Business Survivability in Gresham, Portland
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Gresham 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 Gresham (~85% average survival rate, ~90% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #4 across all neighborhoods in and around Portland
- 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 Gresham 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 Gresham 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 ~90% chance; next is a Salad Shop with a 80.91% chance, followed by a Chicken Shop with a 80.50% chance.
Is Gresham a good place to start a business?
Gresham is the #4 most survivable neighborhood for new businesses in and around Portland, with an average score of ~79% across all analyzed categories.
- Top-performing business types at the best addresses in Gresham show a ~13% survival rate advantage over the neighborhood average.
- Even so, the weakest addresses in Gresham for those same business types can underperform considerably. StreetSpring's address-level scoring exists precisely to identify which specific storefronts make the difference.
- With a 94.5% employment rate, Gresham has the consumer spending foundation that supports a range of brick-and-mortar business types.
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 Gresham?
StreetSpring's Gresham data goes block by block (not just neighborhood averages) so you know which specific storefront gives your concept the strongest foundation. According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, this is the optimal address for a Veterinary Clinic in Gresham:
StreetSpring's 2026 model identifies this area as the highest-survivability location for a Veterinary Clinic in Gresham. StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. The model evaluates hundreds of factors, from primary and secondary competition to forecasted spend, site accessibility, and local market share potential.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Gresham?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years at a good address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 89.19% |
| 2 | Salad Shop | 85.00% |
| 3 | Chicken Shop | 84.99% |
| 4 | Dance Club | 84.20% |
| 5 | Steakhouse | 84.00% |
| 6 | Pet Boarding Facility | 83.21% |
| 7 | Bar | 83.10% |
| 8 | Smoke Shop | 82.70% |
| 9 | Pet Grooming Shop | 82.61% |
| 10 | Physical Therapy Clinic | 82.30% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Gresham
- Veterinary Clinic: ~80% to ~90% survivability range, with an average of 85.50% across Gresham.
- Opening a Salad Shop in Gresham shows 80.91% average survivability. Top locations reach ~85%; lower-end sites show ~73%.
- Chicken Shop (Ranked #3): 80.50% average in Gresham. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~73%.
- Dance Club is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in Gresham: 79.70% chance on average, best at ~86%, challenging at ~73%.
- Steakhouse: ~73% to ~84% survivability range, with an average of 80.70% across Gresham.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Gresham
- Opening a Pet Boarding Facility in Gresham shows 78.90% average survivability. Top locations reach ~85%; lower-end sites show ~73%.
- Bar (Ranked #7): 79.70% average in Gresham. Best-case storefronts: ~84%. Challenging locations: ~71%.
- Smoke Shop is ranked #8 for top businesses to open in Gresham: 79.20% chance on average, best at ~85%, challenging at ~72%.
- Pet Grooming Shop: ~72% to ~84% survivability range, with an average of 78.31% across Gresham.
- Opening a Physical Therapy Clinic in Gresham shows 79.60% average survivability. Top locations reach ~84%; lower-end sites show ~74%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic: See how this compares to other cities →
- Salad Shop: See how this compares to other cities →
- Chicken Shop: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Gresham make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, securing a location with maximum Revenue Capture potential in Gresham could lead to you making ~13% more than if you selected an average location, and ~33% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Site-specific factors can dramatically alter outcomes even within the same neighborhood.
- Where you open matters more than anything else.
- Our data shows that the single highest-impact decision a business owner makes is the address they choose, and Survivability Score is the best guide to that decision.
- StreetSpring's address-level precision means two storefronts on the same block can carry materially different odds of lasting two years.
What businesses should open next in Gresham?
The top businesses to open next in Gresham:
- Veterinary Clinics: 85.50% average survival rate, ~90% at the best address
- Salad Shops: 80.91% average survival rate
- Chicken Shops: 80.50% average survival rate
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 accuracy is built on studying businesses that serve more than 180 million+ Americans across 24 cities. 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. StreetSpring's model accounts for Gresham's 94.5% employment rate when projecting survivability: businesses reliant on discretionary spend benefit disproportionately in well-employed neighborhoods. StreetSpring updates survivability scores for available locations weekly: check the live tool now to see which storefronts in Gresham are currently available and how they score.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Portland Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Portland Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across Portland neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Gresham.
What type of business should you rent your Gresham storefront to?
The analysis is clear: in Gresham, Veterinary Clinics, Salad Shops, and Chicken Shops consistently score highest on survivability, giving landlords the best chance of retaining tenants for two or more years.
- Where you open matters more than anything else.
- StreetSpring's address-level precision means two storefronts on the same block can carry materially different odds of lasting two years. StreetSpring's tool, free for a 10-minute trial, lets you check the survivability score for any business type at any address in Gresham: a powerful filter when evaluating prospective tenants.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Portland Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Gresham storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
According to our 2026 survivability model, a Veterinary Clinic leads all business categories for Gresham landlords: ~90% at the best addresses and ~80% at the most challenging ones in this neighborhood.
- StreetSpring's address-level precision means two storefronts on the same block can carry materially different odds of lasting two years.
What should I consider when opening a business in Gresham?
When evaluating potential locations in Gresham, start with the Survivability Score. It accounts for competition, spending, mobility, and market share in a single figure.
- The Revenue Capture Score at a specific address explains more about likely business success than any other available metric.
- No third-party scoring system produces these results: every prediction is generated by StreetSpring's own analytical models.
- StreetSpring offers a free 10-minute trial of its survivability scores: see how your shortlisted Gresham addresses rank right now.
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 Portland are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Portland: /resources/data/portland-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.