Business Survivability in Potrero Hill, San Francisco
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Potrero Hill is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~83% 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 Potrero Hill (~83% average survival rate, ~85% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #8 across all neighborhoods in and around San Francisco
- 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 Potrero Hill 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 Potrero Hill is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~83% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~85% chance; next is an American Restaurant with a 78.41% chance, followed by a French Restaurant with a 78.18% chance.
Is Potrero Hill a good place to start a business?
In San Francisco's neighborhood survivability rankings, Potrero Hill comes in at #8, with an average Survivability Score of ~78% across all business types.
- The highest-scoring business types in Potrero Hill — at their optimal addresses — outperform the neighborhood average by ~6%.
- However, those same business types at the weakest addresses in Potrero Hill can score considerably below average. Even the most in-demand concept in Potrero Hill will struggle if it opens at the wrong address.
- Potrero Hill's 10.5% commercial vacancy rate signals the current availability of storefronts and shapes the competitive environment that survivability scores reflect.
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 Potrero Hill?
StreetSpring's model evaluates every available address in Potrero Hill for your business type, ranking them by survivability so the best storefront is always identifiable. Of all available storefronts analyzed in Potrero Hill, StreetSpring ranks this area highest for a Veterinary Clinic in 2026:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Veterinary Clinic in Potrero Hill. 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. 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 Potrero Hill?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 82.86% |
| 2 | American Restaurant | 78.41% |
| 3 | French Restaurant | 78.18% |
| 4 | Thai Restaurant | 78.13% |
| 5 | Dance Club | 77.54% |
| 6 | Dessert Shop | 77.28% |
| 7 | Convenience Store | 77.10% |
| 8 | Grocery Store | 76.64% |
| 9 | Hair Salon | 76.54% |
| 10 | Coffee Shop | 76.20% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Potrero Hill
- Veterinary Clinic is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Potrero Hill: 82.86% chance on average, best at ~85%, challenging at ~80%.
- American Restaurant — ~75%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 78.41% across Potrero Hill.
- Opening a French Restaurant in Potrero Hill shows 78.18% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~75%.
- Thai Restaurant (Ranked #4): 78.13% average in Potrero Hill. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~75%.
- Dance Club is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Potrero Hill: 77.54% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~75%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Potrero Hill
- Dessert Shop — ~75%–~79% survivability range, with an average of 77.28% across Potrero Hill.
- Opening a Convenience Store in Potrero Hill shows 77.10% average survivability. Top locations reach ~79%; lower-end sites show ~76%.
- Grocery Store (Ranked #8): 76.64% average in Potrero Hill. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~71%.
- Hair Salon is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Potrero Hill: 76.54% chance on average, best at ~78%, challenging at ~75%.
- Coffee Shop — ~73%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 76.20% across Potrero Hill.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- American Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- French Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Potrero Hill make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, securing a location with maximum Revenue Capture potential in Potrero Hill could lead to you making ~6% more than if you selected an average location, and ~16% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Even within a high-performing neighborhood, the best location varies by business type — StreetSpring scores each combination separately.
- The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
- Businesses in high-scoring locations consistently outperform those in average or low-scoring sites.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does.
What businesses should open next in Potrero Hill?
The top businesses to open next in Potrero Hill:
- Veterinary Clinics — 82.86% average survival rate, ~85% at the best address
- American Restaurants — 78.41% average survival rate
- French Restaurants — 78.18% 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. We have been studying the businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans. 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. With Potrero Hill's 94.5% employment rate factored in, the businesses best positioned to succeed here are those that benefit from a well-employed, spending-capable local consumer base. These rankings are a snapshot; StreetSpring recalculates survivability for every location in Potrero Hill 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 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 Potrero Hill.
What type of business should you rent your Potrero Hill storefront to?
For landlords in Potrero Hill, StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies Veterinary Clinics, American Restaurants, and French Restaurants as the business types most likely to produce stable, long-term tenancy.
- The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does. StreetSpring can show you which specific address in your portfolio scores highest for each tenant type.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in San Francisco Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Potrero Hill storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
According to our 2026 survivability model, a Veterinary Clinic leads all business categories for Potrero Hill landlords — ~85% at the best addresses and ~80% at the most challenging ones in this neighborhood.
- 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 Potrero Hill?
Don't commit to a storefront in Potrero Hill without first checking its Survivability Score — the difference between a 70% and a 90% score at two addresses on the same block can determine your long-term outcome.
- Revenue Capture Score matters more than any other single metric when predicting business outcomes.
- StreetSpring's custom-built forecasting infrastructure powers every survivability score, combining data science with commercial real estate intelligence.
- StreetSpring's live scoring tool is free: enter any address in Potrero Hill to see its current Survivability Score for your business type.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
Using predictive analytics, StreetSpring helps entrepreneurs and landlords make smarter location decisions. 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.