Deal Comps by Industry
Why It Matters
Before you pick an industry, it helps to see what deals in it actually look like: how much acquisition lending happens, the median loan behind a typical deal, how often those loans go bad, and the multiple the trade prices at. The band is carried for all 96 trades with a guide; the three lending figures need the loan file to resolve the trade at its own code, which it does for 35 of them. A trade with a band and no comp below is one the file cannot see separately, not one that does not trade. A multiple marked nearest classis read off a published class whose own scope does not name that trade, so it is our judgement about which class the trade most resembles rather than the publisher's classification of it. Each row links to its guide, and Underwrite a Deal runs your own numbers against the band.
The Comps
35 of 35
| Multiple | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-Service Restaurants | 1,971 | $427,600 | $1.34B | 6.7% | 1.34x to 2.53x SDE |
| Limited-Service Restaurants | 1,568 | $370,000 | $992M | 5.6% | 1.34x to 2.53x SDE |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers | 1,301 | $742,500 | $1.33B | 2.0% | 2.2x to 4x SDE |
| Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores | 1,063 | $1,412,300 | $1.93B | 0.4% | 1.32x to 2.77x SDE |
| General Automotive Repair | 798 | $592,850 | $648M | 5.0% | 1.7x to 3.26x SDE |
| Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors | 707 | $735,000 | $805M | 5.1% | 2x to 3.3x SDE |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages | 648 | $760,500 | $691M | 3.5% | Not cited |
| Landscaping Services | 588 | $500,000 | $498M | 4.5% | 1.7x to 3x SDE |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants | 458 | $500,000 | $347M | Too few | Not cited |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers | 408 | $303,750 | $220M | 12.2% | 1.72x to 3x SDE |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars | 387 | $350,000 | $217M | 7.8% | 1.34x to 2.53x SDE |
| Pharmacies and Drug Retailers | 352 | $1,100,000 | $518M | 3.7% | 1.69x to 3.75x SDE |
| Offices of Dentists | 345 | $740,800 | $340M | 0.0% | Not cited |
| Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly | 340 | $1,063,700 | $518M | Too few | Not cited |
| Janitorial Services | 312 | $400,000 | $192M | Too few | 1.57x to 2.66x SDE |
| Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors | 300 | $801,250 | $397M | Too few | 1.96x to 3.15x SDE |
| Beauty Salons | 297 | $270,000 | $148M | 2.7% | 1.25x to 2.34x SDE |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services | 288 | $473,000 | $213M | Too few | 2.02x to 3.74x SDE |
| Car Washes | 280 | $1,231,900 | $496M | 0.9% | 3.2x to 6.7x SDE |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services | 243 | $1,270,800 | $389M | Too few | 3.06x to 5.06x SDE |
| Lessors of Miniwarehouses and Self-Storage Units | 238 | $1,107,500 | $333M | Too few | Not cited |
| Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners | 218 | $499,250 | $175M | Too few | 2.72x to 4.5x SDE |
| Drycleaning and Laundry Services (except Coin-Operated) | 215 | $422,000 | $138M | 7.3% | 2.72x to 4.5x SDE |
| Child Day Care Services | 214 | $701,500 | $251M | 1.3% | 1.9x to 4x SDE |
| Automotive Body, Paint, and Interior Repair and Maintenance | 213 | $655,000 | $216M | Too few | 1.7x to 3.26x SDE |
The Published Bands
96 of 96
| What Moves It | Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting & Tax Practices | 1.61x-2.66x SDE, 0.92x-1.17x revenue (sold) | Mixed | 2025 marketplace averages ran near 1.1x revenue and 2.3x reported earnings; advisory-heavy firms price at the top of the band and heavy owner dependence discounts it. Bookkeeping books price more reliably on earnings. | BizBuySell, accounting and tax practice sold-listing benchmarks (2021-2025) |
| Adult Day Care | 2.5x to 3.5x SDE (single center) | SDE | Census times the per-diem is the revenue math, with Medicaid rates commonly $85-95 per participant-day; payer mix durability, the medical-versus-social license model, census against capacity, and the van fleet set the position. | Care-services valuation benchmarks (broker roundups) |
| Appliance Repair | 1.75x to 3.13x SDE (service class sold quartiles) | SDE | Warranty-network dispatch share, first-visit completion, and a parts room matched to the brands served set the position in the band. | BizBuySell service-business benchmarks (sold quartiles); no series names appliance repair |
| Assisted Living & Residential Care | 2.42x to 5.87x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Smaller residential care homes trade more on price per bed (about $20k-30k in tertiary markets to $80k-250k+ coastal) and the real estate, with a cap rate near 6.75%-7% on NOI for institutional assets; stabilized occupancy above 90%, private-pay share, average rate, and license transfer set the position. | BizBuySell, assisted living and nursing home sold-listing benchmarks (2021-2025) |
