A small shop or office usually needs between four and eight cameras. A restaurant often needs eight to sixteen. A warehouse or multi-floor building can need twenty or more. As with homes, the number is not a formula. It comes from walking the space and asking where money, people, inventory and entry points are, and what you would need to see if something went wrong. This guide gives a practical way to count by risk area, with typical ranges for common business types in the New York and New Jersey area.
This is general information. A site visit gives the real answer.
1. The Short Version
| Business type | Typical number of cameras |
|---|---|
| Small shop or boutique | 4 to 8 |
| Bodega or convenience store | 6 to 12 |
| Restaurant or bar | 8 to 16 |
| Salon or small office | 4 to 8 |
| Medical or professional office | 6 to 12 |
| Warehouse or workshop | 8 to 24 |
| Multi-floor office building | 16 to 40+ |
2. Count by Risk Area
Start with a sketch of the space and mark the following:
- Entrances and exits. Front door, back door, loading door, fire exits and roof or basement access.
- Cash and transaction points. Registers, counters, safes and offices.
- High-value inventory. Stockrooms, display cases, cages and storage.
- Customer areas. Sales floor, waiting rooms and seating.
- Staff-only areas. Kitchens, back offices and loading areas.
- Exterior. Sidewalk, parking, alley, dumpsters and signage.
- Blind spots. Corners, aisles and spaces hidden behind shelves.
Each area gets a decision: identification, observation or deterrence.
3. Identification, Observation and Deterrence
Identification means clear views of faces and plates at entrances and registers.
Observation means wider coverage that shows what people do on the floor or in storage.
Deterrence means visible cameras that discourage theft and trouble.
Count identification views first. They are the ones police and insurers ask about.
4. Sample Counts
Boutique (5 cameras): front door, register, two floor views, back door.
Bodega (8 cameras): front door, register, two aisles, cooler, stock area, back door, exterior sidewalk.
Restaurant (12 cameras): front door, host stand, register, bar, dining room, kitchen line, dish area, walk-in, back door, office, alley and basement. See our restaurant camera guide.
Salon or office (6 cameras): entrance, reception, hallway, supply room, back door and exterior.
Warehouse (12 to 20 cameras): gates, each dock door, aisles, high-value racks, office and perimeter. Plate cameras may help at gates.
Medical office (8 cameras): entrance, reception, hallways, pharmacy or supply storage, back door and parking. Privacy rules around patients matter; keep cameras out of exam rooms and restrooms and ask counsel.
5. Interior Privacy Limits
Do not put cameras in restrooms, locker rooms or changing areas. Labor Law section 203-c says an employer may not cause a video recording to be made of an employee in a restroom, locker room or room designated for changing clothes, unless authorized by court order; see nysenate.gov. Be careful with audio. New York's eavesdropping law, Penal Law section 250.05, is a class E felony. See our guide on workplace camera rules.
6. Quality Beats Quantity
Twelve cameras with poor angles and low resolution can be worth less than six that capture clear faces at the door, the register and the back entry. Think about:
- Height and angle. Faces need to be captured head-on at about eye level.
- Lighting. Backlighting from windows ruins faces.
- Resolution. Enough pixels on target at the distance you need.
- Lens. Wide lenses cover more but show less detail.
- Night performance. Many problems occur after hours.
See our guides on placement and resolution.
7. Storage and Recorder Capacity
Every camera adds to storage. Sizing a recorder correctly means knowing the number of cameras, resolution, frame rate, codec and days of retention. Eight cameras at 4 megapixels with motion recording might use 4 to 8 terabytes for 30 days; continuous recording on sixteen cameras may need much more. See our guide on sizing storage and our guide on how long to keep footage.
8. Remote Viewing and Management
If you manage several sites, plan a system you can view from one place. Named accounts, limited rights and secure remote access matter. See our guides on viewing on your phone without monthly fees and on cyber risk.
9. News Context
Business owners often add cameras after a local incident. In September 2026, NYPD sought two suspects in 19 commercial burglaries across 16 Brooklyn neighborhoods, according to News 12. In August 2026, ABC7 New York reported that thieves broke into several Bay Ridge restaurants overnight, with surveillance cameras capturing a hooded figure with a flashlight in a basement. Coverage of entry points, basements and registers is a recurring theme.
NYPD reported burglary down 19.5% and retail theft down 15% citywide in May 2026 compared with May 2025 (NYPD).
10. Costs by Camera Count
Planning ranges for professionally installed business systems in 2026, including a local recorder:
| Cameras | Typical installed range |
|---|---|
| 4 cameras | $1,800 to $4,200 |
| 8 cameras | $3,200 to $6,800 |
| 12 cameras | $4,800 to $10,000 |
| 16 cameras | $6,500 to $13,000 |
| 24 cameras | $10,000 to $20,000 |
Difficult wiring, special lenses, plate cameras and large storage raise costs. These are planning ranges, not quotes.
11. Questions to Ask Your Installer
- How many cameras do you recommend, and what does each one do?
- Which cameras are for identification and which are for observation?
