Strong business types at their best-match addresses in Scottsdale consistently score ~2% higher than the overall neighborhood survivability average.

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

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 Scottsdale maximize success.

What are the best businesses to open in Scottsdale?

The top businesses to open in Scottsdale include American Restaurant with a ~84% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~86%, followed by Filipino Restaurant and Deli.

Business Survivability in Scottsdale, Chicago

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Scottsdale is an American Restaurant with a ~84% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

April 24, 2026•17 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: an American Restaurant in Scottsdale (~84% average survival rate, ~86% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #83 across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago

Neighborhood average: ~76% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Last reviewed: April 24, 2026 by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

In this article:

Summary
Is Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale is an American Restaurant with a ~84% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~86% chance; next is a Filipino Restaurant with a ~84% chance, followed by a Deli with a ~84% chance.

How business-friendly is Scottsdale right now?

**Comparable neighborhoods:** Among the ~2,500 neighborhoods StreetSpring scores, Scottsdale's profile most resembles **Irving Park (Chicago)** and **Tujunga (Los Angeles)**. All three exhibit longer commutes, few anchor tenants, and few nearby parks — operators with experience in any of those neighborhoods will see familiar patterns in Scottsdale.

**Failure-mode analysis for Scottsdale.** The single strongest subtype in our data is **American Restaurant** at 84% average survivability. But the within-neighborhood spread for American Restaurants runs **72% to 98%** — meaning a poorly-sited American Restaurant in Scottsdale can score 26 points below a well-sited one. Saturation reality check: Gyms are the most-competed tracked subtype here, with 4 existing competitors within a 0.5-mile radius.

Across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago, StreetSpring's data places Scottsdale at #83 with a ~76% average Survivability Score.

Strong business types at their best-match addresses in Scottsdale consistently score ~2% higher than the overall neighborhood survivability average.
Yet the same categories that score highest in Scottsdale can underperform significantly at the wrong address. Location precision within the neighborhood matters as much as choosing the neighborhood itself.
The 2.9% commercial vacancy rate in Scottsdale 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 to choose a specific location in Scottsdale

Rather than relying on neighborhood averages, StreetSpring's scoring tells you which specific addresses in Scottsdale give your concept the best odds of survival. Here is the top survivability address for an American Restaurant in Scottsdale, per StreetSpring's 2026 model:

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 American Restaurant in Scottsdale. Competition and spending patterns shift constantly; StreetSpring's live tool reflects the most current conditions for any specific address. 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 →

The strongest business categories for Scottsdale

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Scottsdale

Opening an American Restaurant in Scottsdale shows ~84% average survivability. Top locations reach ~86%; lower-end sites show ~83%.
Filipino Restaurant (Ranked #2): ~84% average in Scottsdale. Best-case storefronts: ~86%. Challenging locations: ~82%.
Deli is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Scottsdale: ~84% chance on average, best at ~86%, challenging at ~83%.
Bangladeshi Restaurant — ~82%–~86% survivability range, with an average of ~84% across Scottsdale.
Opening a South American Restaurant in Scottsdale shows ~84% average survivability. Top locations reach ~86%; lower-end sites show ~82%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Scottsdale

Chinese Restaurant (Ranked #6): ~84% average in Scottsdale. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~82%.
Italian Restaurant is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Scottsdale: ~84% chance on average, best at ~86%, challenging at ~83%.
Chicken Shop — ~83%–~86% survivability range, with an average of ~84% across Scottsdale.
Opening a Brunch Restaurant in Scottsdale shows ~84% average survivability. Top locations reach ~86%; lower-end sites show ~82%.
French Restaurant (Ranked #10): ~84% average in Scottsdale. Best-case storefronts: ~86%. Challenging locations: ~83%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

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

How much money could a business in Scottsdale make?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, securing a location with maximum Revenue Capture potential in Scottsdale 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

Site-specific factors can dramatically alter outcomes even within the same neighborhood.
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 delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location.