| ATM Routes | 0.92x to 2.22x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | The two curves that matter move against each other: withdrawals fall a few percent a year while the average withdrawal climbs, so revenue per machine drops as the cash each machine must hold rises. Placement contracts are short and terminable, so concentration in one chain is concentration in one signature. Interchange is set by the network and is the line to stress rather than project. | BizBuySell route benchmarks (sold listings, 2021 to 2025 quartiles; the class names ATM routes) |
| Auto Body & Collision | 1.70x to 3.26x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Insurer standing and revenue mix are the levers: DRP scorecards, OEM certifications, and in-house ADAS calibration move a shop up, while owner-dependent single locations without direct-repair relationships sit at the bottom. | BizBuySell, auto service and repair sold-listing benchmarks (2021-2025) |
| Auto Glass | 1.70x to 3.26x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Insurance-panel participation and in-house ADAS calibration carry the premium; single-carrier concentration discounts it. | BizBuySell, auto service and repair sold-listing benchmarks (2021-2025) |
| Auto Repair | 1.70x to 3.26x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Owner-dependent shops trade below the band; documented, manager-run shops with a repeat customer base are reported at 3x and above. Technician retention is the capacity question behind every multiple. | BizBuySell auto repair and service benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Bakeries | 1.61x to 2.84x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Structure moves the band more than quality: retail near 2-3.5x SDE, hybrids 3-4.5x EBITDA, pure wholesale 4-6x EBITDA; wholesale concentration, recipe documentation, and the 4am bench set the position. | BizBuySell bakery benchmarks (sold listings, 2021-2025) |
| Barbershops | 1.25x to 2.34x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Prices on the salon band with median sold-shop cash flow near $92k, so scale is the first question; membership share, barber tenure, and chair utilization lift the position, unreconciled cash lowers it. | BizBuySell hair salon and barbershop benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Bed & Breakfasts | 4.74x avg owner's earnings, property-inclusive | SDE | The 4.74x average includes the property's shelter and the owners' labor, so the appraisal anchors real pricing; after a market innkeeper's wage the cash flow often cannot carry acquisition debt. | Bed and breakfast valuation benchmarks (BizBuySell) |
| Breweries | 2.06x to 4.32x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Where the beer is sold moves the price more than how much is made. A brewery pouring most of its volume in its own taproom earns retail margin and answers to nobody but its landlord; one selling through wholesalers earns a fraction of it and carries distribution agreements that state franchise law can make very hard to end. Read the taproom share first, then the keg float, then the excise rate the buyer will actually pay. | BizBuySell brewery benchmarks (sold listings, 2021 to 2025 quartiles) |
| Car Washes | 3.2x to 6.7x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | EBITDA-based roundups report 4x to 7x for quality operations, self-serve at the low end, and express tunnels with roughly 40%-plus membership penetration at 8x and above; real estate is commonly part of the transaction. | BizBuySell car wash benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Carpet Cleaning | 1.57x to 2.66x SDE (cleaning class sold quartiles) | SDE | Repeat-customer rate and standing commercial accounts move the price; owner-on-the-truck books with purchased-lead volume sit at the floor. | BizBuySell cleaning and janitorial benchmarks (sold quartiles, sector blend) |
| Childcare Centers | 1.9x to 4x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Reported EBITDA bands run near 3.0x to 4.4x with single-location independents framed at 2x to 4x; sustained enrollment at or above 85% of staffed capacity is the federal benchmark, where 80% is a loss and not a healthy line, and licensed capacity (space and ratio rules) caps the upside above it. | BizBuySell day care and child care benchmarks (sold listings, 2021 to 2025 quartiles) |
