City Survivability Rankings for Home Improvement Store

Quick Summary

• Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
• The highest-survivability city for Home Improvement Store is Miami: 67.95% average survivability
• 0 of 24 analyzed US metros score above 70% for Home Improvement Store survivability
• The lowest-ranked city is Portland at 64.64%
• National average chance of lasting two or more years for Home Improvement Store: 66.0%
• Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 24 US metro areas · Full methodology →

---

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Top Cities for Home Improvement Stores
• Key Insights
• What Makes These Cities Stand Out?
• Related Resources
• How current is this ranking?
• Can a Home Improvement Store succeed in cities not ranked in the top 10?
• What tools can help me choose the right city for a Home Improvement Store?
• Which US city has the best survivability for Home Improvement Stores?

---

Summary

According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Miami ranks as the #1 city for opening a Home Improvement Store in the United States, with an average 67.95% chance of surviving more than 2 years. Following close behind are New York City with 66.86%, and Phoenix with 66.53%. Home Improvement Stores sit at a national average of 66.0% survivability across our 24-city analysis, with Miami leading the field by a meaningful margin. Keep in mind that results depend heavily on the exact location; strong sites often exist within cities that seem less favorable overall. Pair these survivability scores with StreetSpring's live tool to get a real-time view before making a final decision.

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

Best-to-worst Home Improvement Store survivability within individual metros: Miami, Tampa Bay, St Louis, Denver and Minneapolis. Each box spans the middle of that metro's range; whiskers are its best and worst locations (2026).

---

All 24 Cities Ranked for Home Improvement Stores

Based on StreetSpring's analysis of 24 major metropolitan areas, these cities offer the strongest prospects for Home Improvement Stores:

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

• Best locations: 75.0% to 85.0%
• Average locations: 67.0% to 70.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 65.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 66.0% to 69.0%
• Challenging locations: 56.0% to 64.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 69.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 64.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 64.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 64.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 64.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 56.0% to 63.0%

14. Dallas Metro: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 65.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

17. San Antonio Metro: San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

• Best locations: 74.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 68.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 55.0% to 62.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 63.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 62.0%

22. St Louis

• Best locations: 73.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 56.0% to 62.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 83.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 57.0% to 62.0%

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

• Best locations: 73.0% to 84.0%
• Average locations: 64.0% to 67.0%
• Challenging locations: 58.0% to 63.0%

---

Key Insights

Cities cluster tightly: The difference between the #1 city (Miami at 67.95%) and the #24 city (Portland at 64.64%) is 3.31 percentage points. Across the top two metros, Home Improvement Stores sit 1.1 percentage points apart. City choice moves the outcome very little for this category.

Challenging markets: 24 cities fall below 60% survivability, suggesting more difficult market conditions.

National average: Across all 24 analyzed cities, the average survivability for a Home Improvement Store is 66.0%.

---

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

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

• Strong survivability signals: Miami leads with a 68% average chance of lasting two or more years for Home Improvement Stores: significantly above the national average for this business category.
• Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Home Improvement Stores, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
• Consumer demand signals: StreetSpring's data captures competitor review velocity, spending patterns, and demographic fit, all pointing toward sustained demand for Home Improvement Stores in these markets.
• Neighborhood diversity: Within each top city, high-survivability zones appear across multiple neighborhood types, from dense urban cores to established suburban strips.

Our AI platform forecasts business outcomes at the address level, giving entrepreneurs and landlords alike a data-driven edge. We have been studying the businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans. Our forecasting system combines proprietary data with machine learning models unavailable anywhere else.

---

Related Resources

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

• Business Survivability Rankings: Miami
• Business Survivability Rankings: New York City
• Business Survivability Rankings: Phoenix
• Business Survivability Rankings: Houston
• Business Survivability Rankings: Tampa Bay

National guides:

• Neighborhood Survivability Rankings: Miami

---

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 Home Improvement 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 Home Improvement 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 Home Improvement Stores in cities that don't appear in our top 10. Home Improvement 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 Home Improvement Store?

StreetSpring's Survivability Score tool provides address-level predictions for Home Improvement Stores across all 24 metros we track. For this category specifically, the tool surfaces competition density, consumer spending index for Home Improvement Stores, and commercial vacancy rates: the factors that most consistently predict whether a Home Improvement Store will still be operating after two years. 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 Home Improvement Stores?

Miami ranks as the #1 city in the US for Home Improvement Stores survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average 68% chance of lasting two or more years. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Miami, a Home Improvement Store has approximately a 68% chance of still operating after two years, above the national average for this category. New York City ranks second, followed by Phoenix. The full ranking reflects data across 24 major US metro areas: see the complete list above for all scores and neighborhood-level links.

Last reviewed: September 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: City rankings aggregate neighborhood-level Survivability Scores (max, average, and min) across all analyzed neighborhoods in each metro area. Rankings reflect average conditions but do not account for variation within cities. Coverage includes 24 major US metropolitan areas: Miami, New York City, Phoenix, Houston, Tampa Bay, Orlando, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Diego, Atlanta, San Antonio, Denver, Detroit, Charlotte, Seattle, St Louis, Minneapolis, Portland. 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.