Street Names that Boast the Most Local Businesses

It’s well known that Second Street is the most common street name in the U.S., but that’s based on counting how often street names occur, not counting what’s located on them. To get a feel for where Americans meet their local businesses, Yelp’s Data Lab ranked street names by the number of Yelp businesses that call that street home. Main Street is so much the main hub for local commerce around the country that it owns the top five spots on our list. Main Street — whether north, south, east, west or with no prefix needed — is the primary name of streets in Yelp business addresses.

Next comes Broadway, then Market Street – one of the most popular places to go to market. The first name paying homage to a person appears on our list at No. 7: fittingly, it honors the first U.S. president, George Washington (Washington Street). Variants on Washington such as Washington Avenue and East Washington Street also make the top 50, as do Madison Avenue (named after the fourth U.S. president, James Madison) and Wilshire Boulevard, named for tycoon Henry Gaylord Wilshire.

The first numbered road? Fifth Avenue, thanks in large part to the many shops located on Manhattan’s version. Next comes Third Avenue, then Second Street. First Avenue isn’t first but sixth among the numerically named byways popular with American local business.

So next time you’re exploring a new city, look for one of these street names and you’re likely to hit the jackpot of local businesses.

Top 20:
1. Main St.
2. N Main St.
3. S Main St.
4. E Main St.
5. W Main St.
6. Broadway
7. Washington St.
8. Market St.
9. 5th Ave.
10. Central Ave.
11. Park Ave.
12. State St.
13. Wilshire Blvd.
14. Madison Ave.
15. Broad St.
16. 3rd Ave.
17. Church St.
18. Ventura Blvd.
19. Washington Ave.
20. Walnut St.

Are you a journalist or researcher who’d like to learn more about this data or get your hands on Yelp data of your own? Please contact me at carl@yelp.com.