Business Survivability in Swansea, St. Louis
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Swansea is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~85% 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 Swansea (~85% average survival rate, ~90% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #13 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 Swansea 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 Swansea is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~85% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~90% chance; next is a Salad Shop with a 80.73% chance, followed by a Chinese Restaurant with a 79.98% chance.
Is Swansea a good place to start a business?
Out of all neighborhoods analyzed in and around St. Louis, Swansea ranks #13 for business survivability with a ~78% average Survivability Score.
- Top-performing business types at the best addresses in Swansea show a ~13% survival rate advantage over the neighborhood average.
- That said, the same business types at the worst-fit addresses in Swansea can drop substantially below average. The survivability gap between the best and worst addresses in a single neighborhood can be 20 points or more.
- With a 94.9% employment rate, Swansea 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 Swansea?
StreetSpring scores survivability at the exact address level in Swansea — so you can compare two storefronts on the same block before committing to a lease. StreetSpring's 2026 analysis identifies this area as the top location for a Veterinary Clinic in Swansea:
This map shows the optimal location for a Veterinary Clinic in Swansea based on StreetSpring's 2026 survivability analysis. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point — the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. 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 Swansea?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 85.13% |
| 2 | Salad Shop | 80.73% |
| 3 | Chinese Restaurant | 79.98% |
| 4 | Persian Restaurant | 79.74% |
| 5 | Smoke Shop | 78.49% |
| 6 | Dance Club | 77.11% |
| 7 | Pet Boarding Facility | 76.07% |
| 8 | Pet Grooming Shop | 75.32% |
| 9 | Seafood Restaurant | 74.69% |
| 10 | Laundromat | 72.12% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Swansea
- Opening a Veterinary Clinic in Swansea shows 85.13% average survivability. Top locations reach ~90%; lower-end sites show ~79%.
- Salad Shop (Ranked #2): 80.73% average in Swansea. Best-case storefronts: ~85%. Challenging locations: ~76%.
- Chinese Restaurant is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Swansea: 79.98% chance on average, best at ~84%, challenging at ~75%.
- Persian Restaurant — ~75%–~84% survivability range, with an average of 79.74% across Swansea.
- Opening a Smoke Shop in Swansea shows 78.49% average survivability. Top locations reach ~85%; lower-end sites show ~72%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Swansea
- Dance Club (Ranked #6): 77.11% average in Swansea. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~71%.
- Pet Boarding Facility is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Swansea: 76.07% chance on average, best at ~82%, challenging at ~70%.
- Pet Grooming Shop — ~69%–~81% survivability range, with an average of 75.32% across Swansea.
- Opening a Seafood Restaurant in Swansea shows 74.69% average survivability. Top locations reach ~80%; lower-end sites show ~68%.
- Laundromat (Ranked #10): 72.12% average in Swansea. Best-case storefronts: ~79%. Challenging locations: ~60%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Salad Shop — See how this compares to other cities →
- Chinese Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Swansea make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, going with one of the top-scoring locations in the neighborhood rather than an average one in Swansea could lead to you making ~13% more than if you selected an average location, and ~35% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Different business models thrive in different micro-locations.
- The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it.
- Across every business type we've analyzed, location quality as measured by Survivability Score is the strongest predictor of financial performance.
- StreetSpring can pinpoint which blocks in each neighborhood or city maximize a business's chances of success.
What businesses should open next in Swansea?
The top businesses to open next in Swansea:
- Veterinary Clinics — 85.13% average survival rate, ~90% at the best address
- Salad Shops — 80.73% average survival rate
- Chinese Restaurants — 79.98% average survival rate
Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point — the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. 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. The 8.3% commercial vacancy rate in Swansea means there is available space for new entrants — but it also signals that survivability depends heavily on choosing the right address within the neighborhood, not just the neighborhood itself. Because market conditions shift constantly, StreetSpring updates every location's survivability score weekly — you can see current scores for available storefronts in Swansea right now.
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 Swansea.
What type of business should you rent your Swansea storefront to?
Our 2026 survivability data for Swansea shows that Veterinary Clinics, Salad Shops, and Chinese Restaurants rank as the top tenant categories for minimizing vacancy risk.
- The right location can make a business; the wrong one can break it.
- 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 St. Louis Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Swansea storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes — our 2026 model places a Veterinary Clinic at the top of the survivability rankings for Swansea storefronts, with a best-case score of ~90% and a floor of ~79% at the most challenging addresses.
- 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 Swansea?
Don't commit to a storefront in Swansea 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.
- The most important driver of a high Survivability Score is the Revenue Capture Score for the business at the location it selects.
- StreetSpring's forecasting tools are purpose-built for commercial location decisions and are not available through any publicly accessible data source.
- StreetSpring's live scoring tool is free: enter any address in Swansea to see its current Survivability Score for your business type.
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 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.