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2.6× The typical small business for sale in the US asks 2.6 times its yearly cash flow.

We read the 39,587 established businesses listed for sale in the US and compared each asking price with the cash flow its seller reported.

What each industry asksThe data

The findings in eight sentences.

  1. The middle half of these businesses ask between 1.8 and 3.5 times their yearly cash flow.
  2. Bigger businesses ask more for each dollar of cash flow: 2.4 times below $250,000 a year, and 4.2 times at $2 million or more.
  3. 67% of the businesses that show their cash flow earn less than $250,000 a year.
  4. 41% of owners who say why they're selling are retiring. Their businesses are typically 23 years old, against 8 for other sellers.
  5. 18% of listings show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA. For listings posted by the owner instead of a broker, it's 25%.
  6. 22% of sellers offer to finance part of the price.
  7. Price cuts pile up with time on the market. 7% of listings posted in the last three months carry one, against 28% of those up for eight months or more.
  8. 1.2% of listings mention AI. Of those, 36% pitch it as a way to grow the business, 36% say the business already uses it, 23% sell it and 16% call the business AI-proof.

  1. $359k

    is what the typical small business for sale asks.

  2. 53%

    ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.

  3. 4.2×

    is what businesses earning $2 million or more ask. Below $250,000 a year, it's 2.4×.

  4. 41%

    of listings don't show a cash flow at all.

  5. 41%

    of owners who say why they're selling are retiring.

  6. 22%

    of sellers offer to finance part of the price.

What each industry asks.

Wholesale and distribution businesses ask 3.3 times their yearly cash flow and hair and beauty businesses 1.9 times. Restaurants and food, the biggest group, ask 2.4 times.

  1. Wholesale and distribution: median 3.3×, middle half from 2.5× to 4.5×
  2. Manufacturing: median 3.1×, middle half from 2.3× to 4.0×
  3. Delivery, moving and storage: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.4× to 3.5×
  4. Entertainment, leisure and lodging: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.1× to 4.2×
  5. Online businesses: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.1× to 3.9×
  6. Transportation: median 2.9×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.8×
  7. Financial services: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.5×
  8. Education and child care: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.1× to 3.8×
  9. Personal services: median 2.8×, middle half from 1.9× to 4.3×
  10. Home and garden: median 2.7×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.6×
  11. Auto: median 2.7×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.6×
  12. Health, medical and fitness: median 2.6×, middle half from 1.8× to 3.6×
  13. Clothing and fashion: median 2.6×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.7×
  14. Building and construction: median 2.6×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.5×
  15. Furniture: median 2.6×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.3×
  16. Professional services: median 2.6×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.3×
  17. Business services: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.5× to 3.6×
  18. Retail stores: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.3×
  19. Restaurants and food: median 2.4×, middle half from 1.8× to 3.2×
  20. Hair and beauty: median 1.9×, middle half from 1.2× to 2.9×

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Bigger businesses ask more for each dollar of cash flow.

Below $250,000 of yearly cash flow, the typical ask is 2.4 times. At $2 million or more, it's 4.2 times.

  1. Under $100k: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.6×
  2. $100k-250k: median 2.4×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.1×
  3. $250k-500k: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.6×
  4. $500k-1M: median 3.2×, middle half from 2.4× to 4.0×
  5. $1M-2M: median 3.6×, middle half from 2.8× to 4.6×
  6. $2M+: median 4.2×, middle half from 3.0× to 5.5×

Yearly cash flow

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Why owners sell.

41% of the owners who give a reason are retiring. Their businesses are typically 23 years old, against 8 for the rest.

  1. Retirement: 41%
  2. Other businesses or interests: 26%
  3. Relocation: 12%
  4. Family or personal: 8%
  5. Health: 4%
  6. Partners: 1%
  7. Burnout or time: 1%

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What a listing shows before you sign an NDA.

7% of listings show revenue, cash flow and EBITDA. 18% show none of the three, and 25% of the listings owners post themselves.

  1. All listings: All three 7%, One or two 75%, None 18%
  2. Listed by a broker: All three 7%, One or two 76%, None 17%
  3. Listed by the owner: All three 9%, One or two 66%, None 25%

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Asking prices come down the longer a business sits.

7% of listings posted in the last three months carry a price cut, against 28% of those up for eight months or more. When a seller cut the price in the days between our two reads, the typical cut was 17%.

  1. Up to 3 months: 7%
  2. 3 to 6 months: 20%
  3. 6 to 8 months: 25%
  4. 8 months or more: 28%

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What businesses ask in each state.

Most states sit between 2.5 and 2.7 times, a narrower spread than between industries. Businesses in Wisconsin ask the most, 3.0 times, and in Nevada the least, 2.3 times.

  1. FLFlorida: median 2.6×
  2. CACalifornia: median 2.5×
  3. TXTexas: median 2.6×
  4. NYNew York: median 2.5×
  5. NJNew Jersey: median 2.4×
  6. GAGeorgia: median 2.5×
  7. AZArizona: median 2.5×
  8. NCNorth Carolina: median 2.6×
  9. PAPennsylvania: median 2.4×
  10. ILIllinois: median 2.8×
  11. MIMichigan: median 2.5×
  12. OHOhio: median 2.5×
  13. COColorado: median 2.6×
  14. MAMassachusetts: median 2.5×
  15. WAWashington: median 2.7×
  16. VAVirginia: median 2.6×
  17. SCSouth Carolina: median 2.6×
  18. MDMaryland: median 2.6×
  19. TNTennessee: median 2.6×
  20. MOMissouri: median 2.8×
  21. CTConnecticut: median 2.5×
  22. MNMinnesota: median 2.9×
  23. NVNevada: median 2.3×
  24. INIndiana: median 2.6×
  25. OROregon: median 2.5×
  26. ALAlabama: median 2.6×
  27. WIWisconsin: median 3.0×
  28. UTUtah: median 2.8×
  29. OKOklahoma: median 2.4×
  30. LALouisiana: median 2.8×
  31. IAIowa: median 2.9×
  32. KYKentucky: median 2.7×
  33. IDIdaho: median 2.7×
  34. NHNew Hampshire: median 2.7×
  35. ARArkansas: median 2.7×
  36. KSKansas: median 2.4×
  37. MEMaine: Too few listings
  38. RIRhode Island: Too few listings
  39. NENebraska: Too few listings
  40. NMNew Mexico: Too few listings
  41. DCDistrict of Columbia: Too few listings
  42. HIHawaii: Too few listings
  43. DEDelaware: Too few listings
  44. MTMontana: Too few listings
  45. MSMississippi: Too few listings
  46. AKAlaska: Too few listings
  47. WYWyoming: Too few listings
  48. VTVermont: Too few listings
  49. SDSouth Dakota: Too few listings
  50. NDNorth Dakota: Too few listings
  51. WVWest Virginia: Too few listings

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What listings say about AI.

1.2% of listings mention AI, and newer listings mention it more: 1.6% of those posted in the last three months, against 0.7% of those up for eight months or more.

  1. Say the business already uses AI: 36%
  2. Pitch AI as a way to grow: 36%
  3. Sell AI to their customers: 23%
  4. Call the business AI-proof: 16%

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After the close.

We write the software a newly bought business runs on, one process at a time, such as quoting, scheduling or billing, and the new owner keeps the code. How we work with buyers and operating partners.

Book a thirty-minute callHow a build works

The data.

We read the listings on September 24, 2026, and their full details from September 25 to 30, 2026.

Industries by size (CSV)States (CSV)
How we did it

We read every listing on a major US online marketplace for businesses for sale on September 24, 2026, 44,526 in all, and went back to each one from September 25 to 30, 2026 for its full details. We kept the 39,587 established businesses. Franchise offers, startups, real estate, asset-only sales and auctions are out, and a business listed twice counts once.

Cash flow is the seller's discretionary earnings a listing reports: profit before the owner's pay, interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A multiple is the asking price divided by that cash flow. We left out multiples below 0.3 or above 20, and the 6% of listings whose price includes the property, because that price buys a building too. That leaves 20,975 multiples. A price or cash flow of zero counts as not shown.

Older listings use a flat list of categories and newer ones a two-level list. We mapped the flat list onto the two-level one by hand, checking where newer listings file the same kind of business. Industries and states with fewer than 100 multiples aren't charted, and the tables show every one.

Reasons for selling come from the seller's own line, grouped by their wording. A reason can fall into more than one group.

The marketplace doesn't show when a business was listed. Listing numbers rise with time, so we dated the listings numbered since late January 2026 from the last-modified dates of newer listings, and counted older ones as up for eight months or more. The price-cut flag is the marketplace's own.

A pattern found every listing that mentions AI or artificial intelligence, 531 of them. Jev, a model from TypeSafe that answers yes or no questions with a probability, read the sentences around each mention and answered five questions: whether the mention is about the business, and whether the business sells AI, uses it, could grow with it, or is pitched as safe from it. Another AI model then read every one of those listings and settled each answer, naming the sentences it relied on. A mention of the broker's own tools doesn't count.

These are asking prices. A business usually sells for less than it asks, and the multiples describe the sellers who show their cash flow. A marketplace at any moment holds more of the businesses that are slow to sell.

Every industry, by size
IndustryListingsMedianMiddle halfUnder $100k$100k-250k$250k-500k$500k-1M$1M-2M$2M+
Technology1443.3×2.9× to 4.6×
Wholesale and distribution4033.3×2.5× to 4.5×2.6×3.0×3.5×4.1×
Manufacturing1,4673.1×2.3× to 4.0×3.1×2.8×3.2×3.5×4.0×
Media1133.1×2.0× to 4.5×
Delivery, moving and storage6263.0×2.4× to 3.5×3.2×3.0×3.0×
Entertainment, leisure and lodging8213.0×2.1× to 4.2×2.8×2.8×3.7×
Online businesses4623.0×2.1× to 3.9×2.6×2.8×3.3×3.1×
Transportation4292.9×2.0× to 3.8×2.8×2.6×3.1×
Financial services3332.8×2.0× to 3.5×2.6×3.3×3.4×
Education and child care8712.8×2.1× to 3.8×2.4×2.9×3.0×
Personal services8092.8×1.9× to 4.3×3.2×2.5×2.7×
Home and garden9382.7×2.0× to 3.6×2.1×2.4×3.0×3.5×
Auto2,5382.7×1.9× to 3.6×2.8×2.4×2.9×3.4×
Health, medical and fitness3,1082.6×1.8× to 3.6×2.9×2.3×2.7×3.0×3.1×
Clothing and fashion4312.6×1.9× to 3.7×2.7×2.5×
Building and construction2,0742.6×1.7× to 3.5×2.5×2.2×2.5×3.2×3.9×4.1×
Furniture2312.6×2.0× to 3.3×2.6×2.3×2.4×
Professional services8602.6×2.0× to 3.3×2.5×2.4×2.7×2.9×
Business services3,5592.5×1.5× to 3.6×2.1×2.1×3.1×3.6×4.0×
Retail stores2,3852.5×1.7× to 3.3×2.3×2.4×2.8×3.2×
Restaurants and food12,6082.4×1.8× to 3.2×2.6×2.3×2.5×2.9×3.2×
Hair and beauty1,4421.9×1.2× to 2.9×2.0×1.7×2.3×
Chemicals42Too few listings
Every state
StateListingsMedian multiple
Florida5,0352.6×
California4,9882.5×
Texas3,5032.6×
New York2,7772.5×
New Jersey1,4312.4×
Georgia1,3562.5×
Arizona1,3452.5×
North Carolina1,2002.6×
Pennsylvania1,1852.4×
Illinois1,1682.8×
Michigan1,1002.5×
Ohio1,0262.5×
Colorado9792.6×
Massachusetts9052.5×
Washington9002.7×
Virginia8672.6×
South Carolina8172.6×
Maryland7092.6×
Tennessee6612.6×
Missouri5912.8×
Connecticut5342.5×
Minnesota5202.9×
Nevada4532.3×
Indiana4332.6×
Oregon4302.5×
Alabama4102.6×
Wisconsin3643.0×
Utah3322.8×
Oklahoma2912.4×
Louisiana2642.8×
Iowa2622.9×
Kentucky2352.7×
Idaho2202.7×
New Hampshire2182.7×
Arkansas2092.7×
Kansas1782.4×
Maine168Too few listings
Rhode Island158Too few listings
Nebraska146Too few listings
New Mexico145Too few listings
District of Columbia142Too few listings
Hawaii136Too few listings
Delaware135Too few listings
Montana130Too few listings
Mississippi129Too few listings
Alaska85Too few listings
Wyoming85Too few listings
Vermont75Too few listings
South Dakota72Too few listings
North Dakota43Too few listings
West Virginia42Too few listings
Cite this study

Fulkerson Advisors (2026). What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples

Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Questions

What multiple of cash flow do small businesses sell for?

Small businesses listed for sale in the US ask a median 2.6 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 1.8 and 3.5 times. Sale prices are usually lower than asking prices.

How much does a small business for sale cost?

The typical asking price is $359,000. The middle half ask between $175,000 and $900,000.

What are small business valuation multiples by industry?

Wholesale and distribution businesses ask the most, 3.3 times their yearly cash flow, followed by manufacturing at 3.1 and delivery, moving and storage at 3.0. Hair and beauty businesses ask the least, 1.9 times, after restaurants and food at 2.4 and retail stores at 2.5. Across all businesses the median is 2.6 times.

Do bigger businesses sell for higher multiples?

They ask for more. Businesses with under $250,000 of yearly cash flow ask a median 2.4 times it, those with $250,000 to $500,000 ask 2.8 times, $500,000 to $1 million 3.2 times, $1 million to $2 million 3.6 times, and $2 million or more 4.2 times.

Why do owners sell their small businesses?

41% of owners who give a reason are retiring. The next most common are other businesses or interests at 26%, relocation at 12% and family or personal at 8%.

How many businesses for sale offer seller financing?

22% of sellers offer to finance part of the price.