What Scottsdale needs more of (per our model)

The top businesses to open next in Scottsdale:

American Restaurants — ~84% average survival rate, up to ~86% at best locations
Filipino Restaurants — ~84% average survival rate
Delis — ~84% average survival rate

Competition and spending patterns shift constantly; StreetSpring's live tool reflects the most current conditions for any specific address. Every prediction draws on a dataset of millions of business openings, closures, and lifecycle events across the U.S. The 2.9% commercial vacancy rate in Scottsdale 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. The data behind these rankings is updated weekly, so the best available storefront in Scottsdale today may score differently than it did last month — check StreetSpring's live tool for the current picture.

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 Scottsdale.

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

According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, the strongest tenant types for a storefront in Scottsdale are American Restaurants, Filipino Restaurants, and Delis.

The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it.
StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location. With StreetSpring, you can rank every potential tenant type by survivability score at your property address before committing to a lease.

Should you rent your Scottsdale storefront to an American Restaurant?

According to our 2026 survivability model, an American Restaurant leads all business categories for Scottsdale landlords — ~86% at the best addresses and ~83% at the most challenging ones in this neighborhood.

StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location.

What should I consider when opening a business in Scottsdale?

In Scottsdale, the single most important factor in your site-selection decision is the Survivability Score of the specific address you're evaluating.

StreetSpring's analysis consistently shows Revenue Capture Score predicts survival odds more accurately than demographic data or foot traffic estimates alone.
Every survivability score is produced by StreetSpring's private prediction engine — not available through any other platform.
You can check the Survivability Score for any storefront in Scottsdale at no cost using StreetSpring's live tool.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.

StreetSpring analyzes millions of data points with AI to forecast business survivability. Aggregated survivability rankings for Chicago are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Lease structure questions to ask first

Area to check	What can go wrong	How to de-risk it
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.
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.
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

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 Scottsdale, Chicago — Top business types scored in Scottsdale, Chicago — each axis is a subtype, taller = stronger survival rate.

How we measure this: Annual rent / estimated annual revenue = rent burden ratio. Industry rule of thumb: above 12% is uncomfortable, above 18% is fatal.

**About this neighborhood.** Ashburn, one of Chicago's 77 community areas, is located on the south side of the city. Greater Ashburn covers nearly five square miles. Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashburn%2C_Chicago).

**Daytime population context (Scottsdale):** Per US Census LEHD LODES, the median 1-mile workplace-jobs population within Scottsdale is **5,173** — about **0.1× the resident population**, which qualifies as a primarily-residential neighborhood with minimal daytime worker traffic. Retail-sector jobs in that radius: **1,364**. This shapes which business models have a natural demand floor here.

Landmark anchor: Rainey Park is the public-space landmark in Scottsdale that shapes a meaningful share of neighborhood foot-traffic.

**Scottsdale economic snapshot:** ACS reports neighborhood unemployment at **8.1%** (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.

**Sector-level context:** BLS data (BLS Business Employment Dynamics, March 2025 release) shows 5-year survival rates of **47.8%** (Active Life), **47.9%** (Retail Trade), **50.0%** (Restaurants), **50.5%** (Beauty & Personal Care), and **61.8%** (Health & Medical) — the five industry buckets covering most StreetSpring subtypes. Location-specific factors explain the rest of the variance.

Related Resources

Related:

Beyond the Numbers: Local Context

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

What's the national survival baseline for businesses by sector?

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.

Is Scottsdale more single-occupant or family-household?

ACS data puts average household size in Scottsdale at 3.0, compared to 2.3 across Chicago. Larger households suggest more families — favorable for family dining, kid-oriented retail, and household services.

Is Scottsdale a high-employment or high-unemployment area?

Scottsdale's employment rate is approximately 92%, compared to a Chicago metro median of 94%. Below-average employment can constrain discretionary spending — value-oriented and essential services tend to fare better.