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.
Quick Summary
- The highest-survivability city for Liquor Store is Miami — 72% average survivability
- 4 of 24 analyzed US metros score above 70% for Liquor Store survivability
- The lowest-ranked city is Seattle at 67%
- National average survivability score for Liquor Store: 69.0%
- Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 24 US metro areas · Full methodology →
Table of Contents
- Summary
- Top Cities for Liquor Stores
- Key Insights
- What Makes These Cities Stand Out?
- Related Resources
- How current is this ranking?
- Can a Liquor Store succeed in cities not ranked in the top 10?
- What tools can help me choose the right city for a Liquor Store?
- Which US city has the best survivability for Liquor Stores?
Summary
According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Miami ranks as the #1 city for opening a Liquor Store in the United States, with an average 72% chance of surviving more than 2 years. Following close behind are Orlando with 71%, and Tampa Bay with 71%. Our 24-city dataset shows Liquor Stores achieving 69.0% average survivability nationally — Miami pulling notably ahead of the pack. Our data shows that strong individual locations exist in every city we analyze, regardless of the city's overall ranking. 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 →
Liquor Store city survivability rankings — Miami leads among 24 US metros at 72% in 2026
All 24 Cities Ranked for Liquor Stores
Based on StreetSpring's analysis of 24 major metropolitan areas, these cities offer the strongest prospects for Liquor Stores:
1. Miami Metro: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
- Best locations: 81.6% – 93.0%
- Average locations: 68.9% – 74.7%
- Challenging locations: 44.0% – 63.8%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Miami →
What the score range across cities tells you
2. Orlando Metro: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
- Best locations: 79.7% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 67.1% – 73.5%
- Challenging locations: 37.0% – 60.9%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Orlando →
3. Tampa Bay Metro: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
- Best locations: 81.7% – 95.0%
- Average locations: 67.0% – 73.7%
- Challenging locations: 39.0% – 61.3%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Tampa Bay →
4. Los Angeles Metro: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Best locations: 79.5% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 66.5% – 72.7%
- Challenging locations: 40.0% – 61.1%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Los Angeles →
5. San Diego Metro: San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- Best locations: 79.0% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 66.5% – 72.4%
- Challenging locations: 41.0% – 61.3%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in San Diego →
6. Phoenix Metro: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
- Best locations: 79.4% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 66.3% – 72.4%
- Challenging locations: 40.0% – 60.9%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Phoenix →
7. Dallas Metro: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
- Best locations: 79.9% – 92.0%
- Average locations: 66.7% – 72.6%
- Challenging locations: 43.0% – 61.8%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Dallas →
8. San Antonio Metro: San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
- Best locations: 79.2% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 66.4% – 72.1%
- Challenging locations: 43.0% – 61.6%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in San Antonio →
9. Portland Metro: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
- Best locations: 78.7% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 65.8% – 71.9%
- Challenging locations: 39.0% – 60.3%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Portland →
10. San Francisco Metro: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
- Best locations: 78.2% – 89.0%
- Average locations: 65.7% – 71.7%
- Challenging locations: 39.0% – 60.3%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in San Francisco →
11. New York City Metro: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
- Best locations: 79.5% – 92.0%
- Average locations: 65.4% – 72.0%
- Challenging locations: 37.0% – 59.6%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in New York City →
12. St Louis
- Best locations: 78.1% – 89.0%
- Average locations: 65.5% – 71.5%
- Challenging locations: 39.0% – 60.1%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in St Louis →
The metro-level signals behind these scores
13. Washington DC Metro: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- Best locations: 78.3% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 64.9% – 71.3%
- Challenging locations: 36.0% – 59.0%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Washington DC →
14. Denver Metro: Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
- Best locations: 78.3% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 65.5% – 71.3%
- Challenging locations: 42.0% – 60.7%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Denver →
15. Charlotte Metro: Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
- Best locations: 79.2% – 92.0%
- Average locations: 65.5% – 71.5%
- Challenging locations: 42.0% – 60.7%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Charlotte →
16. Boston Metro: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- Best locations: 78.1% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 64.9% – 71.0%
- Challenging locations: 39.0% – 59.6%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Boston →
