What are the best businesses to open in South Loop?

The top businesses to open in South Loop include American Restaurant with a ~86% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~88%, followed by Italian Restaurant and Ukrainian Restaurant.

What businesses are most in demand in South Loop?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in South Loop are American Restaurants, Italian Restaurants, and Ukrainian Restaurants.

How much money could a business in South Loop make?

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

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

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 South Loop maximize success.

Is South Loop a good place to start a business?

South Loop is ranked number 77 across neighborhoods in and around Chicago to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~78%. Best-case locations for the top business types in South Loop produce survivability scores ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.

Business Survivability in South Loop, Chicago

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in South Loop is an American Restaurant with a ~86% 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 South Loop (~86% average survival rate, ~88% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #77 across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago

Neighborhood average: ~78% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Last reviewed by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring — May 7, 2026

In this article:

Summary
Is South Loop 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 South Loop is an American Restaurant with a ~86% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~88% chance; next is an Italian Restaurant with a ~86% chance, followed by an Ukrainian Restaurant with a ~86% chance.

What does the data say about opening in South Loop?

**How South Loop compares:** South Loop's profile most resembles **Sonterra Stone Oak (San Antonio)** and **Cornelius (Charlotte)** based on the demographic and density signatures we use to model location quality — all three share newer housing stock, high high-earner share, and higher employment. Patterns from those neighborhoods are directly relevant for businesses evaluating South Loop.

**Failure pattern in South Loop.** Across the 93 business subtypes we track here, the strongest is **Ukrainian Restaurant** at 86% average survivability — but the best and worst sites for this subtype within South Loop span **74% to 96%**, a 22-point gap. **The dominant failure mode in South Loop isn't subtype choice — it's site selection within the neighborhood.** Saturation context: American Restaurants are the most-concentrated tracked subtype in the area, with 4 competitors within a 0.5-mile radius.

South Loop is the #77 most survivable neighborhood for new businesses in and around Chicago, with an average score of ~78% across all analyzed categories.

Best-case locations for the top business types in South Loop produce survivability scores ~2% above the neighborhood-wide average.
Yet even the strongest business types in South Loop see survivability scores drop significantly at the worst addresses. No business type is immune to the consequences of poor location selection within this neighborhood.
With 96.4% of the local population employed, South Loop presents a stable consumer base — particularly for food, beverage, and service businesses that depend on repeat discretionary spending.

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

How to choose a specific location in South Loop

StreetSpring's address-level analysis reveals which specific storefronts in South Loop offer the strongest survivability odds for your business type. Of all available storefronts analyzed in South Loop, StreetSpring ranks this area highest for an American Restaurant in 2026:

The locations that show up in our top-10 lists

Loading live map preview...

The highlighted area represents the address in South Loop that StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks highest for an American Restaurant survivability. Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform — and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. StreetSpring's scoring incorporates 100 inputs, including competitive quality and density, projected consumer spending, Revenue Capture Score, and mobility data.

Check if this location is still available →

Top-ranked business types for South Loop

#1-5: Highest Survivability in South Loop

Opening an American Restaurant in South Loop shows ~86% average survivability. Top locations reach ~88%; lower-end sites show ~84%.
Italian Restaurant (Ranked #2): ~86% average in South Loop. Best-case storefronts: ~88%. Challenging locations: ~85%.
Ukrainian Restaurant is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in South Loop: ~86% chance on average, best at ~88%, challenging at ~84%.
Singaporean Restaurant — ~84%–~88% survivability range, with an average of ~86% across South Loop.
Opening a Kosher Restaurant in South Loop shows ~86% average survivability. Top locations reach ~88%; lower-end sites show ~84%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in South Loop

