Neighborhood Survivability Rankings: Portland
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks the best and worst neighborhoods in Portland for new businesses by survivability score. See which areas give you the best chance of lasting more than two years.
Last reviewed: May 6, 2026 by Bobby Koons, StreetSpring founder — updated weekly
Quick Summary
- Top neighborhood: Kenton — ~89% best-case survivability, ~82% average across all business types
- Most challenging: Highland — ~68% average survivability
- 43 neighborhoods analyzed across the Portland metro
- Rankings based on average survivability across 130+ brick-and-mortar business types; your specific business type and address will differ
- See our full methodology →
Table of Contents
- Summary
- 10 Best Neighborhoods to Open a Business
- Hardest Places to Open a Business
- Where Would a Business Make the Most Money?
- What Should I Consider When Opening?
- Where to Start & How to Find Data
- Advice for Landlords
- Tools for Tenant-Rep Agents
- Why Do Survival Rates Vary?
- What Is a Survivability Score?
- How Does StreetSpring Compare?
- What Each Neighborhood Specializes In
- Related Resources
Summary
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis shows Kenton is the strongest neighborhood in Portland for new businesses, with the best locations offering a ~89% chance of lasting more than two years. Across all business types that could open in Kenton, the average location shows a ~82% chance of lasting more than two years. Still, specific site selection matters, since some of the best-performing blocks can be found in neighborhoods that might not look ideal at first glance.
Top-Survivability Portland Neighborhoods for
The top 10 neighborhoods in or around Portland to open a business are:
| # | Neighborhood | Avg Survival | Best Locations | Challenging Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenton | ~82% | ~89% | ~69% |
| 2 | Ogden | ~80% | ~86% | ~74% |
| 3 | Hough | ~80% | ~86% | ~74% |
| 4 | Multnomah | ~79% | ~85% | ~73% |
| 5 | Richmond | ~79% | ~83% | ~73% |
| 6 | Shumway | ~78% | ~82% | ~75% |
| 7 | Hollywood | ~78% | ~82% | ~75% |
| 8 | Gresham | ~78% | ~92% | ~62% |
| 9 | Concordia | ~78% | ~86% | ~67% |
| 10 | Parkrose | ~78% | ~87% | ~64% |
See the Survivability Score for your new business
What Are the Hardest Places in or Around Portland to Open a Business?
The hardest neighborhoods in or around Portland to open a business are:
| # | Neighborhood | Best Locations | Challenging Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | Highland | ~68% | ~63% |
| 42 | Beaverton | ~70% | ~64% |
| 41 | Vose | ~71% | ~63% |
| 40 | Hillsdale | ~72% | ~65% |
| 39 | Downtown | ~72% | ~67% |
Market conditions are changing daily and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data to make sure that there have not been major changes. Competition opens and closes constantly, so the most reliable data for any specific address is always StreetSpring's most recent live analysis.
The Top Revenue Neighborhoods for in Portland
StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for over 700 business types. In Kenton, the best possible location offers ~18% better survival odds than the average location in or around Portland — meaning a meaningfully higher probability of still operating after two years. On the other hand, in Highland, the most challenging locations show survival odds that are roughly ~16% below the city average.
The neighborhoods most underrated for revenue
A great product in the wrong location will underperform; an average product in the right location can thrive. Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis for Portland, you can access the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring for free to select the location that puts you in the best position to succeed.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Key Considerations Before Opening in Portland
When selecting a location it is crucial to select a location with a very high Survivability Score. Consider how differently two businesses perform at the same address: a Day Care Center will have a different forecasted spend than a Chicken Shop, a Mediterranean Restaurant, a Cafe, and others — and every one of those business types would produce a distinct forecast at the exact same storefront. StreetSpring generates these results using its proprietary prediction system, tailored to each business and location.
| Consideration | Common pitfall | What to verify before signing |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor seating / sidewalk use | Signing assuming you can add patio seating, then learning the city requires a separate sidewalk-cafe permit with long lead times. | Check the city's sidewalk-cafe permit process up front. Confirm landlord allows outdoor build-out in the lease language. |
| Permitted hours | Late-night or early-morning ops blocked by zoning, neighborhood association, or shared-wall restrictions. | Confirm the permitted hours-of-operation are in your lease AND in the local code. Pull recent variances or complaints from the zoning portal. |
| Foot traffic seasonality | Looking at a peak-summer Tuesday and assuming year-round volume. | Walk the block at 3 different times across 2 different weeks. Ask neighboring tenants for their slow-season % drop. |
The hidden costs of operating in this neighborhood
Of all the variables StreetSpring analyzes, Revenue Capture Score has the strongest predictive power. StreetSpring computes this by projecting the business's market share, which is based on the quality and quantity of primary, secondary, and tertiary competitors across varying distances and service levels, along with mobility patterns. Our platform incorporates data from thousands of neighborhoods nationwide. Competition in the right concentration signals demand and improves discovery — customers learn to visit a neighborhood for a specific category — this is why car dealerships often cluster together — however, past a certain threshold, additional competitors divide the available spending pool too thinly for new entrants to reach profitability. StreetSpring's spending projections are business-type-specific and address-specific — built from a proprietary model trained on hundreds of thousands of real business outcomes across the country.
