What businesses are most in demand in West Village?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in West Village are Ukrainian Restaurants, Indonesian Restaurants, and Filipino Restaurants.

Is West Village a good place to start a business?

West Village is ranked number 13 across neighborhoods in and around Chicago to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~84%. StreetSpring data shows the best-fit business types at prime West Village addresses outperform the neighborhood average by as much as ~2%.

How much money could a business in West Village make?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations in West Village could lead to making ~2% more than selecting an average location, and ~5% more than one of the worst locations.

What are the best businesses to open in West Village?

The top businesses to open in West Village include Ukrainian Restaurant with a ~91% chance on average of surviving more than 2 years, best-case locations reaching ~94%, followed by Indonesian Restaurant and Filipino Restaurant.

Business Survivability in West Village, Chicago

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

April 24, 2026•17 min read

Quick Summary

Best business: an Ukrainian Restaurant in West Village (~91% average survival rate, ~94% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #13 across all neighborhoods in and around Chicago

Neighborhood average: ~84% two-year survival across all business types

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Reviewed: April 29, 2026 by Bobby Koons, StreetSpring founder

In this article:

Summary
Is West Village 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 West Village is an Ukrainian Restaurant with a ~91% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~94% chance; next is an Indonesian Restaurant with a ~91% chance, followed by a Filipino Restaurant with a ~91% chance.

Is West Village the right neighborhood for a new business?

**Comparable neighborhoods:** Among the ~2,500 neighborhoods StreetSpring scores, West Village's profile most resembles **Kingston (Boston)** and **Edgewater (Baltimore)**. All three exhibit more homeowners, low poverty, and higher-income — operators with experience in any of those neighborhoods will see familiar patterns in West Village.

**Failure-mode analysis for West Village.** The single strongest subtype in our data is **Ukrainian Restaurant** at 91% average survivability. But the within-neighborhood spread for Ukrainian Restaurants runs **73% to 95%** — meaning a poorly-sited Ukrainian Restaurant in West Village can score 22 points below a well-sited one. Saturation reality check: Kosher Restaurants are the most-competed tracked subtype here, with 0 existing competitors within a 0.5-mile radius.

StreetSpring's analysis places West Village at #13 in Chicago for new business survival odds, with a neighborhood-wide average of ~84%.

StreetSpring data shows the best-fit business types at prime West Village addresses outperform the neighborhood average by as much as ~2%.
But these same concepts at less optimal addresses within West Village can score meaningfully below average. Survivability data shows that even the highest-demand business types fail at the wrong location.
At 95.9% employed, West Village'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.

Pinpointing the best locations within West Village

StreetSpring scores survivability at the exact address level in West Village — so you can compare two storefronts on the same block before committing to a lease. Below is the best location for an Ukrainian Restaurant in West Village:

Why the right block matters more than the right neighborhood

Loading live map preview...

Per the 2026 StreetSpring analysis, this circle outlines the optimal area for an Ukrainian Restaurant in West Village. Static rankings can't capture every recent change in competition or foot traffic; StreetSpring's live platform provides the current score for your exact address. 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 →

The strongest business categories for West Village

#1-5: Highest Survivability in West Village

Ukrainian Restaurant — ~89%–~94% survivability range, with an average of ~91% across West Village.
Opening an Indonesian Restaurant in West Village shows ~91% average survivability. Top locations reach ~93%; lower-end sites show ~90%.
Filipino Restaurant (Ranked #3): ~91% average in West Village. Best-case storefronts: ~93%. Challenging locations: ~89%.
Italian Restaurant is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in West Village: ~91% chance on average, best at ~93%, challenging at ~90%.
Bangladeshi Restaurant — ~90%–~93% survivability range, with an average of ~91% across West Village.

