Business Survivability in Woodlawn, New York City
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Woodlawn is a Cafe with a 71.8% 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 Cafe in Woodlawn (71.8% Typical, 79.2% Best)
- Neighborhood rank: #94 of 180 neighborhoods in and around New York City
- Neighborhood average: 61.6% two-year survival 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 Woodlawn 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 Woodlawn is a Cafe with a 71.8% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, and 79.2% Best; next is a Convenience Store with 78.6% Best, followed by a Bar with 78.0% Best.
Is Woodlawn a good place to start a business?
Among the 180 neighborhoods StreetSpring ranks in and around New York City, Woodlawn ranks #94 for business survivability, with an average 61.6% chance of lasting two or more years.
- For the top-ranked business type, 79.2% Best is 7.4 points above 71.8% Typical in Woodlawn.
- But these same concepts at less optimal addresses within Woodlawn can score meaningfully below average. Survivability data shows that even the highest-demand business types fail at the wrong location.
- With a 92.1% employment rate, Woodlawn has the consumer spending foundation that supports a range of brick-and-mortar business types.
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 Woodlawn?
The right address in Woodlawn can mean a 20-point survivability difference from an average one: StreetSpring identifies exactly which addresses are worth pursuing. This is the address StreetSpring's 2026 analysis recommends most strongly for a Cafe in Woodlawn:
According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, this circle outlines the best area for a Cafe in Woodlawn. StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. 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 Woodlawn?
| Rank | Business type | Best | Typical | Worst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cafe | 79.2% | 71.8% | 64.9% |
| 2 | Convenience Store | 78.6% | 70.3% | 61.9% |
| 3 | Bar | 78.0% | 70.1% | 62.2% |
| 4 | Hair Salon | 77.2% | 70.0% | 62.7% |
| 5 | Clothing Store | 76.9% | 68.7% | 60.5% |
| 6 | Spa | 76.6% | 70.6% | 64.5% |
| 7 | Laundromat | 76.0% | 68.4% | 60.8% |
| 8 | Chiropractor Office | 75.4% | 69.7% | 64.0% |
| 10 | Cosmetics Shop | 73.8% | 67.5% | 61.1% |
| 16 | Pet Boarding Facility | 69.7% | 63.3% | 57.0% |
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 Woodlawn
- #1 Cafe (Ranked #1): 71.8% Typical in Woodlawn. Best: 79.2%. Worst: 64.9%.
- #2 Convenience Store is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Woodlawn: 70.3% Typical, 78.6% Best, 61.9% Worst.
- #3 Bar: 70.1% Typical across Woodlawn; Best 78.0%, Worst 62.2%.
- #4 Opening a Hair Salon in Woodlawn shows 70.0% Typical survivability, 77.2% Best and 62.7% Worst.
- #5 Clothing Store (Ranked #5): 68.7% Typical in Woodlawn. Best: 76.9%. Worst: 60.5%.
Strong Performers in Woodlawn
- #6 Spa is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Woodlawn: 70.6% Typical, 76.6% Best, 64.5% Worst.
- #7 Laundromat: 68.4% Typical across Woodlawn; Best 76.0%, Worst 60.8%.
- #8 Opening a Chiropractor Office in Woodlawn shows 69.7% Typical survivability, 75.4% Best and 64.0% Worst.
- #10 Cosmetics Shop (Ranked #10): 67.5% Typical in Woodlawn. Best: 73.8%. Worst: 61.1%.
- #16 Pet Boarding Facility is ranked #16 for top businesses to open in Woodlawn: 63.3% Typical, 69.7% Best, 57.0% Worst.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Cafe: See how this compares to other cities →
- Convenience Store: See how this compares to other cities →
- Bar: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Woodlawn make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting a storefront that StreetSpring ranks in the top tier for your business type in Woodlawn 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
- StreetSpring calculates survivability for each business type separately at each address, so the best location for your concept may differ from the neighborhood's overall top-ranked site.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- 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.
- StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for 500+ business types.
What businesses should open next in Woodlawn?
The top businesses to open next in Woodlawn:
- Cafes: 71.8% Typical, 79.2% Best
- Convenience Stores: 70.3% Typical, 78.6% Best
- Bars: 70.1% Typical, 78.0% Best
StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. StreetSpring's training dataset includes millions of transactions and business lifecycle events. 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. Woodlawn's employment rate (92.1%) and housing vacancy rate (3.9%) are part of the Census context StreetSpring's model reads when it scores each business type at each address. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring regularly updates every location's survivability score: you can see current scores for available storefronts in Woodlawn 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 Cafe survivability across New York City neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Woodlawn.
What type of business should you rent your Woodlawn storefront to?
The analysis is clear: in Woodlawn, Cafes, Convenience Stores, and Bars consistently score highest on survivability, giving landlords the best chance of retaining tenants for two or more years.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for 500+ business types. StreetSpring's tool, free for a 10-minute trial, lets you check the survivability score for any business type at any address in Woodlawn: 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 Woodlawn storefront to a Cafe?
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, a Cafe ranks as the top tenant type for your Woodlawn storefront: 79.2% Best and 64.9% Worst.
- StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for 500+ business types.
What should I consider when opening a business in Woodlawn?
Location decisions in Woodlawn should be grounded in Survivability Score data, not intuition. The score directly measures the competitive and spending conditions at your exact address.
- The single most important number in a location decision is the Revenue Capture Score, StreetSpring's proprietary estimate of the revenue a business can capture at a specific address.
- These forecasts are generated using StreetSpring's unique analytical framework.
- Start a free 10-minute trial on StreetSpring to see the current survivability score for any address in Woodlawn.
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.