Business Survivability in Issaquah, Seattle
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Issaquah is a Chicken Shop with a ~80% 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 Chicken Shop in Issaquah (~80% average survival rate, ~85% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #3 across all neighborhoods in and around Seattle
- 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 Issaquah 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 Issaquah is a Chicken Shop with a ~80% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~85% chance; next is a Pizza Restaurant with a 78.93% chance, followed by a Mexican Restaurant with a 78.71% chance.
Is Issaquah a good place to start a business?
Issaquah is ranked number 3 across neighborhoods in and around Seattle to start a business, with an average ~78% chance of lasting two or more years.
- The top business types in Issaquah, when placed at their ideal addresses, achieve survivability rates ~12% above the neighborhood-wide average.
- But at poorly chosen addresses within Issaquah, even the top-ranked business types can fall well below the neighborhood average. Location selection remains critical — a promising concept at the wrong spot still carries significant risk.
- The 96.1% employment rate in Issaquah supports consumer spending, while a 5.4% vacancy rate reflects available storefronts — both of which shape the survivability landscape for any new business here.
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 Issaquah?
StreetSpring's model evaluates every available address in Issaquah for your business type, ranking them by survivability so the best storefront is always identifiable. This is the address StreetSpring's 2026 analysis recommends most strongly for a Chicken Shop in Issaquah:
This map shows the optimal location for a Chicken Shop in Issaquah based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis. 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. The prediction model incorporates hundreds of location-specific factors, including competitive density, forecasted consumer spending, mobility patterns, and Revenue Capture Score.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in Issaquah?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicken Shop | 79.88% |
| 2 | Pizza Restaurant | 78.93% |
| 3 | Mexican Restaurant | 78.71% |
| 4 | Grocery Store | 75.58% |
| 5 | Gym | 74.75% |
| 6 | Liquor Store | 74.64% |
| 7 | Hair Salon | 74.17% |
| 8 | Coffee Shop | 73.91% |
| 9 | Beauty Salon | 73.90% |
| 10 | Dessert Shop | 73.17% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Issaquah
- Chicken Shop (Ranked #1): 79.88% average in Issaquah. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~72%.
- Pizza Restaurant is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Issaquah: 78.93% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~71%.
- Mexican Restaurant — ~71%–~83% survivability range, with an average of 78.71% across Issaquah.
- Opening a Grocery Store in Issaquah shows 75.58% average survivability. Top locations reach ~83%; lower-end sites show ~69%.
- Gym (Ranked #5): 74.75% average in Issaquah. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~65%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Issaquah
- Liquor Store is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Issaquah: 74.64% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~67%.
- Hair Salon — ~64%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 74.17% across Issaquah.
- Opening a Coffee Shop in Issaquah shows 73.91% average survivability. Top locations reach ~82%; lower-end sites show ~66%.
- Beauty Salon (Ranked #9): 73.90% average in Issaquah. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~64%.
- Dessert Shop is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Issaquah: 73.17% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~63%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Chicken Shop — See how this compares to other cities →
- Pizza Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Mexican Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Issaquah make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, securing a location with maximum Revenue Capture potential in Issaquah could lead to you making ~12% more than if you selected an average location, and ~43% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- No two business types have identical location needs; survivability scores reflect these differences at the address level.
- Every site-selection decision starts and ends with location — it outweighs concept, brand, and execution combined.
- StreetSpring has found that selecting the location with the highest survivability score for a business is the best way to maximize the amount of money you will make.
- StreetSpring can pinpoint which blocks in each neighborhood or city maximize a business's chances of success.
What businesses should open next in Issaquah?
The top businesses to open next in Issaquah:
- Chicken Shops — 79.88% average survival rate, ~85% at the best address
- Pizza Restaurants — 78.93% average survival rate
- Mexican Restaurants — 78.71% 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. StreetSpring measures competition through a 30-factor framework layered on top of proprietary consumer spending forecasts and mobility models. 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 Issaquah's 96.1% employment rate when projecting survivability — businesses reliant on discretionary spend benefit disproportionately in well-employed neighborhoods. New competitors open and close every week, changing the survivability landscape for every address in Issaquah. StreetSpring's weekly updates mean you can always see the current score for any available storefront.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Seattle Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Seattle Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Chicken Shop survivability across Seattle neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Issaquah.
What type of business should you rent your Issaquah storefront to?
StreetSpring's analysis shows that the top tenant types for maximizing occupancy in Issaquah are Chicken Shops, Pizza Restaurants, and Mexican Restaurants.
- Every site-selection decision starts and ends with location — it outweighs concept, brand, and execution combined.
- StreetSpring can pinpoint which blocks in each neighborhood or city maximize a business's chances of success. 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 Issaquah storefront to a Chicken Shop?
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis strongly supports renting to a Chicken Shop in Issaquah: best-in-class addresses achieve ~85% survivability, and even the lower-end sites come in at ~72% — above average for most business types.
- StreetSpring can pinpoint which blocks in each neighborhood or city maximize a business's chances of success.
What should I consider when opening a business in Issaquah?
When evaluating potential locations in Issaquah, start with the Survivability Score. It accounts for competition, spending, mobility, and market share in a single figure.
- Revenue Capture Score matters more than any other single metric when predicting business outcomes.
- StreetSpring's in-house models are continuously updated with new business outcome data to keep predictions accurate.
- You can access the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring for free.
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 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.