Indonesian Restaurant (Ranked #6): ~86% average in South Loop. Best-case storefronts: ~88%. Challenging locations: ~84%.
Pet Boarding Facility is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in South Loop: ~85% chance on average, best at ~88%, challenging at ~84%.
Filipino Restaurant — ~84%–~87% survivability range, with an average of ~85% across South Loop.
Opening a Bangladeshi Restaurant in South Loop shows ~85% average survivability. Top locations reach ~88%; lower-end sites show ~84%.
Chinese Restaurant (Ranked #10): ~85% average in South Loop. Best-case storefronts: ~87%. Challenging locations: ~84%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

American Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →

What you could earn opening a business in South Loop

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, choosing an address that maximizes your Revenue Capture Score in South Loop 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.
Site selection is the highest-leverage decision most entrepreneurs make — it sets every other variable in motion.
The businesses that outperform their category averages most consistently are those that scored highest on survivability before opening.
StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate.

The biggest opportunity gaps in South Loop

The top businesses to open next in South Loop:

American Restaurants — ~86% average survival rate, up to ~88% at best locations
Italian Restaurants — ~86% average survival rate
Ukrainian Restaurants — ~86% average survival rate

Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform — and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. StreetSpring's training dataset includes millions of transactions and business lifecycle events. A 5.9% vacancy rate in South Loop reflects the current commercial environment; StreetSpring weights this directly in every survivability score for addresses in this neighborhood. 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 South Loop 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 South Loop.

What type of business should you rent your South Loop storefront to?

If you own commercial space in South Loop, StreetSpring's 2026 data points to American Restaurants, Italian Restaurants, and Ukrainian Restaurants as the tenant types with the strongest projected longevity at this location.

Site selection is the highest-leverage decision most entrepreneurs make — it sets every other variable in motion.
StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate. 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 South Loop storefront to an American Restaurant?

The data shows an American Restaurant is the safest long-term bet for a South Loop storefront. Top locations reach ~88% survivability; the least favorable addresses in this neighborhood score around ~84%.

StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate.

What should I consider when opening a business in South Loop?

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

The Revenue Capture Score at a specific address explains more about likely business success than any other available metric.
The underlying models are StreetSpring's own — built, trained, and maintained using data external platforms cannot access.
StreetSpring's address-level survivability data is available free of charge — start with your top candidate locations in South Loop.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.

StreetSpring uses AI to predict business survivability across U.S. neighborhoods — trusted by real estate professionals and entrepreneurs nationwide. 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
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.
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.
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.

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 South Loop, Chicago — Top business types scored in South Loop, 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.

**South Loop at a glance.** South Loop is a Chicago neighborhood south of the Loop. The South Branch of the Chicago River flows through it. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Loop))

**Daytime vs. resident population (South Loop):** US Census LEHD workplace data shows South Loop carries a **1.4× daytime/resident ratio** (a balanced mixed-use pattern), with median 1-mile workplace jobs of **27,492** (and **2,526** retail-sector jobs within that radius). A useful read on demand timing for any new storefront concept here.

Landmark anchor: South Loop hosts Herbarium-Botany The Field Museum, a history-museum that gives the neighborhood a cultural-destination layer most blocks don't have.

**Three local anchors for South Loop:** **3.6%** 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 South Loop business operates within.

**BLS sector context:** Across the 11 industries StreetSpring tracks, 5-year survival rates from BLS Business Employment Dynamics, March 2025 release range from **47.8%** (Active Life — gyms, studios) to **61.8%** (Health & Medical). Restaurants — the largest single category in our corpus — average **50.0%** nationally, and retail averages **47.9%**.

Related:

Local Context FAQ

Additional questions with answers drawn directly from local data sources.

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

10% of South Loop 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.

How educated is the population in South Loop?

84% of South Loop adults have at least a bachelor's degree — above the Chicago metro median of 52%. A highly educated population tends to support specialty retail, premium services, and professional offices.

Does South Loop's income profile support new business openings?

Median household income in South Loop is approximately $134K, versus the Chicago metro median of $103K — above the metro by $32K. Higher median income supports premium retail, upscale dining, and discretionary services.