Business Survivability in Inwood, New York City
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Inwood is a Convenience Store with a 72.8% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.
Quick Summary
- Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
- Best business: a Convenience Store in Inwood (72.8% Typical, 81.2% Best)
- Town rank: #9 of 9 towns around New York City
- Town average: an average Survivability Score of 58.6% across the business types ranked here
- Coverage: This ranking carries one row per business type and neighborhood. Its score is the projected chance of lasting two or more years, averaged across the price points StreetSpring scores separately in the tool (most types have 5). The 10 business types here are base types; the tool offers 500+ business types, counting each type at each of its price points.
- Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data
- Detailed methodology
Last reviewed: November 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring
In this article:
- Summary
- Is Inwood a good place to start a business?
- How to find the best location
- Best businesses to open
- How much money could a business make?
- What businesses should open next?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Summary
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Inwood is a Convenience Store with a 72.8% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, and 81.2% Best; next is a Cafe with 77.6% Best, followed by a Clothing Store with 77.1% Best.
Is Inwood a good place to start a business?
StreetSpring ranks Inwood #9 of 9 towns around New York City, with an average Survivability Score of 58.6% across the business types ranked there.
- For the top-ranked business type, 81.2% Best is 8.4 points above 72.8% Typical in Inwood.
- But these same concepts at less optimal addresses within Inwood can score meaningfully below average. Survivability data shows that even the highest-demand business types fail at the wrong location.
- Inwood has a housing vacancy rate of 7.9% in Census data: the share of its homes and apartments standing empty, one of the neighborhood characteristics StreetSpring's model reads.
Employment and housing vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
How can you find the best location to open a business in Inwood?
Rather than relying on neighborhood averages, StreetSpring's scoring tells you which specific addresses in Inwood give your concept the best odds of survival. The map below shows the highest-scoring storefront area for a Convenience Store in Inwood per 2026 data:
StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for a Convenience Store in Inwood. However, individual locations vary widely, and even in lower-scoring neighborhoods there are pockets that perform exceptionally well. The model evaluates hundreds of factors, from primary and secondary competition to forecasted spend, site accessibility, and local market share potential.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Inwood?
| Rank | Business type | Best | Typical | Worst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Convenience Store | 81.2% | 72.8% | 65.4% |
| 2 | Cafe | 77.6% | 69.2% | 60.8% |
| 3 | Clothing Store | 77.1% | 69.0% | 60.9% |
| 4 | Laundromat | 75.5% | 67.7% | 60.0% |
| 6 | Chiropractor Office | 74.2% | 68.0% | 61.8% |
| 7 | Hair Salon | 73.0% | 64.6% | 56.3% |
| 8 | Coffee Shop | 72.8% | 64.8% | 56.9% |
| 9 | Spa | 71.3% | 63.5% | 55.6% |
| 10 | Veterinary Clinic | 70.6% | 64.8% | 59.0% |
| 11 | Bar | 70.2% | 62.2% | 54.3% |
Best and Worst are the average results for the better and the worse of two addresses picked at random in the place: a weighted average of every scored location in which the best locations count the most for Best and the weakest count the most for Worst. Typical is the average address. Best is shown for a smaller space (half the standard size) and Worst for a larger one (half again as large), at the metro's median asking rent, using the same rent rule as our tool; Typical is at the market rent.
The rank column is the published file's rank within this place; a skipped number is a business type the file ranks here that this list leaves out to keep any one business family from filling it.
Highest Survivability in Inwood
- #1 Convenience Store: 72.8% Typical across Inwood; Best 81.2%, Worst 65.4%.
- #2 Opening a Cafe in Inwood shows 69.2% Typical survivability, 77.6% Best and 60.8% Worst.
- #3 Clothing Store (Ranked #3): 69.0% Typical in Inwood. Best: 77.1%. Worst: 60.9%.
- #4 Laundromat is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in Inwood: 67.7% Typical, 75.5% Best, 60.0% Worst.
- #6 Chiropractor Office: 68.0% Typical across Inwood; Best 74.2%, Worst 61.8%.
Strong Performers in Inwood
- #7 Opening a Hair Salon in Inwood shows 64.6% Typical survivability, 73.0% Best and 56.3% Worst.
- #8 Coffee Shop (Ranked #8): 64.8% Typical in Inwood. Best: 72.8%. Worst: 56.9%.
- #9 Spa is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Inwood: 63.5% Typical, 71.3% Best, 55.6% Worst.
- #10 Veterinary Clinic: 64.8% Typical across Inwood; Best 70.6%, Worst 59.0%.
- #11 Opening a Bar in Inwood shows 62.2% Typical survivability, 70.2% Best and 54.3% Worst.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Convenience Store: See how this compares to other cities →
- Cafe: See how this compares to other cities →
- Clothing Store: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Inwood make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, picking the highest-scoring storefront in the neighborhood in Inwood starts with the Revenue Capture Score, the most important factor in choosing a location: StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at that address.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Site selection requires evaluating the specific combination of your business type and the exact address: neighborhood-level data is only the starting point.
- Where you open is a decision you can measure before you sign.
- The Revenue Capture Score is the most important factor in choosing a location: it is StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at that address.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront.
What businesses should open next in Inwood?
The top businesses to open next in Inwood:
- Convenience Stores: 72.8% Typical, 81.2% Best
- Cafes: 69.2% Typical, 77.6% Best
- Clothing Stores: 69.0% Typical, 77.1% Best
However, individual locations vary widely, and even in lower-scoring neighborhoods there are pockets that perform exceptionally well. StreetSpring measures competition through a 30-factor framework layered on top of proprietary consumer spending forecasts and mobility models. 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. Inwood sits at 88.2% employment and 7.9% housing vacancy in Census data, context the model reads alongside competition and consumer spending. StreetSpring regularly updates survivability scores for available locations: check the live tool now to see which storefronts in Inwood are currently available and how they score.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the New York City Business Survivability Rankings
- See the New York City Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Convenience Store survivability across New York City neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Inwood.
What type of business should you rent your Inwood storefront to?
For landlords in Inwood, StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies Convenience Stores, Cafes, and Clothing Stores as the business types most likely to produce stable, long-term tenancy.
- Where you open is a decision you can measure before you sign.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront. StreetSpring allows property owners to evaluate any address against 500+ business types, so you can prioritize the categories that score highest at your specific location.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in New York City Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Inwood storefront to a Convenience Store?
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, a Convenience Store ranks as the top tenant type for your Inwood storefront: 81.2% Best and 65.4% Worst.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront.
What should I consider when opening a business in Inwood?
Check the Survivability Score for your specific address in Inwood before signing a lease, alongside your own read of foot traffic and the local customer base.
- StreetSpring's proprietary Revenue Capture Score, the revenue a business can capture at a specific address, is the factor that matters most when choosing where to open.
- StreetSpring's forecasting tools are purpose-built for commercial location decisions and are not available through any publicly accessible data source.
- StreetSpring's live scoring tool starts with a free 10-minute trial: enter any address in Inwood to see its current Survivability Score for your business type.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring analyzes millions of data points with AI to forecast business survivability. Aggregated survivability rankings for New York City are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for New York City: /resources/data/new-york-city-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.