# Where to Buy a Business in Delaware

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/delaware
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 3,870 of 7,045 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 367.9
- Share of the national buyable market: 0.3%
- Rank among the guided states: 45
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 90 since FY2020, 20 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $472,400
- Population: 1,051,917

## The Deepest Counties in Delaware

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.

- New Castle: 2,213 buyable (57.2% of the state's)
- Sussex: 937 buyable (24.2% of the state's)
- Kent: 589 buyable (15.2% of the state's)
- 10999: 3 buyable (0.1% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Delaware

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 673 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 556 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 261 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 223 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Landscaping Services (NAICS 561730): 165 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-landscaping-business
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 158 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant

## Before You Close in Delaware

Delaware asks a buyer for nothing at closing, with no bulk sale notice, no escrow and no clearance condition anywhere in its revenue title. A transferee's liability for the seller's tax is assessed, paid and collected in the same manner and under the same limitations as the tax itself, with one extra year in which to assess an initial transferee. The Certificate of Tax Clearance the Division of Revenue does issue covers corporate and personal income taxes rather than this.

Cited as 30 Del. C. section 560.

## Next Door to Delaware

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

- Maryland: 20,716 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/maryland)
- New Jersey: 31,865 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/new-jersey)
- Pennsylvania: 44,963 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/pennsylvania)

## 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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