Business Survivability in Ridgewood, New York City
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Ridgewood is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~85% 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 Veterinary Clinic in Ridgewood (~85% average survival rate, ~89% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #7 across all neighborhoods in and around New York City
- Neighborhood average: ~79% 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
- Is Ridgewood 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 Ridgewood is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~85% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~89% chance; next is a Physical Therapy Clinic with a 83.22% chance, followed by a German Restaurant with a 79.79% chance.
Is Ridgewood a good place to start a business?
Ridgewood is ranked number 7 across neighborhoods in and around New York City to start a business, with an average ~79% chance of lasting two or more years.
- Best-case locations for the top business types in Ridgewood produce survivability scores ~13% above the neighborhood-wide average.
- But at poorly chosen addresses within Ridgewood, even the top-ranked business types can fall well below the neighborhood average. Location selection remains critical — a promising concept at the wrong spot still carries significant risk.
- Ridgewood's employment rate of 92.2% and commercial vacancy of 6.1% are two of the inputs StreetSpring's model uses to differentiate survivability within this neighborhood.
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 Ridgewood?
Using StreetSpring, you can identify the exact address in Ridgewood that gives your specific business concept the highest survivability score. StreetSpring's 2026 model ranks this area #1 in Ridgewood for a Veterinary Clinic:
The highlighted area represents the address in Ridgewood that StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks highest for a Veterinary Clinic survivability. Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. StreetSpring's scoring incorporates hundreds of inputs, including competitive quality and density, projected consumer spending, Revenue Capture Score, and local demand patterns.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Ridgewood?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 84.62% |
| 2 | Physical Therapy Clinic | 83.22% |
| 3 | German Restaurant | 79.79% |
| 4 | Diner | 79.69% |
| 5 | Indian Restaurant | 79.32% |
| 6 | Laundromat | 79.16% |
| 7 | Dance Club | 78.28% |
| 8 | Pet Grooming Shop | 78.23% |
| 9 | Hair Salon | 77.25% |
| 10 | Tanning Salon | 76.55% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Ridgewood
- Opening a Veterinary Clinic in Ridgewood shows 84.62% average survivability. Top locations reach ~89%; lower-end sites show ~76%.
- Physical Therapy Clinic (Ranked #2): 83.22% average in Ridgewood. Best-case storefronts: ~87%. Challenging locations: ~80%.
- German Restaurant is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Ridgewood: 79.79% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~75%.
- Diner — ~74%–~83% survivability range, with an average of 79.69% across Ridgewood.
- Opening an Indian Restaurant in Ridgewood shows 79.32% average survivability. Top locations reach ~83%; lower-end sites show ~75%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Ridgewood
- Laundromat (Ranked #6): 79.16% average in Ridgewood. Best-case storefronts: ~83%. Challenging locations: ~74%.
- Dance Club is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Ridgewood: 78.28% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~71%.
- Pet Grooming Shop — ~70%–~83% survivability range, with an average of 78.23% across Ridgewood.
- Opening a Hair Salon in Ridgewood shows 77.25% average survivability. Top locations reach ~80%; lower-end sites show ~74%.
- Tanning Salon (Ranked #10): 76.55% average in Ridgewood. Best-case storefronts: ~79%. Challenging locations: ~71%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Physical Therapy Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- German Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Ridgewood make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, prioritizing survivability score in your site-selection process in Ridgewood could lead to you making ~13% more than if you selected an average location, and ~49% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
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.
- Location is the biggest factor in a business's future success.
- Businesses in high-scoring locations consistently outperform those in average or low-scoring sites.
- StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site.
What businesses should open next in Ridgewood?
The top businesses to open next in Ridgewood:
- Veterinary Clinics — 84.62% average survival rate, ~89% at the best address
- Physical Therapy Clinics — 83.22% average survival rate
- German Restaurants — 79.79% average survival rate
Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. We have been studying the businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans. 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. The 92.2% employment rate in Ridgewood is a key signal of consumer health; when combined with the 6.1% vacancy rate, it produces a competitive landscape that favors the business types ranked above. Survivability scores are live, not static — StreetSpring updates them weekly. Visit the tool to see what's currently available in Ridgewood and how each address is scoring right now.
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 Veterinary Clinic survivability across New York City neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Ridgewood.
What type of business should you rent your Ridgewood storefront to?
Our 2026 survivability data for Ridgewood shows that Veterinary Clinics, Physical Therapy Clinics, and German Restaurants rank as the top tenant categories for minimizing vacancy risk.
- Location is the biggest factor in a business's future success.
- StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site. StreetSpring can show you which specific address in your portfolio scores highest for each tenant type.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in New York City Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Ridgewood storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
StreetSpring's data confirms a Veterinary Clinic as the highest-survivability tenant type for Ridgewood. The best addresses show a ~89% chance of lasting more than 2 years; less optimal addresses score around ~76%.
- StreetSpring generates location-specific predictions tailored to your exact site.
What should I consider when opening a business in Ridgewood?
When selecting a location in Ridgewood it is crucial to select a location with a very high Survivability Score.
- The Revenue Capture Score at a specific address explains more about likely business success than any other available metric.
- These predictions are generated by StreetSpring's proprietary machine learning system, validated against hundreds of thousands of real business outcomes.
- StreetSpring is free to use — see the current survivability score for any address in Ridgewood right now.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
Our analysis covers businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans across 24 major US metros. 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.