City Survivability Rankings for Shoe Store
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the top cities for Shoe Stores across the US by Survivability Scores. See which cities offer the best chances for a Shoe Store to succeed.
Quick Summary
- The highest-survivability city for Shoe Store is Dallas — 59% average survivability
- 0 of 24 analyzed US metros score above 70% for Shoe Store survivability
- The lowest-ranked city is Philadelphia at 49%
- National average survivability score for Shoe Store: 51.8%
- Data reflects 2026 StreetSpring survivability analysis across 24 US metro areas · Full methodology →
Table of Contents
- Summary
- Top Cities for Shoe Stores
- Key Insights
- What Makes These Cities Stand Out?
- Related Resources
- How current is this ranking?
- Can a Shoe Store succeed in cities not ranked in the top 10?
- What tools can help me choose the right city for a Shoe Store?
- Which US city has the best survivability for Shoe Stores?
Summary
According to StreetSpring's 2026 nationwide analysis, Dallas ranks as the #1 city for opening a Shoe Store in the United States, with an average 59% chance of surviving more than 2 years. Following close behind are San Antonio with 54%, and Portland with 53%. Shoe Stores sit at a national average of 51.8% survivability across our 24-city analysis, with Dallas leading the field by a meaningful margin. Location-level factors like visibility, foot traffic, and adjacent tenants can override city-level trends in either direction. Survivability rankings evolve as neighborhoods change; always verify with the most recent StreetSpring dataset before signing a lease.
Survivability ranges reflect best and worst storefront conditions within each city. See our full methodology →
Shoe Store city survivability rankings — Dallas leads among 24 US metros at 59% in 2026
Ranked: 24 Cities by Shoe Store Survivability
Based on StreetSpring's analysis of 24 major metropolitan areas, these cities offer the strongest prospects for Shoe Stores:
1. Dallas Metro: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
- Best locations: 71.4% – 86.0%
- Average locations: 55.5% – 62.6%
- Challenging locations: 27.0% – 49.7%
The metro-level signals behind these scores
2. San Antonio Metro: San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
- Best locations: 69.1% – 88.0%
- Average locations: 49.9% – 57.8%
- Challenging locations: 22.0% – 44.2%
3. Portland Metro: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
- Best locations: 69.3% – 89.0%
- Average locations: 48.9% – 57.6%
- Challenging locations: 17.0% – 42.4%
4. San Diego Metro: San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- Best locations: 67.4% – 85.0%
- Average locations: 49.1% – 56.8%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 43.4%
5. Los Angeles Metro: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Best locations: 68.6% – 88.0%
- Average locations: 48.7% – 57.0%
- Challenging locations: 19.0% – 42.6%
6. St Louis
- Best locations: 68.1% – 87.0%
- Average locations: 48.9% – 56.8%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 43.2%
7. Orlando Metro: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
- Best locations: 67.7% – 86.0%
- Average locations: 49.0% – 56.7%
- Challenging locations: 22.0% – 43.5%
8. Tampa Bay Metro: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
- Best locations: 68.0% – 87.0%
- Average locations: 49.0% – 56.7%
- Challenging locations: 23.0% – 43.7%
9. Miami Metro: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
- Best locations: 69.4% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 48.7% – 57.0%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 43.0%
10. Charlotte Metro: Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
- Best locations: 68.0% – 87.0%
- Average locations: 48.7% – 56.6%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 43.0%
11. Phoenix Metro: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
- Best locations: 68.5% – 88.0%
- Average locations: 49.2% – 56.7%
- Challenging locations: 25.0% – 44.2%
12. San Francisco Metro: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
- Best locations: 67.5% – 86.0%
- Average locations: 48.5% – 56.3%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 42.9%
Where mid-ranked cities still beat top-ranked spots locally
13. Houston Metro: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
- Best locations: 68.4% – 89.0%
- Average locations: 48.2% – 56.1%
- Challenging locations: 23.0% – 43.0%
14. Washington DC Metro: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- Best locations: 67.5% – 87.0%
- Average locations: 47.7% – 55.8%
- Challenging locations: 20.0% – 42.1%
15. New York City Metro: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
- Best locations: 68.5% – 90.0%
- Average locations: 47.3% – 55.6%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 41.9%
16. Atlanta Metro: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
- Best locations: 67.0% – 87.0%
- Average locations: 47.3% – 55.0%
- Challenging locations: 23.0% – 42.4%
17. Denver Metro: Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
- Best locations: 66.1% – 85.0%
- Average locations: 47.1% – 54.8%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 41.7%