| Coffee Shops & Cafes | 1.5x to 2.55x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | The 2025 sold-shop average slipped about 5% to roughly 2.2x; lease term, manager-run floors, and revenue past the morning daypart lift the position, owner-poured shifts and short leases lower it. | BizBuySell coffee shop and cafe benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Commercial Cleaning | 1.57x to 2.66x SDE (cleaning class sold quartiles) | SDE | Reported EBITDA bands run near 3.4x to 4.1x; multi-year commercial contracts with escalators price toward the top, and top-five customer concentration above roughly 40% of revenue compresses the multiple or forces retention earnouts. | BizBuySell cleaning and janitorial benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Concrete | 1.72x to 2.98x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Working capital and a thin market set this band. Half the receipts arrive as a subcontract paid on a general contractor's cycle, materials run about a third, and retainage sits behind the draw, so the company funds a large material order weeks before it is paid for it. The comparable market is lumpy: median sale price swung by more than a factor of two across five years and the median sold listing took 251 days. Form inventory is collateral that depreciates by use and not by year. | BizBuySell, concrete sold-listing benchmarks (2021-2025) |
| Convenience Stores & Gas Stations | 1.32x to 2.77x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | EBITDA bands run 3.67x to 4.38x and sites with real estate trade higher (into 7x to 9x); the inside-sales-to-fuel profit mix, foodservice development, fuel supply contract, and the environmental status of the underground tanks decide where a store lands. | BizBuySell convenience store benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Courier & Local Delivery | 0.92x to 2.22x SDE (sold quartiles, route class) | SDE | How the drivers are engaged is the largest swing in the price, because a reclassification moves the whole labor line. Cost per stop rebuilt from settlement statements, with charge-backs added back, is the only honest comparison between two routes. | BizBuySell route benchmarks (sold listings, class bracket) |
| Dental Practices | 0.84x collections, sold-listing avg | Mixed | Consolidator deals price on adjusted EBITDA instead, with sub-$1M-EBITDA practices reported around 5x to 7x; provider concentration is the leading deal-killer, and in most states only a licensed dentist can own the practice. | BizBuySell dental practice benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Dog Grooming | 1.4x to 2.5x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Rebooking rate and a stable groomer team are the levers: staff-run shops with a full, rebooked schedule trade toward the top, while owner-groomer shops whose book leaves with the owner sit at the bottom. | BizBuySell pet grooming benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Driving Schools | 1.56x to 2.94x SDE (sold-schools class) | SDE | Transferable state authorizations and district driver's-ed contracts sell the top of the band while owner-taught operations with tired fleets sell far below it; the dual-control fleet gives an asset floor the other lesson trades lack. | Sold-schools valuation benchmarks (BizBuySell class data) |
| Dry Cleaners | 1.42x to 2.55x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Modern alternative-solvent plants reach 2.5-3.0x while aging perc plants settle near 1.2-1.5x; the perc window, environmental history, and route share each swing price by roughly a fifth. | BizBuySell dry cleaner benchmarks (sold listings) |
| Drywall and Insulation | 1.81x to 3.13x SDE (sold quartiles) | SDE | Labor and the absence of collateral set this band. Payroll is a quarter of receipts, the highest labor share on its shelf, materials the lowest, and gross depreciable assets about fourteen percent, so a lender is on cash flow and personal guarantees. Nearly half the revenue is billed through pay applications behind retainage. And the trade is bought rarely and at size, forty-eight change-of-ownership approvals at a median near nine hundred thousand dollars, so comparable evidence for an appraiser is scarce. | BizBuySell, building and construction sold-listing benchmarks (2021-2025) |
Each band is the figure its industry guide carries, hedged to the source cited in the row and stated as a directional range rather than a comp. Multiples move with size, recurring revenue, owner dependence, and the deal market, so treat a band as the question to ask rather than the answer.
Method & Source
Loan counts, median loan, and total lending are computed from the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level file, filtered to change-of-ownership approvals (FY2020 through FY2025). Charge-off rates use the seasoned cohort (FY2018-19 change-of-ownership approvals (7-8 years seasoned)); industries below the publishing floor read “too few” rather than a number one default would swing. Charge-off rates come from the seasoned cohort only; FY2020+ loans are too young to have defaulted. Rates are a lower bound (open loans can still fail), so read the ordering, not the level. The multiple band is the figure the industry guide cites, hedged to its own source.