- Can I start with fewer and add more later?
- How many days of storage will I have?
- Will the system handle future expansion?
- How will you keep cameras out of restrooms and changing areas?
See our local pages for business camera installation in Staten Island, commercial installation in Queens, commercial installation in the Bronx and our services page.
Not sure how many cameras your business needs? Revolvis will walk the property with you and mark the spots.
12. Phasing the Project
If your budget is tight, phase the work. Phase one covers entrances, registers and the back door. Phase two adds the sales floor and storage. Phase three adds exterior and perimeter. Install a recorder with spare channels and run extra cable so phases are cheap. A staged plan lets you see how the system performs before spending more.
13. A Sample Plan for a Small Retail Store
A 1,200-square-foot store in Queens wants to deter theft and document disputes. The installer proposes six cameras: one at eye level at the front door, one over the register, two on the sales floor covering aisles, one in the stockroom and one at the back door. A small exterior camera covers the sidewalk. Recording is local, 30 days. Staff are told in writing where cameras are, and no camera views the restroom. Estimated cost: $2,600 to $5,200.
14. Mistakes to Avoid
Counting only the sales floor. Back doors and stockrooms matter.
Putting cameras too high. Faces become tops of heads.
Ignoring lighting. Backlight from windows ruins faces.
Underbuying storage. Seven days is rarely enough.
Forgetting maintenance. Dirty lenses and failed drives go unnoticed.
Skipping notice to employees. Surprise creates conflict.
15. A Worked Example: Counting for a 2,500-Square-Foot Office
An accounting office on the second floor of a Bronx building has a reception area, six private offices, a file room and a back stairwell. The owner's concerns are after-hours entry, theft of client files and disputes about who visited. The count: one camera at the reception door capturing faces, one covering the reception desk, one in the main hallway, one at the file room door, one at the back stairwell and one in the building lobby if the landlord permits. That is six cameras. None goes inside private offices or restrooms. Staff are told where cameras are, and footage is kept for 45 days because client disputes can surface late. Estimated cost: $2,600 to $5,400. Notice how the count came from concerns and entry points, not from square footage. A larger office with the same concerns might need the same six cameras plus a few more hallway views, while a small shop with a busy register might need more cameras in less space. Whatever the final count, ask the installer to label every camera on a floor plan and write one sentence about what it is meant to capture. If a camera has no clear job, it probably does not belong in the plan.
More From Revolvis
Cameras are one layer of a secure property. The same in-house crew also handles the rest:
- Keyless entry installation and smart lock installation
- Access control systems and commercial access control
- Video doorbells and intercoms
- Alarm system installation
- Complete unified security
Learn more about Revolvis, meet the team, see all services, browse the blog or contact us.
Areas We Serve
Revolvis installs residential and commercial camera systems across the New York metro area. Every borough and county has its own building stock, rules and wiring challenges, so the plan for a Queens two-family is not the plan for a Manhattan co-op.
- Staten Island: houses, detached garages and shop fronts. See security camera installation in Staten Island.
- Brooklyn: brownstones, row houses and storefronts. See security camera installation in Brooklyn.
- Queens: attached brick homes, two-families and busy commercial strips. See security camera installation in Queens.
- The Bronx: pre-war buildings, bodegas and warehouses. See security camera installation in the Bronx.
- Manhattan: co-ops, condos, offices and retail. See security camera installation in Manhattan.
- Long Island: Nassau County and Suffolk County.
- New Jersey: Jersey City, Newark, Hoboken and nearby towns.
The full list is on the service areas page.
Get a Custom Quote After a Site Visit
Revolvis prices every job after a site visit, because the building sets the cost as much as the equipment does. A few things make the estimate faster and more accurate:
- The address and property type: house, apartment, co-op, condo, storefront or warehouse.
- Which doors, sides and areas you want covered, and what worries you most.
- Photos of those spots and any spots where you already have cabling or power.
- How many days of footage you want to keep and whether you want to watch on your phone.
- Any landlord, board, lender or insurer requirement.
Call 347-258-9165 or use the contact page to book a site visit. The quote you receive is written and itemized, so you can compare it line by line.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cameras does a small business need? Typically four to eight, covering entrances, registers, stock and the back door.
How many does a restaurant need? Often eight to sixteen, including kitchen, back door and basement.
Do I need cameras outside? Usually at least one covering the entrance and sidewalk, and the back door or alley.
Can I start small? Yes. Choose a recorder with spare channels and plan wiring for expansion.
Does a bigger store need more cameras? Usually, but quality and placement matter more than a raw count.
Where should I not put cameras? Restrooms, locker rooms and changing areas.
Ready for a custom quote? Call Revolvis at 347-258-9165 for a site visit and a written, itemized estimate.
Safety note: A camera system supports, but does not replace, good locks, lighting, alarms and everyday habits. If you are in danger or witnessing a crime, call 911. Prices and legal summaries in this guide are general information for the New York metro area, not an offer or legal advice. A written quote after a site visit governs your actual price, and for legal questions you should confirm with the agencies linked in the article or a licensed attorney.