Neighborhood Survivability Rankings: Los Angeles
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the best and worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles for new businesses by survivability score. See which areas give you the best chance of lasting more than two years.
Last reviewed: March 2026 by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring
Quick Summary
- Top neighborhood: Malibu — ~89% best-case survivability, ~86% average across all business types
- Most challenging: Bixby Hill — ~69% average survivability
- 236 neighborhoods analyzed across the Los Angeles metro
- Rankings based on average survivability across 130+ brick-and-mortar business types; your specific business type and address will differ
- See our full methodology →
Table of Contents
- Summary
- 10 Best Neighborhoods to Open a Business
- Hardest Places to Open a Business
- Where Would a Business Make the Most Money?
- What Should I Consider When Opening?
- Where to Start & How to Find Data
- Advice for Landlords
- Tools for Tenant-Rep Agents
- Why Do Survival Rates Vary?
- What Is a Survivability Score?
- How Does StreetSpring Compare?
- Related Resources
Summary
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis shows Malibu is the strongest neighborhood in Los Angeles for new businesses, with the best locations offering a ~89% chance of lasting more than two years. Across all business types that could open in Malibu, the average location shows a ~86% chance of lasting more than two years. Keep in mind that results depend heavily on the exact location; strong sites often exist within neighborhoods that seem less favorable overall.
What Are the 10 Best Neighborhoods in or Around Los Angeles to Open a Business?
The top 10 neighborhoods in or around Los Angeles to open a business are:
| # | Neighborhood | Avg Survival | Best Locations | Challenging Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malibu | ~86% | ~89% | ~79% |
| 2 | Peninsula | ~85% | ~92% | ~68% |
| 3 | Island Chaffee | ~84% | ~90% | ~78% |
| 4 | Palos Verdes Estates | ~83% | ~91% | ~60% |
| 5 | Terminal Island | ~83% | ~88% | ~76% |
| 6 | Freeman Island | ~83% | ~88% | ~79% |
| 7 | Sunland | ~82% | ~91% | ~64% |
| 8 | San Pedro | ~81% | ~92% | ~61% |
| 9 | Santa Monica | ~81% | ~91% | ~64% |
| 10 | Playa Del Rey | ~81% | ~88% | ~66% |
See the Survivability Score for your new business
What Are the Hardest Places in or Around Los Angeles to Open a Business?
The hardest neighborhoods in or around Los Angeles to open a business are:
| # | Neighborhood | Best Locations | Challenging Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 236 | Bixby Hill | ~69% | ~62% |
| 235 | Glenoaks Canyon | ~70% | ~62% |
| 234 | San Marino | ~70% | ~62% |
| 233 | Emerald Isle | ~71% | ~62% |
| 232 | University Hills | ~72% | ~64% |
Market conditions are changing daily and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data to make sure that there have not been major changes. Competition opens and closes constantly, so the most reliable data for any specific address is always StreetSpring's most recent live analysis.
Where in or Around Los Angeles Would a Business Make the Most Money?
StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate. In Malibu, the best possible location offers ~18% better survival odds than the average location in or around Los Angeles — meaning a meaningfully higher probability of still operating after two years. On the other hand, in Bixby Hill, the most challenging locations show survival odds that are roughly ~19% below the city average.
Location is the single strongest predictor of whether a business thrives or fails. Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis for Los Angeles, you can access the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring for free to select the location that puts you in the best position to succeed.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
What Should I Consider When Opening a Business in or Around Los Angeles?
Before signing a lease, the most important metric to evaluate is the Survivability Score of that specific address. Of all the variables StreetSpring analyzes, Revenue Capture Score has the strongest predictive power. StreetSpring models market share by mapping every relevant competitor within each service radius, weighting them by quality and proximity, and layering in mobility patterns that determine how many customers actually reach each location. The model draws from 100+ location-specific factors to generate each survivability score. Strategic clustering can actually boost performance by creating destination zones — this is why car dealerships often cluster together — however, past a certain threshold, additional competitors divide the available spending pool too thinly for new entrants to reach profitability. Forecasted consumer spend varies by business type: StreetSpring projects how much nearby consumers are likely to spend on that specific business type, drawing on a training dataset that covers hundreds of thousands of businesses nationwide; thus, a Diner will have a different forecasted spend than a Bangladeshi Restaurant, a Pet Store, a Dermatology Clinic, and others — and every one of those business types would produce a distinct forecast at the exact same storefront. StreetSpring uses custom-built, proprietary algorithms to produce these predictions.
