3.5× The typical equipment rental business for sale in the US asks 3.5 times its yearly cash flow.
We read 170 equipment rental businesses listed for sale on a major online marketplace and compared each asking price with the cash flow its seller reported.
The findings in eight sentences.
- The middle half of equipment rental businesses ask between 2.5 and 4.9 times their yearly cash flow.
- Equipment rental businesses ask more than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for an equipment rental business is $846,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical equipment rental business asks 1.2 times its yearly sales.
- 32% of equipment rental businesses for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 51% of owners who say why they're selling are retiring.
- 8% of equipment rental businesses for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 16% of the equipment rental businesses for sale are listed in Florida, 12% in California and 12% in Texas.
Of the business service industries, equipment rental businesses ask more than most.
IT and software services firms ask the most, 3.6 times their yearly cash flow, and vending machine routes the least, 2.2 times.
- IT and software services firms: median 3.6×, middle half from 2.7× to 4.7×
- Equipment rental businesses: median 3.5×, middle half from 2.5× to 4.9×
- Waste management and recycling companies: median 3.4×, middle half from 2.0× to 4.7×
- Marketing and advertising agencies: median 3.1×, middle half from 2.5× to 3.8×
- Architecture and engineering firms: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.2× to 4.0×
- Websites and ecommerce businesses: median 2.9×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.7×
- Insurance agencies: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.6×
- Print shops and promotional products businesses: median 2.6×, middle half from 2.2× to 3.3×
- Accounting, tax and law practices: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.2×
- Vending machine routes: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.4× to 3.1×
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42% of equipment rental businesses ask more than four times their yearly cash flow.
39% ask between two and four, and 19% less than two.
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Bigger equipment rental businesses ask more for each dollar of cash flow.
The typical ask is 3.2 times at $100,000 to $250,000 of yearly cash flow and 4.0 times at $250,000 to $500,000.
- $100k to $250k: median 3.2×, middle half from 2.1× to 4.4×
- $250k to $500k: median 4.0×, middle half from 3.0× to 6.0×
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What an equipment rental business like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$492,000 to $1,040,000
The typical one asks $754,000, 3.2× its yearly cash flow.
Based on equipment rental businesses with $100k to $250k of yearly cash flow. These are asking prices, not sale prices or appraisals.
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.
The data.
We read the listings on September 24, 2026, and their full details from September 25 to 30, 2026.
Questions
What multiple of cash flow do equipment rental businesses sell for?
Equipment rental businesses listed for sale in the US ask a median 3.5 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 2.5 and 4.9 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy an equipment rental business?
The typical equipment rental business for sale asks $846,000, and the middle half ask between $278,000 and $1,638,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many equipment rental businesses for sale offer seller financing?
32% of equipment rental businesses for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do equipment rental businesses ask?
The typical equipment rental business for sale asks 1.2 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.6 and 1.8 times.
Why are equipment rental businesses for sale?
51% of owners who give a reason are retiring. 24% are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 8% are selling for family or personal reasons.
How we did it
We read every listing on a major US online marketplace for businesses for sale on September 24, 2026, and went back to each one from September 25 to 30, 2026 for its full details. This page covers the 170 established equipment rental businesses among them. 120 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 106 of those are left after the exclusions below.
Older listings use a flat list of named categories, and newer ones a two-level list whose subcategories have no names. A listing without its own photo shows its category's default photo. Each default photo almost always shows up in a single newer subcategory, so each named category joins the subcategory where its photo appears.
A multiple is the asking price divided by the seller's discretionary earnings the listing reports. We left out multiples below 0.3 or above 20, and listings whose price includes the property. Prices and cash flows on this page come from the listings with a multiple. These are asking prices, and a business usually sells for less than it asks. The full method.
Cite this page
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). What equipment rental businesses for sale ask. From What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples/equipment-rental
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.