# Where to Buy a Business in Colorado

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/colorado
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 23,585 of 46,704 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 395.9
- Share of the national buyable market: 2%
- Rank among the guided states: 18
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 1,401 since FY2020, 310 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $654,000
- Population: 5,957,493

## The Deepest Counties in Colorado

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.

- Denver: 2,917 buyable (12.4% of the state's)
- Arapahoe: 2,728 buyable (11.6% of the state's)
- El Paso: 2,714 buyable (11.5% of the state's)
- Jefferson: 2,430 buyable (10.3% of the state's)
- Larimer: 1,670 buyable (7.1% of the state's)
- Adams: 1,561 buyable (6.6% of the state's)
- Boulder: 1,490 buyable (6.3% of the state's)
- Douglas: 1,222 buyable (5.2% of the state's)
- Weld: 1,049 buyable (4.4% of the state's)
- Mesa: 559 buyable (2.4% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Colorado

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 3,927 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 3,888 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 1,711 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 1,292 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 1,040 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 939 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business

## Before You Close in Colorado

Anyone buying an existing retail business withholds enough of the purchase money to cover the outstanding taxes the seller owes until the seller provides a tax status letter showing they are paid, and a buyer of the assets otherwise assumes the unpaid liability.

Cited as Colorado Department of Revenue, buying or selling a business.

## Next Door to Colorado

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

- Arizona: 23,735 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/arizona)
- Kansas: 10,949 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/kansas)
- Nebraska: 8,187 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/nebraska)
- New Mexico: 7,050 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/new-mexico)
- Oklahoma: 14,213 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/oklahoma)
- Utah: 11,876 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/utah)
- Wyoming: 2,640 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/wyoming)

## 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

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