Business Survivability in Sylmar, Los Angeles
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Sylmar is an Italian Restaurant with a ~88% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.
Quick Summary
- Best business: an Italian Restaurant in Sylmar (~88% average survival rate, ~89% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #5 across all neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles
- Neighborhood average: ~80% 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 8, 2026
In this article:
- Summary
- Is Sylmar 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 Sylmar is an Italian Restaurant with a ~88% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~89% chance; next is an Ukrainian Restaurant with a ~87% chance, followed by an American Restaurant with a ~87% chance.
Is Sylmar the right neighborhood for a new business?
Sylmar earns the #5 spot in Los Angeles for new business survivability, with an average score of ~80% across all business types analyzed.
- Top-performing business types at the best addresses in Sylmar show a ~2% survival rate advantage over the neighborhood average.
- However, those same business types at the weakest addresses in Sylmar can score considerably below average. Even the most in-demand concept in Sylmar will struggle if it opens at the wrong address.
- At 93.2% employed, Sylmar'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 Sylmar?
The right address in Sylmar can mean a 20-point survivability difference from an average one — StreetSpring identifies exactly which addresses are worth pursuing. This is the address StreetSpring's 2026 analysis recommends most strongly for an Italian Restaurant in Sylmar:
Why the right block matters more than the right neighborhood
StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for an Italian Restaurant in Sylmar. These rankings are based on the latest available data; check StreetSpring for real-time updates. 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 →
Top-ranked business types for Sylmar
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Sylmar
- Italian Restaurant is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Sylmar: ~88% chance on average, best at ~89%, challenging at ~86%.
- Ukrainian Restaurant — ~85%–~90% survivability range, with an average of ~87% across Sylmar.
- Opening an American Restaurant in Sylmar shows ~87% average survivability. Top locations reach ~89%; lower-end sites show ~85%.
- Kosher Restaurant (Ranked #4): ~87% average in Sylmar. Best-case storefronts: ~89%. Challenging locations: ~85%.
- French Restaurant is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Sylmar: ~87% chance on average, best at ~89%, challenging at ~86%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Sylmar
- Portuguese Restaurant — ~85%–~89% survivability range, with an average of ~87% across Sylmar.
- Opening a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant in Sylmar shows ~87% average survivability. Top locations reach ~89%; lower-end sites show ~85%.
- South African Restaurant (Ranked #8): ~87% average in Sylmar. Best-case storefronts: ~89%. Challenging locations: ~86%.
- Filipino Restaurant is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Sylmar: ~87% chance on average, best at ~89%, challenging at ~85%.
- Bangladeshi Restaurant — ~86%–~89% survivability range, with an average of ~87% across Sylmar.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- American Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
The revenue potential of a Sylmar location
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting one of the best locations for your business in Sylmar could lead to you making ~2% more than if you selected an average location, and ~3% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Even within a high-performing neighborhood, the best location varies by business type — StreetSpring scores each combination separately.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- Every percentage point of Survivability Score represents a real difference in expected revenue — choosing the highest-scoring address is the most reliable financial decision you can make at the outset.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood — it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What businesses should open next in Sylmar?
The top businesses to open next in Sylmar:
- Italian Restaurants — ~88% average survival rate, up to ~89% at best locations
- Ukrainian Restaurants — ~87% average survival rate
- American Restaurants — ~87% average survival rate
These rankings are based on the latest available data; check StreetSpring for real-time updates. We apply advanced machine learning to one of the largest commercial real estate outcome datasets in the country. The survivability rankings for Sylmar are grounded in real economic conditions: 93.2% employment and 3.3% vacancy are among the key inputs that separate high-scoring locations from low-scoring ones here. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring updates every location's survivability score weekly — you can see current scores for available storefronts in Sylmar 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 Sylmar.
What type of business should you rent your Sylmar storefront to?
Our 2026 survivability data for Sylmar shows that Italian Restaurants, Ukrainian Restaurants, and American Restaurants rank as the top tenant categories for minimizing vacancy risk.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood — it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category. StreetSpring's free tool lets you check the survivability score for any business type at any address in Sylmar — a powerful filter when evaluating prospective tenants.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Los Angeles Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Sylmar storefront to an Italian Restaurant?
Yes. Among all business types analyzed for Sylmar in 2026, an Italian Restaurant posts the highest survivability ceiling at ~89% and maintains a reasonable floor of ~86% — making it the most reliable tenant choice here.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood — it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What should I consider when opening a business in Sylmar?
Survivability Score is the North Star metric for any location decision in Sylmar: it aggregates 100+ factors so you don't have to evaluate each one individually.
- Among all the inputs that shape survivability, Revenue Capture Score carries the most predictive weight.
- No third-party scoring system produces these results — every prediction is generated by StreetSpring's own analytical models.
- You can access the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring for free.
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.
The hidden costs of operating in this neighborhood
| Area to check | What can go wrong | How to de-risk it |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| Competitor density | Counting only direct competitors and missing adjacent-category overlap (e.g. coffee shop near a bakery). | Map all businesses serving overlapping customer needs within a 5-min walk. Use StreetSpring's competitor view as a starting point. |
| 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 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
Related Resources
Related:
Related:
- Business Survivability in Adair Park, Atlanta
- Business Survivability in Ansley Park, Atlanta
- Business Survivability in Ardmore, Atlanta
More Questions About This Location
More questions answered with neighborhood-specific data from our 2026 corpus.
Does Sylmar's income profile support new business openings?
ACS data shows median household income in Sylmar at roughly $115K, compared to $113K across the Los Angeles metro. Income is close to the metro median, so business-type fit depends more on local demographics and competition.
What's the typical commute pattern in Sylmar?
ACS data puts the median commute at ~33 minutes in Sylmar, compared to 31 minutes metro-wide. Commute patterns are typical for the metro, so foot traffic timing should not be a primary differentiator.
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 Sylmar a high-employment or high-unemployment area?
ACS labor-force data shows an employment rate of about 93% in Sylmar, versus 93% across Los Angeles. Employment is close to the metro median, suggesting stable underlying demand.
What's the typical household size in Sylmar, and what does it tell us?
ACS data puts average household size in Sylmar at 3.6, compared to 2.7 across Los Angeles. Larger households suggest more families — favorable for family dining, kid-oriented retail, and household services.