18. Chicago Metro: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
- Best locations: 67.4% – 88.0%
- Average locations: 46.9% – 55.0%
- Challenging locations: 21.0% – 41.6%
19. Minneapolis Metro: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
- Best locations: 66.4% – 86.0%
- Average locations: 46.7% – 54.6%
- Challenging locations: 20.0% – 41.3%
20. Baltimore Metro: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
- Best locations: 66.3% – 86.0%
- Average locations: 46.4% – 54.5%
- Challenging locations: 19.0% – 40.8%
21. Boston Metro: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- Best locations: 65.4% – 84.0%
- Average locations: 46.3% – 54.2%
- Challenging locations: 18.0% – 40.5%
22. Detroit Metro: Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
- Best locations: 66.5% – 87.0%
- Average locations: 46.0% – 54.2%
- Challenging locations: 18.0% – 40.2%
23. Seattle Metro: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- Best locations: 65.8% – 86.0%
- Average locations: 45.6% – 53.6%
- Challenging locations: 19.0% – 40.1%
24. Philadelphia Metro: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
- Best locations: 65.9% – 87.0%
- Average locations: 45.1% – 53.2%
- Challenging locations: 19.0% – 39.7%
Key Insights
| Signal | Where strong-survivability cities outperform | What drags weaker cities down |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| Climate-driven seasonality | Cities where the subtype's peak season aligns with the local climate calendar (e.g., year-round outdoor dining in mild markets). | Cities with extreme seasonality that compresses revenue into 4–6 month windows. |
Wide variation between cities: The difference between the #1 city (Dallas at 59.4%) and the #24 city (Philadelphia at 48.6%) is 10.8 percentage points. The 5.8-point gap between top cities suggests that Shoe Stores viability varies meaningfully across major US metros, though neighborhood-level differences remain significant.
What changed since last year's ranking
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 Shoe Store is 51.8%.
Why Top-Ranked Cities Outperform
The top-ranked cities share several characteristics that favor Shoe Stores:
- Strong survivability signals: Dallas leads with a 59% average survivability score for Shoe Stores — significantly above the national average for this business category.
- Competition density: The top cities show favorable competitor-to-opportunity ratios for Shoe Stores, meaning lower saturation and higher odds of capturing an underserved customer base.
- Low market saturation: Top cities for Shoe Stores have fewer direct competitors per square mile than lower-ranked metros, leaving meaningful whitespace for well-positioned new entrants.
- Regulatory environment: Top-ranked cities tend to have streamlined commercial permitting and lower business tax burdens relative to their metro size, reducing friction for new operators.
Our analysis draws on millions of commercial real estate data points to deliver survivability predictions trusted by professionals nationwide. Our models draw from one of the most comprehensive commercial real estate datasets ever assembled. Our forecasting system combines proprietary data with machine learning models unavailable anywhere else.
Visual Data
Related Resources
Related:
- City Survivability Rankings for Acupuncture Clinic
- City Survivability Rankings for Afghan Restaurant
- City Survivability Rankings for African Restaurant
- City Survivability Rankings for American Restaurant
- City Survivability Rankings for Argentinian Restaurant
What's the update cadence for 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 Shoe 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.
Do Shoe Stores only work in top-10 cities?
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 Shoe Stores in cities that don't appear in our top 10. Shoe 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.
Which tools rank cities for a Shoe Store survivability?
StreetSpring's Survivability Score tool provides address-level predictions for Shoe Stores across all 24 metros we track. For this category specifically, the tool surfaces competition density, consumer spending index for Shoe Stores, and commercial vacancy rates — the factors that most consistently predict whether a Shoe 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 Shoe Stores?
Dallas ranks as the #1 city in the US for Shoe Stores survivability in StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, with an average score of 59%. This means that across well-selected neighborhoods in Dallas, a Shoe Store has approximately a 59% chance of still operating after two years — above the national average for this category. San Antonio ranks second, followed by Portland. 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: May 8, 2026 by Bobby 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.
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: Dallas, San Antonio, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, St Louis, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Miami, Charlotte, Phoenix, San Francisco, Houston, Washington DC, New York City, Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Seattle, Philadelphia.