Is Lyon Street a good place to start a business?

Lyon Street is ranked number 27 across neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles to start a business, with an average Survivability Score of ~78%. The highest-scoring business types in Lyon Street — at their optimal addresses — outperform the neighborhood average by ~2%.

How much money could a business in Lyon Street make?

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

What businesses are most in demand in Lyon Street?

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis, the most in-demand business types in Lyon Street are Caribbean / Latin Restaurants, Diners, and Portuguese Restaurants.

Business Survivability in Lyon Street, Los Angeles

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Lyon Street is a Caribbean / Latin 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: a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant in Lyon Street (~84% average survival rate, ~85% at best locations)

Neighborhood rank: #27 across all neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles

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

Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data

Detailed methodology

Reviewed and updated: May 5, 2026 — Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

In this article:

Summary
Is Lyon Street 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 Lyon Street is a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant with a ~84% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~85% chance; next is a Diner with a ~84% chance, followed by a Portuguese Restaurant with a ~83% chance.

What does the data say about opening in Lyon Street?

**Peer neighborhoods:** Looking at demographic mix and amenity density across the 24 metros StreetSpring covers, Lyon Street clusters most tightly with **Lacy (Los Angeles)** and **Casa Mesa Ii (Phoenix)**. Common thread: younger population, more renters, and less college-educated. Survival outcomes for those neighborhoods provide a useful comparison set for Lyon Street.

**Where Lyon Street businesses actually fail.** Among the 93 tracked subtypes, **Diners** post the highest average survivability (84%). But across Lyon Street's sites, the spread for this subtype runs **76% to 92%** — a 16-point gap that says *the address matters more than the subtype*. For saturation context, Middle Eastern Restaurants are the most densely-clustered tracked subtype in the neighborhood (12 competitors within 0.5 miles).

Lyon Street holds the #27 position in and around Los Angeles for new business survivability, averaging ~78% across all analyzed business types.

The highest-scoring business types in Lyon Street — at their optimal addresses — outperform the neighborhood average by ~2%.
But these same concepts at less optimal addresses within Lyon Street can score meaningfully below average. Survivability data shows that even the highest-demand business types fail at the wrong location.
At 93.6% employed, Lyon Street'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 can you find the best location to open a business in Lyon Street?

StreetSpring's Lyon Street data goes block by block — not just neighborhood averages — so you know which specific storefront gives your concept the strongest foundation. The map below shows the highest-scoring storefront area for a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant in Lyon Street per 2026 data:

The locations that show up in our top-10 lists

Loading live map preview...

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of 100 location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant in Lyon Street. Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform — and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. Factors evaluated include competition at every distance band, consumer spending forecasts, mobility patterns, and market share projections.

Check if this location is still available →

What are the best businesses to open in Lyon Street?

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Lyon Street

Caribbean / Latin Restaurant — ~82%–~85% survivability range, with an average of ~84% across Lyon Street.
Opening a Diner in Lyon Street shows ~84% average survivability. Top locations reach ~86%; lower-end sites show ~82%.
Portuguese Restaurant (Ranked #3): ~83% average in Lyon Street. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~81%.
Japanese / Sushi Restaurant is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in Lyon Street: ~83% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~81%.
Asian Fusion Restaurant — ~81%–~85% survivability range, with an average of ~83% across Lyon Street.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Lyon Street

Opening a German Restaurant in Lyon Street shows ~83% average survivability. Top locations reach ~85%; lower-end sites show ~81%.
Armenian Restaurant (Ranked #7): ~83% average in Lyon Street. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~81%.
Southern Food Restaurant is ranked #8 for top businesses to open in Lyon Street: ~83% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~82%.
Afghan Restaurant — ~82%–~84% survivability range, with an average of ~83% across Lyon Street.
Opening a Korean Restaurant in Lyon Street shows ~83% average survivability. Top locations reach ~85%; lower-end sites show ~81%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

Caribbean / Latin Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
Diner — See how this compares to other cities →

What revenue can a Lyon Street business expect?

Best location vs. average location

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

Different business models thrive in different micro-locations.
A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
Businesses in high-scoring locations consistently outperform those in average or low-scoring sites.
StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.

Which business types are most underserved in Lyon Street?

