# Where to Buy a Business in California

Buyable means an establishment with five to ninety-nine employees in the 36 trades this site covers, counted from SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level dataset (as of June 30, 2026) and the Census establishment file.

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/california
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 137,681 of 264,143 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 349.2
- Share of the national buyable market: 11.8%
- Rank among the guided states: 1
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 3,788 since FY2020, 754 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $640,000
- Population: 39,431,263

## The Deepest Counties in California

Nobody searches a state; they search a metro they can drive across. These hold the most buyable targets in the covered trades, each with its share of the state's. Los Angeles (https://searchspheresource.com/data/metro-target-scans/la) is scanned in the Metro Target Scans, which rank the strongest industries in each region by loans approved, median loan size and seasoned charge-off.

- Los Angeles: 33,732 buyable (24.5% of the state's)
- Orange: 13,494 buyable (9.8% of the state's)
- San Diego: 12,232 buyable (8.9% of the state's)
- Riverside: 7,397 buyable (5.4% of the state's)
- Santa Clara: 7,261 buyable (5.3% of the state's)
- San Bernardino: 6,403 buyable (4.7% of the state's)
- Alameda: 5,769 buyable (4.2% of the state's)
- Sacramento: 5,357 buyable (3.9% of the state's)
- Contra Costa: 4,016 buyable (2.9% of the state's)
- San Francisco: 3,947 buyable (2.9% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in California

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 26,359 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 22,999 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 12,332 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 9,299 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 5,117 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 4,471 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center

## Before You Close in California

The buyer withholds enough of the purchase price to cover the seller's liability until the state issues a certificate, and a buyer who does not withhold becomes personally liable up to the purchase price.

Cited as California Revenue and Taxation Code sections 6811 and 6812.

## Next Door to California

Nobody buys a state. These are the states California touches, with the buyable businesses each holds in the same 36 trades.

- Arizona: 23,735 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/arizona)
- Nevada: 11,315 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/nevada)
- Oregon: 16,968 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/oregon)

## Method and Source

- Establishment counts: 2023, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp.html
- Population: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest.html
- Lending: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level dataset (as of June 30, 2026), FY2020 through FY2025

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt