Business-for-Sale Market Report: October 2026
TL;DR: On October 20, 2026, the 12 marketplaces we index carried 74,402 live business-for-sale listings. Matching the businesses posted more than once leaves 54,794 distinct businesses. The headline numbers:
- 54,794 distinct businesses for sale, from 74,402 live listings. More than one listing in four (26.4%) repeats a business already listed.
- $370K median asking price for a Main Street (not online) business.
- 2.7x median asking multiple of reported cash flow for Main Street businesses.
- About 2,100 new businesses a week come onto the market.
- 13.3% of businesses are listed on two or more marketplaces. The rest appear on exactly one, so searching a single site misses most of the market.
This is the first of a monthly series. Every figure comes from our own index of live listings, explained in the methodology section at the end. Asking prices are what sellers want, not what businesses sell for.
How big is the business-for-sale market right now?
| Measure | October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Live listings across 12 marketplaces | 74,402 |
| Distinct businesses after matching repeats | 54,794 |
| Listings that repeat a business already listed | 19,608 (26.4%) |
| Businesses listed on 2 or more marketplaces | 7,301 (13.3%) |
| Main Street businesses | 49,290 (90.0%) |
| Online businesses (websites, SaaS, ecommerce, content) | 5,504 (10.0%) |
Repeats come from two places. Brokers cross-post the same business to several marketplaces, and some post the same business more than once on a single site. Either way, a buyer scrolling listings sees roughly 1.36 listings for every real business.
BizBuySell is by far the largest source, with 45,416 live listings, followed by BusinessesForSale.com with 19,537 and Flippa with 5,516. The other nine marketplaces together carry about 3,900. Size is not the same as reach: because 86.7% of businesses appear on only one marketplace, the smaller sites still hold businesses you will not find on the big one. Our comparison of all 12 marketplaces covers what each is best for.
What do Main Street businesses cost?
The median Main Street business is asking $370K (based on the 43,403 that list an asking price). For those that report it, the median cash flow is $176K, and the median asking price is 2.7 times reported cash flow.
| Asking price | Main Street businesses | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $250K | 15,833 | 36.5% |
| $250K to $1M | 17,486 | 40.3% |
| $1M to $5M | 8,513 | 19.6% |
| $5M and up | 1,571 | 3.6% |
Three quarters of the market asks under $1M. Businesses asking $1M or more, where most SBA-financed acquisitions by searchers and first-time buyers land, are about 23% of supply, a little over 10,000 businesses nationwide.
Online businesses are a different market. Their median asking price is about $9K, and 78.7% ask under $50K, because open marketplaces like Flippa list many small sites and apps. We report them separately so they do not drag the Main Street figures down.
Which industries have the most businesses for sale?
Main Street industries, by number of distinct businesses. Medians are shown only where at least 30 businesses report the figure.
| Industry | Businesses | Median asking | Median cash flow | Median multiple | Multiple sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food & Beverage | 11,312 | $295K | $142K | 2.5x | 5,936 |
| Services | 7,345 | $338K | $179K | 2.5x | 4,600 |
| Home Services | 4,419 | $400K | $218K | 2.5x | 3,243 |
| Franchise | 3,173 | $250K | $121K | 2.8x | 1,011 |
| Healthcare | 2,082 | $550K | $286K | 2.9x | 1,188 |
| Retail | 1,644 | $312K | $139K | 2.8x | 993 |
| Auto Services | 1,622 | $650K | $200K | 3.0x | 963 |
| Beauty | 1,526 | $174K | $110K | 2.1x | 950 |
| Delivery Routes | 1,501 | $450K | $203K | 2.8x | 1,274 |
| Manufacturing | 1,401 | $796K | $264K | 3.5x | 899 |
| Construction | 1,202 | $1.25M | $420K | 3.3x | 769 |
| Gas Station & Convenience | 1,089 | $447K | $151K | 2.5x | 535 |
| E-Commerce & Online | 912 | $300K | $182K | 3.0x | 454 |
| Childcare & Education | 862 | $550K | $152K | 3.2x | 453 |
| Liquor Store | 773 | $480K | $150K | 3.0x | 373 |
Food and beverage businesses alone are one business in five. Construction is the only large industry with a median asking price over $1M.
Which industries ask the highest and lowest multiples?
Among industries with at least 30 businesses reporting both an asking price and cash flow:
| Highest median multiple | Multiple | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Laundromat | 4.7x | 206 |
| Agriculture | 4.2x | 53 |
| Waste Management | 3.8x | 38 |
| Manufacturing | 3.5x | 899 |
| Distribution | 3.5x | 357 |
| Lowest median multiple | Multiple | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke & Vape | 2.0x | 240 |
| Beauty | 2.1x | 950 |
| Dry Cleaning | 2.2x | 294 |
| Property Management | 2.3x | 65 |
| Accounting & Tax | 2.4x | 564 |
The pattern is familiar to anyone who has priced these deals. Laundromats, waste haulers, and manufacturers own equipment and serve customers who come back on their own, so sellers ask more per dollar of cash flow. Salons, vape shops, and dry cleaners depend more on the owner, a lease, and walk-in traffic, so the market prices them lower. Agriculture and Waste Management have small samples, so treat those two medians as directional.
Where are businesses for sale located?
82.4% of Main Street businesses list a state. Of those 40,602, the top 15 states:
| State | Businesses | Share of located | Median asking | Median multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 5,001 | 12.3% | $350K | 2.7x |
| California | 4,922 | 12.1% | $340K | 2.6x |
| Texas | 3,475 | 8.6% | $350K | 2.7x |
| New York | 2,675 | 6.6% | $425K | 2.6x |
| New Jersey | 1,532 | 3.8% | $389K | 2.5x |
| Arizona | 1,487 | 3.7% | $295K | 2.5x |
| Georgia | 1,402 | 3.5% | $350K | 2.6x |
| North Carolina | 1,331 | 3.3% | $335K | 2.7x |
| Pennsylvania | 1,309 | 3.2% | $375K | 2.6x |
| Illinois | 1,177 | 2.9% | $400K | 3.1x |
| Ohio | 1,127 | 2.8% | $365K | 2.6x |
| Michigan | 1,107 | 2.7% | $400K | 2.8x |
| Colorado | 1,049 | 2.6% | $352K | 2.7x |
| Massachusetts | 944 | 2.3% | $399K | 2.6x |
| Virginia | 942 | 2.3% | $300K | 2.7x |
Florida, California, and Texas together hold a third of located supply. Asking multiples are remarkably flat across states, between 2.5x and 2.8x almost everywhere. Illinois, at 3.1x, is the only top-15 state above 3x. New York has the highest median asking price of the 15.
How many new businesses come to market each week?
About 2,100. In the three most recent weeks, 2,032, 2,206, and 2,037 businesses appeared on the market for the first time, meaning the earliest listing of the business, on any marketplace, fell inside that week. BizBuySell accounts for roughly two thirds of new supply each week.
The week before those shows 5,446, but most of that jump is a crawl change rather than a flood of sellers: Flippa listings that were already live entered our index that week. We exclude it from the weekly rate.
What this means for buyers
- Search more than one marketplace. 86.7% of businesses are listed on only one site, and the second and third largest marketplaces carry about 25,000 listings between them. Checking only BizBuySell means never seeing a large share of the market.
- Expect to see every good business more than once. One listing in four is a repeat, which is why tracking what you have already reviewed matters as much as finding new deals. You can search these listings in one place, with repeats removed.
- Use the multiple as a first filter, not a price. A Main Street business asking well above 2.7x needs a reason: recurring revenue, owned equipment, a business that runs without the owner. One asking well below it usually has a reason too.
- The $1M+ segment is smaller than it looks. If you are buying with SBA financing and want $300K or more of cash flow, your realistic pool is a few thousand businesses nationwide, spread across 12 sites. Speed matters more there than anywhere.
- About 60% of Main Street listings report cash flow. The rest make you ask. A listing without a cash flow figure is not necessarily a bad business, but it is a slower one to evaluate.
Methodology
- Snapshot. All live listings in our index on October 20, 2026. A listing is live when it was present on its marketplace at the most recent crawl.
- Marketplaces. BizBuySell, BusinessesForSale.com, Flippa, BusinessBroker.net, Sunbelt Business Brokers, BizBen, DealStream, Website Closers, Quiet Light, Empire Flippers, Synergy Business Brokers, and Rejigg.
- Distinct businesses. Listings are grouped when they describe the same business, matched on state, asking price, cash flow, and listing details. Each group counts once.
- Financials. Asking price and cash flow are the figures the listing reports, taken from the business's primary listing, or from another listing of the same business when the primary one leaves it blank. Cash flow is whatever the listing calls cash flow or seller's discretionary earnings. Sellers report it themselves, unaudited.
- Multiples. Asking price divided by reported cash flow, for businesses that report both. Values below 0.2x or above 25x, almost always a mistyped figure, are excluded (719 businesses). All averages in this report are medians.
- Online businesses. Businesses listed on the online-business marketplaces (Flippa, Empire Flippers, Quiet Light, and Website Closers) are reported separately throughout, because their prices sit on a different scale. Online businesses listed on general marketplaces stay in Main Street, under E-Commerce & Online.
- New businesses. A business counts as new in the week its earliest listing on any marketplace first appeared in our index.
- Asking is not selling. These are asking prices. Final sale prices are typically lower, and many listings never sell.
Frequently asked questions
How many businesses are for sale in the US right now?
As of October 20, 2026, about 54,800 distinct businesses were listed for sale across the 12 largest US business-for-sale marketplaces. Those businesses account for 74,402 live listings, because about a quarter of listings repeat a business that is already listed.
What is the average asking price for a small business?
The median asking price for a Main Street (not online) business is $370K. About 36.5% ask under $250K, 40.3% ask between $250K and $1M, and 23.2% ask $1M or more.
What multiple do small businesses sell for?
The median Main Street business asks 2.7 times its reported cash flow. Most industries fall between 2.5x and 3.0x. Laundromats ask the highest median multiple, at 4.7x, and smoke and vape shops the lowest, at 2.0x. Sale prices usually settle below asking.
Which state has the most businesses for sale?
Florida, with 5,001 Main Street businesses, followed closely by California with 4,922 and Texas with 3,475. Those three states hold about a third of all Main Street businesses for sale that list a location.
How many new businesses are listed for sale each week?
About 2,100 businesses come onto the market each week, counting a business only the first time it appears on any marketplace.
Is BizBuySell the whole market?
No. BizBuySell is the largest marketplace, with about 45,000 live listings, but 86.7% of businesses for sale are listed on only one marketplace, so a large share of the market never appears there.