Business Survivability in Clayton, St. Louis
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Clayton is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~82% 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 Clayton (~82% average survival rate, ~85% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #29 across all neighborhoods in and around St. Louis
- 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 Clayton 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 Clayton is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~82% 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 79.57% chance, followed by a Spanish Restaurant with a 79.08% chance.
Is Clayton a good place to start a business?
StreetSpring ranks Clayton #29 among all analyzed neighborhoods in and around St. Louis, with a neighborhood-wide average survivability of ~78%.
- Across Clayton, the best addresses for its highest-ranked business types score ~10% above the neighborhood mean.
- That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Clayton can drop substantially below average. The survivability gap between the best and worst addresses in a single neighborhood can be 20 points or more.
- Clayton's 9.1% 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 Clayton?
StreetSpring's Clayton 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 Clayton:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Veterinary Clinic in Clayton. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point — the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. 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 Clayton?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 81.81% |
| 2 | American Restaurant | 79.57% |
| 3 | Spanish Restaurant | 79.08% |
| 4 | Dance Club | 79.05% |
| 5 | Asian Fusion Restaurant | 79.01% |
| 6 | Liquor Store | 77.24% |
| 7 | Coffee Shop | 77.00% |
| 8 | Gym | 76.20% |
| 9 | Seafood Restaurant | 75.79% |
| 10 | Nail Salon | 74.16% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Clayton
- Veterinary Clinic — ~77%–~85% survivability range, with an average of 81.81% across Clayton.
- Opening an American Restaurant in Clayton shows 79.57% average survivability. Top locations reach ~83%; lower-end sites show ~76%.
- Spanish Restaurant (Ranked #3): 79.08% average in Clayton. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~75%.
- Dance Club is ranked #4 for top businesses to open in Clayton: 79.05% chance on average, best at ~83%, challenging at ~74%.
- Asian Fusion Restaurant — ~75%–~82% survivability range, with an average of 79.01% across Clayton.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Clayton
- Opening a Liquor Store in Clayton shows 77.24% average survivability. Top locations reach ~82%; lower-end sites show ~71%.
- Coffee Shop (Ranked #7): 77.00% average in Clayton. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~73%.
- Gym is ranked #8 for top businesses to open in Clayton: 76.20% chance on average, best at ~79%, challenging at ~73%.
- Seafood Restaurant — ~70%–~81% survivability range, with an average of 75.79% across Clayton.
- Opening a Nail Salon in Clayton shows 74.16% average survivability. Top locations reach ~79%; lower-end sites show ~70%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- American Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Spanish Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Clayton make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, selecting a storefront that StreetSpring ranks in the top tier for your business type in Clayton could lead to you making ~10% more than if you selected an average location, and ~29% 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.
- Nothing influences a business's future more than its location.
- Every percentage point of Survivability Score represents a real difference in expected revenue — choosing the highest-scoring address is the most reliable financial decision you can make at the outset.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront.
What businesses should open next in Clayton?
The top businesses to open next in Clayton:
- Veterinary Clinics — 81.81% average survival rate, ~85% at the best address
- American Restaurants — 79.57% average survival rate
- Spanish Restaurants — 79.08% average survival rate
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. Clayton sits at 96.3% employment and 9.1% commercial vacancy — conditions that set the ceiling and floor for Revenue Capture potential across all business types here. The data behind these rankings is updated weekly, so the best available storefront in Clayton 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 St. Louis Business Survivability Rankings
- See the St. Louis Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across St. Louis neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Clayton.
What type of business should you rent your Clayton storefront to?
For landlords in Clayton, StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies Veterinary Clinics, American Restaurants, and Spanish Restaurants as the business types most likely to produce stable, long-term tenancy.
- Nothing influences a business's future more than its location.
- Our address-level scoring shows the exact survivability odds for 500+ business types at any given storefront. StreetSpring can show you which specific address in your portfolio scores highest for each tenant type.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in St. Louis Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Clayton storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes, StreetSpring's analysis finds that a Veterinary Clinic would be the best type of business to rent your storefront to, with a potential ~85% chance of lasting more than 2 years; however depending on your location, the chances could drop to a ~77% chance.
- 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 Clayton?
Before committing to any location in Clayton, the highest-priority metric to check is the Survivability Score — it encodes every relevant location factor into a single, actionable number.
- Revenue Capture Score is the single best indicator of whether a business will thrive at a location.
- No third-party scoring system produces these results — every prediction is generated by StreetSpring's own analytical models.
- StreetSpring's live survivability scores are available for free — check your specific address now.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
StreetSpring's AI platform has studied businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans, giving its predictions a scale of validation unmatched in site-selection tools. Aggregated survivability rankings for St. Louis are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for St. Louis: /resources/data/st-louis-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.