Business Survivability in Ballard, Seattle
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Ballard is a Convenience Store with a 84.1% 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 Convenience Store in Ballard (84.1% Typical, 90.2% Best)
- Neighborhood rank: #32 of 94 neighborhoods in and around Seattle
- Neighborhood average: 74.1% two-year survival across the business types ranked here
- 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: November 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring
In this article:
- Summary
- Is Ballard 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 Ballard is a Convenience Store with a 84.1% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, and 90.2% Best; next is a Coffee Shop with 89.4% Best, followed by a Cafe with 89.3% Best.
Is Ballard a good place to start a business?
Among the 94 neighborhoods StreetSpring ranks in and around Seattle, Ballard ranks #32 for business survivability, with an average 74.1% chance of lasting two or more years.
- For the top-ranked business type, 90.2% Best is 6.1 points above 84.1% Typical in Ballard.
- Yet the same categories that score highest in Ballard can underperform significantly at the wrong address. Location precision within the neighborhood matters as much as choosing the neighborhood itself.
- Ballard's employment rate of 95.8% and housing vacancy rate of 6.7% are two of the Census inputs StreetSpring's model reads for this neighborhood.
Employment and housing vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
How can you find the best location to open a business in Ballard?
The right address in Ballard can mean a 20-point survivability difference from an average one: StreetSpring identifies exactly which addresses are worth pursuing. StreetSpring's 2026 model ranks this area #1 in Ballard for a Convenience Store:
According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, this circle outlines the best area for a Convenience Store in Ballard. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. StreetSpring's prediction model analyzes hundreds of factors across competition, spending on the specific potential business, projected revenue, projected market share, Revenue Capture Score, mobility patterns, and many more.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Ballard?
| Rank | Business type | Best | Typical | Worst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Convenience Store | 90.2% | 84.1% | 78.5% |
| 2 | Coffee Shop | 89.4% | 82.5% | 76.6% |
| 3 | Cafe | 89.3% | 83.2% | 77.4% |
| 4 | Gym | 89.3% | 81.6% | 75.7% |
| 5 | Chiropractor Office | 89.2% | 83.8% | 78.3% |
| 6 | Bar | 89.2% | 80.7% | 74.9% |
| 7 | Hair Salon | 89.1% | 81.3% | 75.6% |
| 8 | Laundromat | 89.1% | 82.9% | 77.3% |
| 9 | Veterinary Clinic | 88.2% | 83.2% | 78.3% |
| 10 | Eye Care Center | 87.4% | 82.7% | 78.0% |
Best and Worst are the average results for the better and the worse of two addresses picked at random in the place: a weighted average of every scored location in which the best locations count the most for Best and the weakest count the most for Worst. Typical is the average address. Best is shown for a smaller space (half the standard size) and Worst for a larger one (half again as large), at the metro's median asking rent, using the same rent rule as our tool; Typical is at the market rent.
Highest Survivability in Ballard
- #1 Convenience Store is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in Ballard: 84.1% Typical, 90.2% Best, 78.5% Worst.
- #2 Coffee Shop: 82.5% Typical across Ballard; Best 89.4%, Worst 76.6%.
- #3 Opening a Cafe in Ballard shows 83.2% Typical survivability, 89.3% Best and 77.4% Worst.
- #4 Gym (Ranked #4): 81.6% Typical in Ballard. Best: 89.3%. Worst: 75.7%.
- #5 Chiropractor Office is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in Ballard: 83.8% Typical, 89.2% Best, 78.3% Worst.
Strong Performers in Ballard
- #6 Bar: 80.7% Typical across Ballard; Best 89.2%, Worst 74.9%.
- #7 Opening a Hair Salon in Ballard shows 81.3% Typical survivability, 89.1% Best and 75.6% Worst.
- #8 Laundromat (Ranked #8): 82.9% Typical in Ballard. Best: 89.1%. Worst: 77.3%.
- #9 Veterinary Clinic is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in Ballard: 83.2% Typical, 88.2% Best, 78.3% Worst.
- #10 Eye Care Center: 82.7% Typical across Ballard; Best 87.4%, Worst 78.0%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Convenience Store: See how this compares to other cities →
- Coffee Shop: See how this compares to other cities →
- Cafe: See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Ballard make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, picking the highest-scoring storefront in the neighborhood in Ballard starts with the Revenue Capture Score, the most important factor in choosing a location: StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at that address.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Location fit is business-type-specific: a spot that's ideal for a coffee shop may underperform for a nail salon at the same address.
- The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
- StreetSpring's Revenue Capture Score, the revenue a business can capture at a specific address, is the factor that matters most when comparing locations.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood: it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What businesses should open next in Ballard?
The top businesses to open next in Ballard:
- Convenience Stores: 84.1% Typical, 90.2% Best
- Coffee Shops: 82.5% Typical, 89.4% Best
- Cafes: 83.2% Typical, 89.3% Best
Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point: the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. StreetSpring has analyzed hundreds of thousands of business outcomes across major U.S. metros. 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 Ballard's 95.8% employment rate when projecting survivability: businesses reliant on discretionary spend benefit disproportionately in well-employed neighborhoods. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring regularly updates every location's survivability score: you can see current scores for available storefronts in Ballard right now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Seattle Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Seattle Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Convenience Store survivability across Seattle neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Ballard.
What type of business should you rent your Ballard storefront to?
StreetSpring's analysis shows that the most promising business categories for your property in Ballard are Convenience Stores, Coffee Shops, and Cafes.
- The address you choose determines your competitive exposure, customer flow, and spending potential simultaneously.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood: it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category. With StreetSpring, you can rank every potential tenant type by survivability score at your property address before committing to a lease.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Seattle Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Ballard storefront to a Convenience Store?
Yes, our 2026 model ranks a Convenience Store first among business types for Ballard storefronts, with 90.2% Best and 78.5% Worst.
- StreetSpring's precision goes beyond the neighborhood: it scores survivability at the exact address for every major brick-and-mortar business category.
What should I consider when opening a business in Ballard?
Location decisions in Ballard should be grounded in Survivability Score data, not intuition. The score directly measures the competitive and spending conditions at your exact address.
- The Revenue Capture Score is the most important factor in choosing a location: it is StreetSpring's estimate of the revenue a business can capture at that address.
- StreetSpring's custom-built forecasting infrastructure powers every survivability score, combining data science with commercial real estate intelligence.
- Check StreetSpring's current survivability data for any address in Ballard, starting with a free 10-minute trial.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring combines proprietary data with advanced analytics to predict which businesses will succeed. Aggregated survivability rankings for Seattle are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Seattle: /resources/data/seattle-survivability-scores-2026.csv: includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.