Business Survivability in Chinatown, San Francisco
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Chinatown is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~86% 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 Chinatown (~86% average survival rate, ~86% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #9 across all neighborhoods in and around San Francisco
- Neighborhood average: ~80% 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 Chinatown 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 Chinatown is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~86% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~86% chance; next is an Acupuncture Clinic with a 85.54% chance, followed by a Day Care Center with a 82.82% chance.
Is Chinatown a good place to start a business?
StreetSpring ranks Chinatown #9 among all analyzed neighborhoods in and around San Francisco, with a neighborhood-wide average survivability of ~80%.
- The highest-scoring business types in Chinatown — at their optimal addresses — outperform the neighborhood average by ~1%.
- However, those high-scoring categories placed at the least-competitive addresses in Chinatown often fall well below average. Picking the right block — not just the right neighborhood — is what actually determines survivability.
- With a 88.5% employment rate, Chinatown 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 Chinatown?
The right address in Chinatown can mean a 20-point survivability difference from an average one — StreetSpring identifies exactly which addresses are worth pursuing. According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, this is the optimal address for a Veterinary Clinic in Chinatown:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Veterinary Clinic in Chinatown. Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. Factors evaluated include competition at every distance band, consumer spending forecasts, mobility patterns, and market share projections.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Chinatown?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 85.88% |
| 2 | Acupuncture Clinic | 85.54% |
| 3 | Day Care Center | 82.82% |
| 4 | Pet Store | 80.60% |
| 5 | Brunch Restaurant | 80.37% |
| 6 | Pet Grooming Shop | 79.86% |
| 7 | Syrian Restaurant | 79.85% |
| 8 | Steakhouse | 79.81% |
| 9 | Laundromat | 79.48% |
| 10 | Nail Salon | 79.38% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Chinatown
- Opening a Veterinary Clinic in Chinatown shows 85.88% average survivability. Top locations reach ~86%; lower-end sites show ~85%.
- Acupuncture Clinic (Ranked #2): 85.54% average in Chinatown. Best-case storefronts: ~86%. Challenging locations: ~85%.
- Day Care Center is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Chinatown: 82.82% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~82%.
- Pet Store — ~80%–~81% survivability range, with an average of 80.60% across Chinatown.
- Opening a Brunch Restaurant in Chinatown shows 80.37% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~80%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Chinatown
- Pet Grooming Shop (Ranked #6): 79.86% average in Chinatown. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~78%.
- Syrian Restaurant is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Chinatown: 79.85% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~79%.
- Steakhouse — ~79%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 79.81% across Chinatown.
- Opening a Laundromat in Chinatown shows 79.48% average survivability. Top locations reach ~80%; lower-end sites show ~79%.
- Nail Salon (Ranked #10): 79.38% average in Chinatown. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~78%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Acupuncture Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Day Care Center — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Chinatown make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, following the survivability data rather than relying on intuition or foot traffic estimates in Chinatown could lead to you making ~1% more than if you selected an average location, and ~3% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
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.
- Location is the single strongest predictor of whether a business thrives or fails.
- Maximizing your Survivability Score is the most reliable path to profitability.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront.
What businesses should open next in Chinatown?
The top businesses to open next in Chinatown:
- Veterinary Clinics — 85.88% average survival rate, ~86% at the best address
- Acupuncture Clinics — 85.54% average survival rate
- Day Care Centers — 82.82% average survival rate
Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. 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. Chinatown's combination of 88.5% employment and 15.6% vacancy creates the conditions that define which business types thrive here and which struggle. The data behind these rankings is updated weekly, so the best available storefront in Chinatown today may score differently than it did last month — check StreetSpring's live tool for the current picture.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the San Francisco Business Survivability Rankings
- See the San Francisco Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across San Francisco neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Chinatown.
What type of business should you rent your Chinatown storefront to?
The analysis is clear: in Chinatown, Veterinary Clinics, Acupuncture Clinics, and Day Care Centers consistently score highest on survivability, giving landlords the best chance of retaining tenants for two or more years.
- Location is the single strongest predictor of whether a business thrives or fails.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront. Use StreetSpring to see the survivability score for any business type at your exact storefront address before you sign a lease.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in San Francisco Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Chinatown storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
StreetSpring's data confirms a Veterinary Clinic as the highest-survivability tenant type for Chinatown. The best addresses show a ~86% chance of lasting more than 2 years; less optimal addresses score around ~85%.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront.
What should I consider when opening a business in Chinatown?
Before committing to any location in Chinatown, the highest-priority metric to check is the Survivability Score — it encodes every relevant location factor into a single, actionable number.
- Revenue Capture is where competition meets spending — and it's the number that matters most when choosing a location.
- StreetSpring's forecasting tools are purpose-built for commercial location decisions and are not available through any publicly accessible data source.
- StreetSpring's address-level survivability data is available free of charge — start with your top candidate locations in Chinatown.
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 San Francisco are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for San Francisco: /resources/data/san-francisco-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.