Revenue Capture Score = Projected Market Share × Forecasted Spend on Specific Business
Ranked by Revenue Capture Score across every brick-and-mortar business category, the top 3 neighborhoods in and around Portland are:
- Kenton
- Ogden
- Hough
Some other important factors to consider:
Ownership Rates: High homeownership near a business location signals a stable, rooted customer base — residents who stay in the area and build habits around local businesses. The top 3 neighborhoods in and around Portland with the highest ownership rates are: Alameda, Highland, and Oakbrook.
Build-out budget rules-of-thumb for this neighborhood
Employment Rates: A well-employed local population translates to higher spending power and more consistent demand — especially important for food, beverage, and retail businesses. The top 3 neighborhoods in and around Portland with the highest employment rates are: Hough, Irvington, and Alameda.
Occupancy Rates: Surrounding occupancy rates affect survivability for every business type: empty storefronts reduce pedestrian activity and signal weakening demand in the area. The top 3 neighborhoods in and around Portland with the highest occupancy rates are: Irvington, Oakbrook, and Highland.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
The Best Place to Start in Portland
According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, Kenton, Ogden, and Hough are the strongest starting points in or around Portland — but the best neighborhood for your specific business type may differ from these overall rankings.
- Best businesses by neighborhood: A full breakdown of the top business types to open in each Portland neighborhood — including survivability scores by type — is at Portland Business Survivability Rankings.
- Best neighborhoods for your business type: If you already know your category, that same guide lets you filter by business type to see which neighborhoods score highest for your specific concept.
- Address-level scores: StreetSpring's live tool shows a survivability score for any business type at any exact address in or around Portland — updated weekly.
Get your address-level survivability score →
Neighborhood-level data is directional; for your precise storefront, StreetSpring's live survivability score accounts for the latest competitive and spending conditions.
What Should Landlords in or Around Portland Know When Evaluating Tenant Success?
Landlords need property-level data, not neighborhood averages, to set accurate rents and evaluate the right tenant mix. Property owners can use StreetSpring to optimize lease rates and improve tenant longevity.
See how landlords can use these forecasts to improve occupancy and NOI: Landlord Representatives Guide
Try StreetSpring to see the Survivability Score for over 700 types of businesses at your storefront's address.
What Tools Can Tenant-Rep Agents Use to Find the Most Promising Locations in Portland?
Traditional site selection often relies on subjective judgment and partial datasets, but StreetSpring highlights which addresses offer the best odds for long-term success across every business subtype in and around Portland. For a breakdown of the AI tools agents use to select the strongest sites, see: AI Tools for Tenant Reps
Why Do Business Survival Rates Vary So Much Between Neighborhoods in Portland?
Performance can vary dramatically within just a few hundred feet. No two addresses share the same competitive landscape, mobility patterns, and spending environment — which is why survivability scores are calculated at the individual address level. Our research explains why U.S. business survival rates haven't risen in decades — and how location drives outcomes more than concept: Why Survival Rates Aren't Increasing
What Is a Survivability Score and How Does StreetSpring Calculate It?
A Survivability Score is a data-driven probability: the likelihood that a specific business type will survive its first two years at a specific address. StreetSpring calculates this from 100+ factors including competitive density, forecasted spend, and mobility patterns. Learn more →
How Does StreetSpring Compare to Other Site-Selection Tools?
Most site-selection tools describe what a location looks like today; StreetSpring predicts what your business will look like in two years at that location. StreetSpring vs other platforms →
What Each Neighborhood Specializes In
Don't write off lower-ranked Portland neighborhoods. Every neighborhood has business types it's good for. Here's what works in the top, middle, and bottom-ranked neighborhoods:
Kenton — ranked #1 citywide — the strongest neighborhood in Portland
- Indonesian Restaurant (89% survivability)
- Portuguese Restaurant (89% survivability)
- Indian Restaurant (89% survivability)
- Syrian Restaurant (89% survivability)
- Armenian Restaurant (89% survivability)
Markham — ranked #22 of 43 — a middle-of-the-pack Portland neighborhood
- Pet Grooming Shop (87% survivability)
- Indian Restaurant (87% survivability)
- Polish Restaurant (87% survivability)
- American Restaurant (87% survivability)
- Italian Restaurant (86% survivability)
Highland — ranked #43 of 43 — among Portland's lower-ranked neighborhoods
- Juice & Smoothie Bar (79% survivability)
- Convenience Store (78% survivability)
- Barber Shop (77% survivability)
- Filipino Restaurant (75% survivability)
- American Restaurant (75% survivability)
Full Highland business guide →
The best neighborhood for your business depends on what business you're opening — citywide neighborhood rankings are a starting filter, not the final answer.
Visual Data
Related Resources
Static rankings can't capture every recent change in competition or foot traffic, which is why StreetSpring's real-time tool is the best place to check today's survivability score for a particular location. See the full rankings and get a live survivability score for any address in Portland.
- Portland Business Survivability Rankings — overall rankings by business type across all Portland neighborhoods
- Business Survivability in Kenton
- Business Survivability in Ogden
- Business Survivability in Hough
- StreetSpring Methodology
Technical note: Aggregated survivability rankings for Portland are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
View technical data for Portland
StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and foot traffic data, so the live score may differ from the static ranges shown here.