City Survivability Rankings for Liquor Store

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

•16 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 Liquor Store is Houston: 84.5% at a good address, 77.1% at a typical address
  • Dallas is left out of this ranking while a gap in its input data is repaired, and San Antonio is left out because it has too few scored locations to rank fairly
  • 7 of 22 analyzed US metros average above 70% for Liquor Store survivability at a typical address
  • The lowest-ranked city is New York City at 79.2%
  • National average chance of lasting two or more years for Liquor Store: 68.6%
  • Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 22 US metro areas · Full methodology →

Table of Contents

Summary

According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Houston ranks as the #1 city for opening a Liquor Store in the United States, with an 84.5% chance of lasting two or more years at a good address. Following close behind are Denver with 84.1%, and Charlotte with 83.7%. Liquor Stores consistently deliver a 68.6% survivability average across our 22 analyzed metros, with top-ranked Houston demonstrating the strongest conditions. Our data shows that strong individual locations exist in every city we analyze, regardless of the city's overall ranking. The best way to use these rankings is as a starting point: layer in your own market research and local knowledge before committing.

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

Liquor Stores city survivability range chart: Houston vs New York City (2026)

Best-to-worst Liquor Store survivability within individual metros: Houston, Denver, Miami, Boston and New York City. Each box spans the middle of that metro's range; whiskers are its best and worst locations (2026).

All 22 Cities Ranked for Liquor Stores

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

#MetroMetro areaChance of lasting two or more years at a good address
1HoustonHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX84.5%
2DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO84.1%
3CharlotteCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC83.7%
4PhoenixPhoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ83.7%
5AtlantaAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA83.7%
6OrlandoOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL83.2%
7MinneapolisMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI83.2%
8ChicagoChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN83.2%
9SeattleSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA82.8%
10Los AngelesLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA82.8%
11St. LouisSt. Louis, MO-IL82.3%
12MiamiMiami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL82.3%
13PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD81.8%
14BaltimoreBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD81.8%
15Washington DCWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV81.8%
16San DiegoSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA81.4%
17DetroitDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI81.0%
18San FranciscoSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA80.5%
19Tampa BayTampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL80.0%
20PortlandPortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA79.6%
21BostonBoston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH79.2%
22New York CityNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ79.2%

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 83.7%
  • At a typical address: 73.1%
  • Best scored location: 85.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 49.0%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • At a good address: 81.8%
  • At a typical address: 67.4%
  • Best scored location: 85.0%
  • Weakest scored location: 49.0%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key Insights

Moderate variation between cities: The difference between the #1 city (Houston at 84.5%) and the #22 city (New York City at 79.2%) is 5.30 percentage points. The top two metros for Liquor Stores differ by 0.4 percentage points of 2-year survival. Differences between neighborhoods in one metro are consistently larger.

National average: Across all 22 analyzed cities, the average survivability for a Liquor Store is 68.6%.

What Makes These Cities Stand Out?

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

  • Strong survivability signals: Houston leads with a 77% average chance of lasting two or more years for Liquor Stores: significantly above the national average for this business category.
  • Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Liquor Stores, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
  • Low market saturation: Top cities for Liquor Stores have fewer direct competitors per square mile than lower-ranked metros, leaving meaningful whitespace for well-positioned new entrants.
  • Economic conditions: The rankings for Liquor Stores account for Census neighborhood characteristics, including median household income and the housing vacancy rate, alongside competition and consumer spending.

StreetSpring publishes AI-driven survivability forecasts for agents and entrepreneurs nationwide, with the method and the files behind every figure. Our forecasting engine processes data from over 24 metro areas covering 180+ million consumers. StreetSpring uses its own proprietary forecasting tools to make these predictions.

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

StreetSpring's Survivability Score tool provides address-level predictions for Liquor Stores across all 22 metros we track. For this category specifically, the model reads competition density, the consumer spending index for Liquor Stores, and Census neighborhood characteristics such as the housing vacancy rate, and turns them into the projected chance that a Liquor 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 Liquor Stores?

Houston ranks as the #1 city in the US for Liquor Stores survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average 77% chance of lasting two or more years. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Houston, a Liquor Store has approximately a 77% chance of still operating after two years, above the national average for this category. Denver ranks second, followed by Charlotte. 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: Houston, Denver, Charlotte, Phoenix, Atlanta, Orlando, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Miami, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, San Diego, Detroit, San Francisco, Tampa Bay, Portland, Boston, New York City. 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.