City Survivability Rankings for Clothing Store

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the top cities for Clothing Stores across the US by Survivability Scores. See which cities offer the best chances for a Clothing Store to succeed.

•17 min read

Quick Summary

  • Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
  • The highest-ranked city for Clothing Store is Philadelphia: 84.5% at a good address, 73.6% at a typical address
  • Dallas and San Antonio are left out of this ranking while a gap in their input data is repaired
  • 10 of 22 analyzed US metros average above 70% for Clothing Store survivability at a typical address
  • The lowest-ranked city is Seattle at 81.4%
  • National average chance of lasting two or more years for Clothing Store: 70.0%
  • Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 22 US metro areas · Full methodology →

Table of Contents

Summary

According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Philadelphia ranks as the #1 city for opening a Clothing Store in the United States, with an 84.5% chance of lasting two or more years at a good address. Following close behind are Chicago with 84.5%, and Los Angeles with 84.1%. The national picture for Clothing Stores shows 70.0% average survivability across 22 cities, with the gap between Philadelphia and lower-ranked metros revealing significant geographic variation. Remember that a city's average score smooths over wide variation: your exact neighborhood could significantly outperform the city average. These rankings reflect data through early 2026: check StreetSpring for the latest figures before any location decision.

Survivability ranges reflect best and worst storefront conditions within each city. See our full methodology →

Clothing Stores city survivability range chart: Philadelphia vs Phoenix (2026)

Best-to-worst Clothing Store survivability within individual metros: Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix. Each box spans the middle of that metro's range; whiskers are its best and worst locations (2026).

All 22 Cities Ranked for Clothing Stores

Based on StreetSpring's analysis of 22 major metropolitan areas, these cities offer the strongest prospects for Clothing Stores:

#MetroMetro areaChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD84.5%
2ChicagoChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN84.5%
3Los AngelesLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA84.1%
4MiamiMiami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL84.1%
5New York CityNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ84.1%
6BostonBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH84.1%
7San FranciscoSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA84.1%
8CharlotteCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC83.7%
9DetroitDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI83.7%
10Washington DCWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV83.7%
11PortlandPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA83.7%
12AtlantaAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA83.2%
13DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO83.2%
14MinneapolisMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI83.2%
15St. LouisSt. Louis, MO-IL83.2%
16OrlandoOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL83.2%
17San DiegoSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA83.2%
18Tampa BayTampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL83.2%
19BaltimoreBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD82.8%
20HoustonHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX82.3%
21PhoenixPhoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ81.8%
22SeattleSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA81.4%

1. Philadelphia Metro: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

2. Chicago Metro: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

3. Los Angeles Metro: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

4. Miami Metro: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL

5. New York City Metro: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

6. Boston Metro: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

7. San Francisco Metro: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

8. Charlotte Metro: Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

9. Detroit Metro: Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

10. Washington DC Metro: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

11. Portland Metro: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

12. Atlanta Metro: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

13. Denver Metro: Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

14. Minneapolis Metro: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

15. St. Louis Metro: St. Louis, MO-IL

16. Orlando Metro: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

17. San Diego Metro: San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

18. Tampa Bay Metro: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

19. Baltimore Metro: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

20. Houston Metro: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

21. Phoenix Metro: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

22. Seattle Metro: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Key Insights

Cities cluster tightly: The difference between the #1 city (Philadelphia at 84.5%) and the #22 city (Seattle at 81.4%) is 3.10 percentage points. Clothing Stores score at effectively the same level across the top two metros. Picking the right city is not the lever here.

National average: Across all 22 analyzed cities, the average survivability for a Clothing Store is 70.0%.

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor Clothing Stores:

  • Strong survivability signals: Philadelphia leads with a 74% average chance of lasting two or more years for Clothing Stores: significantly above the national average for this business category.
  • Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Clothing Stores, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
  • Foot traffic infrastructure: High-scoring cities combine transit access, walkable commercial corridors, and anchor tenants that drive consistent daily traffic past storefronts.
  • Supply chain access: Cities at the top of this ranking benefit from mature supplier networks for this category, reducing operating costs and inventory lead times.

Our analysis draws on millions of commercial real estate data points to deliver survivability predictions trusted by professionals nationwide. We have been studying the businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans. These insights come from StreetSpring's exclusive, in-house forecasting models.

City-specific guides: For detailed neighborhood-level analysis, explore our city guides:

National guides:

How current is this ranking?

Rankings are updated quarterly. The current data reflects StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with the next full dataset refresh scheduled for Q3 2026. As market conditions shift across major metros, individual city scores can move meaningfully between updates: particularly for Clothing Stores, where local competition density and consumer spending patterns respond quickly to new entrants and neighborhood change. For the most current score at any specific address, use StreetSpring's live survivability tool rather than the static ranking above.

Can a Clothing Store succeed in cities not ranked in the top 10?

Yes, our top 10 ranking reflects cities with the strongest average conditions, but lower-ranked metros can still contain exceptional individual neighborhoods. Many operators successfully open Clothing Stores in cities that don't appear in our top 10. Clothing Stores in particular can find strong performance in secondary markets where the right demographic concentration, household income, and limited direct competition within walking distance align, even outside our highest-ranked cities. StreetSpring's neighborhood-level data surfaces these pockets of opportunity in every city we analyze, regardless of where the city as a whole ranks nationally.

What tools can help me choose the right city for a Clothing Store?

StreetSpring's Survivability Score tool provides address-level predictions for Clothing Stores across all 22 metros we track. For this category specifically, the model reads competition density, the consumer spending index for Clothing Stores, and Census neighborhood characteristics such as the housing vacancy rate, and turns them into the projected chance that a Clothing Store lasts two or more years at a given address. You can check any specific address before signing a lease and compare multiple neighborhoods side by side to identify the highest-survivability site within your target city.

Try the Survivability Score tool →

Which US city has the best survivability for Clothing Stores?

Philadelphia ranks as the #1 city in the US for Clothing Stores survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average 74% chance of lasting two or more years. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Philadelphia, a Clothing Store has approximately a 74% chance of still operating after two years, above the national average for this category. Chicago ranks second, followed by Los Angeles. The full ranking reflects data across 22 major US metro areas: see the complete list above for all scores and neighborhood-level links.

Last reviewed: October 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

Technical note: Aggregated national survivability rankings across all 24 metros are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

View national technical data

StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and walkability data, so the live score may differ from the static ranges shown here.

Methodology: Each metro's figures pool the scored locations in its published neighborhoods. Metros are ranked the way the national data file ranks them, on the chance of lasting two or more years at a good address; the typical-address figure is shown alongside. Coverage includes 22 major US metropolitan areas: Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Charlotte, Detroit, Washington DC, Portland, Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Orlando, San Diego, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix, Seattle. StreetSpring scores 500+ business types: 153 base business types, most of them at 5 price points, which is 569 type-and-price combinations you can choose in the tool.