17. Houston Metro: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
- Best locations: 78.5% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 64.8% – 70.9%
- Challenging locations: 40.0% – 59.7%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Houston →
18. Detroit Metro: Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
- Best locations: 78.5% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 64.3% – 70.9%
- Challenging locations: 36.0% – 58.5%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Detroit →
19. Chicago Metro: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
- Best locations: 78.3% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 64.3% – 70.8%
- Challenging locations: 37.0% – 58.7%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Chicago →
20. Atlanta Metro: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
- Best locations: 78.3% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 64.5% – 70.7%
- Challenging locations: 39.0% – 59.3%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Atlanta →
21. Baltimore Metro: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
- Best locations: 77.6% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 64.1% – 70.2%
- Challenging locations: 39.0% – 59.0%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Baltimore →
22. Minneapolis Metro: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
- Best locations: 77.9% – 91.0%
- Average locations: 63.6% – 70.1%
- Challenging locations: 37.0% – 58.2%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Minneapolis →
23. Philadelphia Metro: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
- Best locations: 78.2% – 92.0%
- Average locations: 63.2% – 69.8%
- Challenging locations: 37.0% – 57.9%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Philadelphia →
24. Seattle Metro: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- Best locations: 76.7% – 89.0%
- Average locations: 63.2% – 69.3%
- Challenging locations: 38.0% – 58.0%
- Explore Liquor Store neighborhoods in Seattle →
Key Insights
| Comparison factor | Top-tier city pattern | Bottom-tier city pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Income distribution shape | Cities with a broad middle-class income band that supports the subtype's price tier. | Cities with bifurcated income distributions where the subtype's price point falls into the middle gap. |
| Anchor-tenant density | Cities with high concentration of universities, hospitals, transit hubs within a 1-mile radius of typical storefronts. | Cities where anchor institutions are isolated in suburbs or single-purpose campuses with no street-level spillover. |
| Daytime vs residential population mix | Cities with strong daytime employment density near the storefront catchment — CBD-adjacent mixed-use corridors. | Bedroom-community metros where daytime population evaporates by 9am and consumption shifts to 6pm dinner-only windows. |
Wide variation between cities: The difference between the #1 city (Miami at 72.3%) and the #24 city (Seattle at 66.6%) is 5.6 percentage points. This 1.1-point variation between the #1 and #2 cities is below average for the category, suggesting that Liquor Stores are particularly responsive to local market conditions.
National average: Across all 24 analyzed cities, the average survivability for a Liquor Store is 69.0%.
What's Driving the Strongest Markets
The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor Liquor Stores:
- Strong survivability signals: Miami leads with a 72% average survivability score 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: All top-ranked cities show strong median household incomes and low vacancy rates in the neighborhoods where Liquor Stores perform best.
StreetSpring's AI models reveal the survivability of businesses in every major U.S. neighborhood, giving agents and entrepreneurs a trusted way to see their future success before opening day. The training dataset includes millions of transactions and business lifecycle events. StreetSpring uses custom-built, proprietary algorithms to produce these predictions.
Visual Data
Related Resources
Same business type in other cities:
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When was this ranking last refreshed?
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.
What about cities outside the top 10 — can Liquor Stores thrive there?
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.
How can I narrow down cities for a Liquor Store?
StreetSpring's Survivability Score tool provides address-level predictions for Liquor Stores across all 24 metros we track. For this category specifically, the tool surfaces competition density, consumer spending index for Liquor Stores, and commercial vacancy rates — the factors that most consistently predict whether a Liquor 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 city ranks first for Liquor Stores?
Miami ranks as the #1 city in the US for Liquor Stores survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average score of 72%. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Miami, a Liquor Store has approximately a 72% chance of still operating after two years — above the national average for this category. Orlando ranks second, followed by Tampa Bay. 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 by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring — April 24, 2026
Technical note: Aggregated national survivability rankings across all 24 metros are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and foot traffic 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, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Portland, San Francisco, New York City, St Louis, Washington DC, Denver, Charlotte, Boston, Houston, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Seattle.