The top businesses to open next in Lyon Street:

Caribbean / Latin Restaurants — ~84% average survival rate, up to ~85% at best locations
Diners — ~84% average survival rate
Portuguese Restaurants — ~83% average survival rate

Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform — and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. The model draws from 100+ location-specific factors to generate each survivability score. The 7.9% commercial vacancy rate in Lyon Street 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. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring updates every location's survivability score weekly — you can see current scores for available storefronts in Lyon Street right now.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

Related Articles:

See the Los Angeles Business Survivability Rankings
See the Los Angeles Neighborhood Survivability Rankings

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Lyon Street.

What type of business should you rent your Lyon Street storefront to?

StreetSpring's analysis shows that the business categories with the strongest long-term lease retention in Lyon Street are Caribbean / Latin Restaurants, Diners, and Portuguese Restaurants.

A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success. 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 Lyon Street storefront to a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant?

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis strongly supports renting to a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant in Lyon Street: best-in-class addresses achieve ~85% survivability, and even the lower-end sites come in at ~82% — above average for most business types.

StreetSpring analyzes your specific address against comparable businesses to forecast success.

What should I consider when opening a business in Lyon Street?

StreetSpring's Survivability Score for your Lyon Street address is the clearest forward-looking indicator of whether your business will be operating two years from now — make it the first number you check.

Revenue Capture Score matters more than any other single metric when predicting business outcomes.
StreetSpring's custom-built forecasting infrastructure powers every survivability score, combining data science with commercial real estate intelligence.
StreetSpring offers free access to its survivability scores — see how your shortlisted Lyon Street addresses rank right now.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.

Using predictive analytics, StreetSpring helps entrepreneurs and landlords make smarter location decisions. Aggregated survivability rankings for Los Angeles are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Lease structure questions to ask first

Consideration	Common pitfall	What to verify before signing
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.
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.
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.

Full dataset for Los Angeles: /resources/data/los-angeles-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Visual Data

Radar chart of business-subtype survivability in Lyon Street, Los Angeles — Top business types scored in Lyon Street, Los Angeles — each axis is a subtype, taller = stronger survival rate.

Bubble chart of business subtypes in Los Angeles by survivability score and location density — Every business subtype in Los Angeles 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.

**LEHD demand-pattern signal (Lyon Street):** Median 1-mile workplace jobs across Lyon Street: **36,653** (LEHD LODES 2022). That works out to a **1.3:1 daytime-to-resident ratio** — a balanced mixed-use pattern. Of those workplace jobs, **2,552** are retail-sector. Use this to gauge whether your concept is weekday-commuter-driven or evening-and-weekend-driven.

Landmark anchor: Santa Ana Zoo At Prentice Park anchors Lyon Street's green-space backbone and shapes the neighborhood's foot-traffic patterns.

**Economic indicators for Lyon Street:** Three local signals — neighborhood unemployment **6.4%** (ACS; above the median we track), Los Angeles-area average weekly wage **$1,127** (BLS QCEW; below our metro median), and **22,446** new residential units permitted in Los Angeles County in 2025 (Census BPS). Use these to ground demand and labor-cost assumptions for your specific business plan.

**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:

Local Context FAQ

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

What's the local customer base size in Lyon Street?

ACS data estimates the Lyon Street resident population at roughly 27.4K. The resident base is moderate; business-type fit depends more on capturing nearby commuter or destination traffic.

Is Lyon Street a high-employment or high-unemployment area?

Lyon Street's employment rate is approximately 94%, compared to a Los Angeles metro median of 93%. Employment is close to the metro median, suggesting stable underlying demand.

Is Lyon Street's population younger or older than the Los Angeles average?

Lyon Street's median age is 32 versus a Los Angeles metro median of 39 — younger by 7 years. This shapes which business types tend to survive: A younger profile tends to drive demand for nightlife, fitness, and casual dining over family-oriented services.

How does Los Angeles's survivability compare to national sector averages?

Per BLS Business Employment Dynamics (March 2025), 5-year survival rates by sector range from 47.8% (Active Life — gyms, studios) to 61.8% (Health & Medical), with Restaurants at 50% and Retail at 47.9%. Los Angeles-specific factors layer on top of these national baselines.