Business Survivability in Forest Hills, Washington DC
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Forest Hills is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~84% 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 Forest Hills (~84% average survival rate, ~86% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #20 across all neighborhoods in and around Washington DC
- 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 Forest Hills 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 Forest Hills is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~84% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~86% chance; next is an Asian Fusion Restaurant with a 79.53% chance, followed by a Thai Restaurant with a 79.41% chance.
Is Forest Hills a good place to start a business?
Forest Hills is the #20 most survivable neighborhood for new businesses in and around Washington DC, with an average score of ~78% across all analyzed categories.
- Across Forest Hills, the best addresses for its highest-ranked business types score ~7% above the neighborhood mean.
- Yet the same categories that score highest in Forest Hills can underperform significantly at the wrong address. Location precision within the neighborhood matters as much as choosing the neighborhood itself.
- Forest Hills's employment rate of 97.7% and commercial vacancy of 2.3% are two of the inputs StreetSpring's model uses to differentiate survivability within this neighborhood.
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 Forest Hills?
With StreetSpring, location selection in Forest Hills moves from guesswork to a precise, address-level survivability score for any business type you're considering. The map below shows the highest-scoring storefront area for a Veterinary Clinic in Forest Hills per 2026 data:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Veterinary Clinic in Forest Hills. StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. 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 Forest Hills?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 83.88% |
| 2 | Asian Fusion Restaurant | 79.53% |
| 3 | Thai Restaurant | 79.41% |
| 4 | American Restaurant | 78.87% |
| 5 | Liquor Store | 77.56% |
| 6 | Grocery Store | 77.54% |
| 7 | Gym | 76.44% |
| 8 | Smoke Shop | 76.24% |
| 9 | Coffee Shop | 75.71% |
| 10 | Laundromat | 75.48% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in Forest Hills
- Veterinary Clinic (Ranked #1): 83.88% average in Forest Hills. Best-case storefronts: ~86%. Challenging locations: ~80%.
- Asian Fusion Restaurant is ranked #2 for top businesses to open in Forest Hills: 79.53% chance on average, best at ~82%, challenging at ~77%.
- Thai Restaurant — ~77%–~82% survivability range, with an average of 79.41% across Forest Hills.
- Opening an American Restaurant in Forest Hills shows 78.87% average survivability. Top locations reach ~82%; lower-end sites show ~76%.
- Liquor Store (Ranked #5): 77.56% average in Forest Hills. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~74%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in Forest Hills
- Grocery Store is ranked #6 for top businesses to open in Forest Hills: 77.54% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~74%.
- Gym — ~72%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 76.44% across Forest Hills.
- Opening a Smoke Shop in Forest Hills shows 76.24% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~72%.
- Coffee Shop (Ranked #9): 75.71% average in Forest Hills. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~72%.
- Laundromat is ranked #10 for top businesses to open in Forest Hills: 75.48% chance on average, best at ~78%, challenging at ~71%.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Asian Fusion Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Thai Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in Forest Hills make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, identifying the optimal address for your business type in Forest Hills could lead to you making ~7% more than if you selected an average location, and ~20% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- Different business models thrive in different micro-locations.
- Location shapes survivability more than branding, pricing, or operational quality — the data is unambiguous on this point.
- Businesses in high-scoring locations consistently outperform those in average or low-scoring sites.
- StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for 500+ business types.
What businesses should open next in Forest Hills?
The top businesses to open next in Forest Hills:
- Veterinary Clinics — 83.88% average survival rate, ~86% at the best address
- Asian Fusion Restaurants — 79.53% average survival rate
- Thai Restaurants — 79.41% average survival rate
StreetSpring's survivability scores are updated regularly, so the most accurate prediction for your exact storefront is always available in the live tool. Our training data spans 500+ business types across 24 major metros, giving our models the breadth to predict outcomes across nearly any commercial concept. 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 Forest Hills's 97.7% employment rate when projecting survivability — businesses reliant on discretionary spend benefit disproportionately in well-employed neighborhoods. Survivability scores are live, not static — StreetSpring updates them weekly. Visit the tool to see what's currently available in Forest Hills and how each address is scoring right now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the Washington DC Business Survivability Rankings
- See the Washington DC Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across Washington DC neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Forest Hills.
What type of business should you rent your Forest Hills storefront to?
According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, the strongest tenant types for a storefront in Forest Hills are Veterinary Clinics, Asian Fusion Restaurants, and Thai Restaurants.
- Location shapes survivability more than branding, pricing, or operational quality — the data is unambiguous on this point.
- StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for 500+ business types. Rather than guessing which tenant type will last, landlords can verify survivability for each category at their exact address using StreetSpring.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Washington DC Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your Forest Hills storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes — our 2026 model places a Veterinary Clinic at the top of the survivability rankings for Forest Hills storefronts, with a best-case score of ~86% and a floor of ~80% at the most challenging addresses.
- StreetSpring provides address-specific survivability predictions for 500+ business types.
What should I consider when opening a business in Forest Hills?
StreetSpring's Survivability Score for your Forest Hills address is the clearest forward-looking indicator of whether your business will be operating two years from now — make it the first number you check.
- Revenue Capture is where competition meets spending — and it's the number that matters most when choosing a location.
- These insights come from StreetSpring's exclusive, in-house forecasting models.
- You can access the most up-to-date forecasts with StreetSpring for free.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
Real estate professionals and business owners across 24 major metros use StreetSpring to ground their site-selection decisions in data, not guesswork. Aggregated survivability rankings for Washington DC are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for Washington DC: /resources/data/washington-dc-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.