#6-10: Strong Performers in West Village

Opening a South American Restaurant in West Village shows ~91% average survivability. Top locations reach ~93%; lower-end sites show ~89%.
Deli (Ranked #7): ~91% average in West Village. Best-case storefronts: ~93%. Challenging locations: ~90%.
Chinese Restaurant is ranked #8 for top businesses to open in West Village: ~91% chance on average, best at ~93%, challenging at ~90%.
Chicken Shop — ~90%–~93% survivability range, with an average of ~91% across West Village.
Opening a Brunch Restaurant in West Village shows ~91% average survivability. Top locations reach ~93%; lower-end sites show ~89%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

Filipino Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →

The revenue potential of a West Village location

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, picking the highest-scoring storefront in the neighborhood in West Village could lead to you making ~2% more than if you selected an average location, and ~5% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.

How StreetSpring calculates location value

StreetSpring calculates survivability for each business type separately at each address — so the best location for your concept may differ from the neighborhood's overall top-ranked site.
The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
Businesses in high-scoring locations consistently outperform those in average or low-scoring sites.
StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site.

Which business types are most underserved in West Village?

The top businesses to open next in West Village:

Ukrainian Restaurants — ~91% average survival rate, up to ~94% at best locations
Indonesian Restaurants — ~91% average survival rate
Filipino Restaurants — ~91% average survival rate

Static rankings can't capture every recent change in competition or foot traffic; StreetSpring's live platform provides the current score for your exact address. Our training data spans 130+ business types across 24 major metros, giving our models the breadth to predict outcomes across nearly any commercial concept. The survivability rankings for West Village are grounded in real economic conditions: 95.9% employment and 4.7% vacancy are among the key inputs that separate high-scoring locations from low-scoring ones here. These rankings are a snapshot; StreetSpring recalculates survivability for every location in West Village weekly, incorporating the latest competitive openings, closures, and spending data — check current locations 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 West Village.

What type of business should you rent your West Village storefront to?

The analysis is clear: in West Village, Ukrainian Restaurants, Indonesian Restaurants, and Filipino Restaurants consistently score highest on survivability, giving landlords the best chance of retaining tenants for 2+ years.

The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site. 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 West Village storefront to an Ukrainian Restaurant?

The data shows an Ukrainian Restaurant is the safest long-term bet for a West Village storefront. Top locations reach ~94% survivability; the least favorable addresses in this neighborhood score around ~89%.

StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site.

What should I consider when opening a business in West Village?

Don't commit to a storefront in West Village 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.

High Revenue Capture Score is the clearest signal that a location can sustain a business over the long term.
StreetSpring uses its own proprietary forecasting tools to identify the Revenue Capture Score for each unique business.
Access StreetSpring's current survivability data for any address in West Village for free at any time.

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
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.
Parking & visibility	Storefront looks great from the sidewalk but is invisible from the road.	Drive past at 30 mph from both directions. Count street parking + nearest paid lot capacity at peak hours.
Foot traffic seasonality	Looking at a peak-summer Tuesday and assuming year-round volume.	Walk the block at 3 different times across 2 different weeks. Ask neighboring tenants for their slow-season % drop.

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 West Village, Chicago — Top business types scored in West Village, 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: Foot traffic measured at the city-block level using a combination of pedestrian-network analysis and Walk Score.

**Worker-to-resident ratio (West Village):** LEHD daytime population data gives West Village a **1.0-to-1 worker/resident ratio** (a balanced mixed-use pattern). Median 1-mile workplace jobs: **13,641**; retail share within that: **1,712**. Worker-heavy neighborhoods skew demand toward weekday-business-hours; resident-heavy neighborhoods skew toward evenings and weekends.

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

**West Village economic snapshot:** ACS reports neighborhood unemployment at **4.1%** (below 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:

Neighborhood-Specific Questions

Beyond the general FAQ — data-anchored answers for this specific location.

Approximately 60% of West Village adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 52% across the Chicago metro. Education attainment is close to the metro median, so business-type signals come more from income and density.

Does West Village's income profile support new business openings?

ACS data shows median household income in West Village at roughly $143K, compared to $103K across the Chicago metro. Higher median income supports premium retail, upscale dining, and discretionary services.

Is West Village more single-occupant or family-household?

West Village's average household has 2.8 people — above the Chicago metro average (2.3). Larger households suggest more families — favorable for family dining, kid-oriented retail, and household services.