Business Survivability in Elmwood, Philadelphia
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Elmwood is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~84% 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 Elmwood (~84% average survival rate, ~87% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #56 across all neighborhoods in and around Philadelphia
- Neighborhood average: ~77% 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 Elmwood 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 Elmwood is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~84% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~87% chance; next is a Caribbean / Latin Restaurant with a 78.92% chance, followed by a Steakhouse with a 78.80% chance.
Is Elmwood a good place to start a business?
StreetSpring ranks Elmwood #56 among all analyzed neighborhoods in and around Philadelphia, with a neighborhood-wide average survivability of ~77%.
- At the strongest addresses in Elmwood, the most viable business types score ~10% higher than the average survivability rate across all locations.
- However, those high-scoring categories placed at the least-competitive addresses in Elmwood often fall well below average. Picking the right block — not just the right neighborhood — is what actually determines survivability.
- Elmwood's employment rate of 85.4% and commercial vacancy of 6.4% 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 Elmwood?
Using StreetSpring, you can identify the exact address in Elmwood that gives your specific business concept the highest survivability score. StreetSpring's 2026 model ranks this area #1 in Elmwood for a Veterinary Clinic:
According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, this circle outlines the best area for a Veterinary Clinic in Elmwood. Static rankings can't capture every recent change in competition or consumer spending; StreetSpring's live platform provides the current score for your exact address. 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 Elmwood?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 83.77% |
| 2 | Caribbean / Latin Restaurant | 78.92% |
| 3 | Steakhouse | 78.80% |
| 4 | Grocery Store | 78.67% |
| 5 | Day Care Center | 78.47% |
| 6 | Brunch Restaurant | 78.36% |
| 7 | Hair Salon | 78.16% |
| 8 | Pet Boarding Facility | 77.93% |
| 9 | Liquor Store | 77.82% |
| 10 | Convenience Store | 77.52% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Elmwood
- Veterinary Clinic (Ranked #1): 83.77% average in Elmwood. Best-case storefronts: ~87%. Challenging locations: ~80%.
- Caribbean / Latin Restaurant is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Elmwood: 78.92% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~74%.
- Steakhouse — ~75%–~82% survivability range, with an average of 78.80% across Elmwood.
- Opening a Grocery Store in Elmwood shows 78.67% average survivability. Top locations reach ~80%; lower-end sites show ~76%.
- Day Care Center (Ranked #5): 78.47% average in Elmwood. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~74%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Elmwood
- Brunch Restaurant is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Elmwood: 78.36% chance on average, best at ~82%, challenging at ~75%.
- Hair Salon — ~75%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 78.16% across Elmwood.
- Opening a Pet Boarding Facility in Elmwood shows 77.93% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~74%.
- Liquor Store (Ranked #9): 77.82% average in Elmwood. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~75%.
- Convenience Store is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Elmwood: 77.52% chance on average, best at ~81%, challenging at ~73%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Caribbean / Latin Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Steakhouse — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Elmwood make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, identifying the optimal address for your business type in Elmwood could lead to you making ~10% more than if you selected an average location, and ~23% 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.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- Choosing locations with superior Survivability Scores directly correlates with higher revenue potential.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does.
What businesses should open next in Elmwood?
The top businesses to open next in Elmwood:
- Veterinary Clinics — 83.77% average survival rate, ~87% at the best address
- Caribbean / Latin Restaurants — 78.92% average survival rate
- Steakhouses — 78.80% average survival rate
Static rankings can't capture every recent change in competition or consumer spending; StreetSpring's live platform provides the current score for your exact address. Every prediction draws on a dataset of millions of business openings, closures, and lifecycle events across the U.S. 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 survivability rankings for Elmwood are grounded in real economic conditions: 85.4% employment and 6.4% vacancy are among the key inputs that separate high-scoring locations from low-scoring ones here. Survivability scores are live, not static — StreetSpring updates them weekly. Visit the tool to see what's currently available in Elmwood and how each address is scoring right now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Philadelphia Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Philadelphia Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across Philadelphia neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Elmwood.
What type of business should you rent your Elmwood storefront to?
Our 2026 survivability data for Elmwood shows that Veterinary Clinics, Caribbean / Latin Restaurants, and Steakhouses rank as the top tenant categories for minimizing vacancy risk.
- A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does. Run your specific address through StreetSpring to see which tenant categories give you the best odds of stable, long-term occupancy.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Philadelphia Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Elmwood storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes — our 2026 model places a Veterinary Clinic at the top of the survivability rankings for Elmwood storefronts, with a best-case score of ~87% and a floor of ~80% at the most challenging addresses.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does.
What should I consider when opening a business in Elmwood?
Location decisions in Elmwood should be grounded in Survivability Score data, not intuition. The score directly measures the competitive and spending conditions at your exact address.
- High Revenue Capture Score is the clearest signal that a location can sustain a business over the long term.
- No third-party scoring system produces these results — every prediction is generated by StreetSpring's own analytical models.
- No subscription required: access the current survivability score for any Elmwood address through StreetSpring's free tool.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring's models are built from millions of real business outcomes, making predictions grounded in what actually happened. Aggregated survivability rankings for Philadelphia are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Philadelphia: /resources/data/philadelphia-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.