Business Survivability in Jamaica, New York City

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Jamaica is a Tapas Restaurant with a ~79% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

13 min read

Quick Summary

  • Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
  • Best business: a Tapas Restaurant in Jamaica (~79% average survival rate, ~82% at best locations)
  • Neighborhood rank: #86 across all neighborhoods in and around New York City
  • Neighborhood average: ~78% two-year survival across all business types
  • 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: September 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

In this article:

Summary

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Jamaica is a Tapas Restaurant with a ~79% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~82% chance; next is an Afghan Restaurant with a 78.45% chance, followed by a Sri Lankan Restaurant with a 77.96% chance.


Is Jamaica a good place to start a business?

Across all neighborhoods in and around New York City, StreetSpring's data places Jamaica at #86 with a ~78% average Survivability Score.

  • Across Jamaica, the best addresses for its highest-ranked business types score ~10% above the neighborhood mean.
  • However, these same business types at the worst locations in Jamaica can sometimes provide a projected Survivability Score considerably below the average. Thus, even the businesses that are most in need in Jamaica could have trouble succeeding if the best location is not selected.
  • StreetSpring's model incorporates Jamaica's 7.3% vacancy rate as a direct input: higher vacancy concentrations suppress foot traffic and reduce survivability for nearby businesses.

Employment and vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.


How can you find the best location to open a business in Jamaica?

StreetSpring's model evaluates every available address in Jamaica for your business type, ranking them by survivability so the best storefront is always identifiable. According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, this is the optimal address for a Tapas Restaurant in Jamaica:

Loading live map preview...

According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, this circle outlines the best area for a Tapas Restaurant in Jamaica. Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. StreetSpring's prediction model analyzes hundreds of factors across competition, spending on the specific potential business, projected revenue, projected market share, Revenue Capture Score, mobility patterns, and many more.

Check if this location is still available →


What are the best businesses to open in Jamaica?

#Business typeChance of lasting two or more years
1Tapas Restaurant78.67%
2Afghan Restaurant78.45%
3Sri Lankan Restaurant77.96%
4Liquor Store77.45%
5Hair Salon76.95%
6Dessert Shop76.86%
7Tanning Salon76.83%
8Seafood Restaurant76.81%
9Coffee Shop76.79%
10Gym76.31%

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Jamaica

  1. Tapas Restaurant (Ranked #1): 78.67% average in Jamaica. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~74%.
  2. Afghan Restaurant is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Jamaica: 78.45% chance on average, best at ~82%, challenging at ~75%.
  3. Sri Lankan Restaurant — ~74%–~82% survivability range, with an average of 77.96% across Jamaica.
  4. Opening a Liquor Store in Jamaica shows 77.45% average survivability. Top locations reach ~80%; lower-end sites show ~73%.
  5. Hair Salon (Ranked #5): 76.95% average in Jamaica. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~74%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Jamaica

  1. Dessert Shop is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Jamaica: 76.86% chance on average, best at ~81%, challenging at ~73%.
  2. Tanning Salon — ~71%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 76.83% across Jamaica.
  3. Opening a Seafood Restaurant in Jamaica shows 76.81% average survivability. Top locations reach ~82%; lower-end sites show ~73%.
  4. Coffee Shop (Ranked #9): 76.79% average in Jamaica. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~73%.
  5. Gym is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Jamaica: 76.31% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~72%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

  • Tapas Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
  • Afghan Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
  • Sri Lankan Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →

How much money could a business in Jamaica make?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, choosing a high-performing site for your concept in Jamaica could lead to you making ~10% more than if you selected an average location, and ~25% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.

How StreetSpring calculates location value

  • However, each business concept should be evaluated for fit within each potential location.
  • A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
  • Survivability Score is not just a survival metric — it's a revenue predictor, and the higher the score, the stronger the long-term financial outlook.
  • Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront.

What businesses should open next in Jamaica?

The top businesses to open next in Jamaica:

  • Tapas Restaurants — 78.67% average survival rate, ~82% at the best address
  • Afghan Restaurants — 78.45% average survival rate
  • Sri Lankan Restaurants — 77.96% average survival rate

Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. Our training data spans 500+ business types across 24 major metros, giving our models the breadth to predict outcomes across nearly any commercial concept. 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. With Jamaica's 89.0% employment rate factored in, the businesses best positioned to succeed here are those that benefit from a well-employed, spending-capable local consumer base. StreetSpring refreshes survivability scores every week to reflect new competition and updated spending data — see which locations in Jamaica are available right now and how they rank.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

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Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Jamaica.


What type of business should you rent your Jamaica storefront to?

StreetSpring's 2026 model places Tapas Restaurants, Afghan Restaurants, and Sri Lankan Restaurants at the top of the survivability rankings for Jamaica — making them the safest long-term tenant bets for landlords here.

  • A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
  • Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront. StreetSpring's free tool lets you check the survivability score for any business type at any address in Jamaica — a powerful filter when evaluating prospective tenants.

Related: See How Landlord Representatives in New York City Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity


Should you rent your Jamaica storefront to a Tapas Restaurant?

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis strongly supports renting to a Tapas Restaurant in Jamaica: best-in-class addresses achieve ~82% survivability, and even the lower-end sites come in at ~74% — above average for most business types.

  • 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 Jamaica?

In Jamaica, the single most important factor in your site-selection decision is the Survivability Score of the specific address you're evaluating.

  • The Revenue Capture Score at a specific address explains more about likely business success than any other available metric.
  • No third-party scoring system produces these results — every prediction is generated by StreetSpring's own analytical models.
  • Access StreetSpring's current survivability data for any address in Jamaica for free at any time.

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.