Business Survivability in Old City, Philadelphia
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Old City is a Japanese / Sushi Restaurant with a ~80% 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 Japanese / Sushi Restaurant in Old City (~80% average survival rate, ~81% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #65 across all neighborhoods in and around Philadelphia
- 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
- Is Old City 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 Old City is a Japanese / Sushi Restaurant with a ~80% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~81% chance; next is a Liquor Store with a 79.16% chance, followed by a Vietnamese Restaurant with a 79.15% chance.
Is Old City a good place to start a business?
Old City earns the #65 spot in Philadelphia for new business survivability, with an average score of ~78% across all business types analyzed.
- The highest-scoring business types in Old City — at their optimal addresses — outperform the neighborhood average by ~5%.
- Still, those same business types at weaker addresses in Old City can score well below the neighborhood mean. Even the most viable concept here requires the right address to reach its potential.
- Old City's employment rate of 97.0% and commercial vacancy of 8.7% 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 Old City?
StreetSpring scores survivability at the exact address level in Old City — so you can compare two storefronts on the same block before committing to a lease. This is the address StreetSpring's 2026 analysis recommends most strongly for a Japanese / Sushi Restaurant in Old City:
This map shows the optimal location for a Japanese / Sushi Restaurant in Old City based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis. Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform — and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. The prediction model incorporates hundreds of location-specific factors, including competitive density, forecasted consumer spending, mobility patterns, and Revenue Capture Score.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Old City?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese / Sushi Restaurant | 79.62% |
| 2 | Liquor Store | 79.16% |
| 3 | Vietnamese Restaurant | 79.15% |
| 4 | Moroccan Restaurant | 79.08% |
| 5 | Pet Grooming Shop | 78.44% |
| 6 | Convenience Store | 77.91% |
| 7 | Dessert Shop | 77.39% |
| 8 | Beauty Salon | 77.32% |
| 9 | Coffee Shop | 77.17% |
| 10 | Gym | 75.73% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Old City
- Japanese / Sushi Restaurant is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Old City: 79.62% chance on average, best at ~81%, challenging at ~77%.
- Liquor Store — ~74%–~82% survivability range, with an average of 79.16% across Old City.
- Opening a Vietnamese Restaurant in Old City shows 79.15% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~78%.
- Moroccan Restaurant (Ranked #4): 79.08% average in Old City. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~78%.
- Pet Grooming Shop is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Old City: 78.44% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~76%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Old City
- Convenience Store — ~73%–~81% survivability range, with an average of 77.91% across Old City.
- Opening a Dessert Shop in Old City shows 77.39% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~73%.
- Beauty Salon (Ranked #8): 77.32% average in Old City. Best-case storefronts: ~79%. Challenging locations: ~75%.
- Coffee Shop is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Old City: 77.17% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~74%.
- Gym — ~72%–~79% survivability range, with an average of 75.73% across Old City.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Japanese / Sushi Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Liquor Store — See how this compares to other cities →
- Vietnamese Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Old City 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 Old City could lead to you making ~5% more than if you selected an average location, and ~11% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Different business models thrive in different micro-locations.
- Site selection is the highest-leverage decision most entrepreneurs make — it sets every other variable in motion.
- Businesses in high-scoring locations consistently outperform those in average or low-scoring sites.
- StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate.
What businesses should open next in Old City?
The top businesses to open next in Old City:
- Japanese / Sushi Restaurants — 79.62% average survival rate, ~81% at the best address
- Liquor Stores — 79.16% average survival rate
- Vietnamese Restaurants — 79.15% average survival rate
Even the best-ranked neighborhoods contain locations that underperform — and the worst-ranked ones have hidden gems. We apply advanced machine learning to one of the largest commercial real estate outcome datasets in the country. 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 Old City are grounded in real economic conditions: 97.0% employment and 8.7% vacancy are among the key inputs that separate high-scoring locations from low-scoring ones here. These rankings are a snapshot; StreetSpring recalculates survivability for every location in Old City weekly, incorporating the latest competitive openings, closures, and spending data — check current locations now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Philadelphia Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Philadelphia Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Japanese / Sushi Restaurant survivability across Philadelphia neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Old City.
What type of business should you rent your Old City storefront to?
StreetSpring's analysis shows that the business categories with the strongest long-term lease retention in Old City are Japanese / Sushi Restaurants, Liquor Stores, and Vietnamese Restaurants.
- Site selection is the highest-leverage decision most entrepreneurs make — it sets every other variable in motion.
- StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate. 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 Philadelphia Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Old City storefront to a Japanese / Sushi Restaurant?
The data shows a Japanese / Sushi Restaurant is the safest long-term bet for a Old City storefront. Top locations reach ~81% survivability; the least favorable addresses in this neighborhood score around ~77%.
- StreetSpring gives you a precise survivability probability for any specific address and business type combination, not a generalized estimate.
What should I consider when opening a business in Old City?
Location decisions in Old City should be grounded in Survivability Score data, not intuition. The score directly measures the competitive and spending conditions at your exact address.
- Revenue Capture Score is what separates locations that look similar on the surface but produce dramatically different business outcomes.
- StreetSpring's in-house models are continuously updated with new business outcome data to keep predictions accurate.
- You can access the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring for free.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
Real estate professionals and business owners across 24 major metros use StreetSpring to ground their site-selection decisions in data, not guesswork. 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.