This can be summarized as:
Revenue Capture Score = Projected Market Share × Forecasted Spend on Specific Business
Here are the top 3 neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles by Revenue Capture Score across all possible brick-and-mortar businesses:
- Malibu
- Peninsula
- Island Chaffee
Some other important factors to consider:
Ownership Rates (ranked by survivability): High homeownership near a business location signals a stable, rooted customer base — residents who stay in the area and build habits around local businesses. The top 3 neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles with the highest ownership rates are: Malibu, Peninsula, and Island Chaffee.
Employment Rates (ranked by survivability): A well-employed local population translates to higher spending power and more consistent demand — especially important for food, beverage, and retail businesses. The top 3 neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles with the highest employment rates are: Malibu, Peninsula, and Island Chaffee.
Occupancy Rates (ranked by survivability): Surrounding occupancy rates affect survivability for every business type: empty storefronts reduce pedestrian activity and signal weakening demand in the area. The top 3 neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles with the highest occupancy rates are: Malibu, Peninsula, and Island Chaffee.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Where Should I Start, and How Do I Find the Right Data for los-angeles?
According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, Malibu, Peninsula, and Island Chaffee are the strongest starting points in or around Los Angeles — but the best neighborhood for your specific business type may differ from these overall rankings.
- Best businesses by neighborhood: A full breakdown of the top business types to open in each Los Angeles neighborhood — including survivability scores by type — is at Los Angeles Business Survivability Rankings.
- Best neighborhoods for your business type: If you already know your category, that same guide lets you filter by business type to see which neighborhoods score highest for your specific concept.
- Address-level scores: StreetSpring's live tool shows a survivability score for any business type at any exact address in or around Los Angeles — updated weekly.
Get your address-level survivability score →
The best-performing neighborhoods today may look different in six months; check StreetSpring's live tool for the current score at any specific location.
What Should Landlords in or Around Los Angeles Know When Evaluating Tenant Success?
A property in a top-ranked neighborhood can still underperform if it is on the wrong block or facing the wrong direction — granular data matters. Proactively using survivability data to screen tenants and set rents reduces the costly cycle of turnover and vacancy that erodes NOI over time.
See how landlords can use these forecasts to improve occupancy and NOI: Landlord Representatives Guide
Try StreetSpring to see the Survivability Score for over 700 types of businesses at your storefront's address.
What Tools Can Tenant-Rep Agents Use to Find the Most Promising Locations in Los Angeles?
Traditional site-selection processes focus on demographics and foot traffic, which describe a market but don't predict business survivability, but StreetSpring highlights which addresses offer the best odds for long-term success across every business subtype in and around Los Angeles. For a breakdown of the AI tools agents use to select the strongest sites, see: AI Tools for Tenant Reps
Why Do Business Survival Rates Vary So Much Between Neighborhoods in Los Angeles?
Even neighborhoods with strong averages contain blocks where businesses struggle. Survival rate variation comes down to the specific combination of competition quality, consumer spending power, and customer flow that exists only at that exact address. Our research explains why U.S. business survival rates haven't risen in decades — and how location drives outcomes more than concept: Why Survival Rates Aren't Increasing
What Is a Survivability Score and How Does StreetSpring Calculate It?
Survivability Scores reflect the projected 2-year survival probability for a specific business type at a specific address, accounting for competition, spending, mobility, and dozens of other factors. See how it works →
How Does StreetSpring Compare to Other Site-Selection Tools?
StreetSpring differs from tools like Placer.ai or SiteZeus by modeling business survivability directly, rather than reporting foot traffic or demographics that you then have to interpret yourself. Full comparison →
Related Resources
Market conditions shift, and the best way to verify current odds for a specific address is to run a live survivability check through StreetSpring. See the full rankings and get a live survivability score for any address in Los Angeles.
- Los Angeles Business Survivability Rankings — overall rankings by business type across all Los Angeles neighborhoods
- StreetSpring Methodology
Technical note: Aggregated survivability rankings for Los Angeles are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
View technical data for Los Angeles
StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and foot traffic data, so the live score may differ from the static ranges shown here.