# Where to Buy a Business in Florida

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/florida
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 74,917 of 162,404 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 320.5
- Share of the national buyable market: 6.4%
- Rank among the guided states: 3
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 2,629 since FY2020, 628 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $769,000
- Population: 23,372,215

## The Deepest Counties in Florida

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.

- Miami-Dade: 8,204 buyable (11% of the state's)
- Broward: 6,591 buyable (8.8% of the state's)
- Palm Beach: 5,723 buyable (7.6% of the state's)
- Orange: 5,193 buyable (6.9% of the state's)
- Hillsborough: 4,870 buyable (6.5% of the state's)
- Pinellas: 3,720 buyable (5% of the state's)
- Duval: 3,662 buyable (4.9% of the state's)
- Lee: 2,867 buyable (3.8% of the state's)
- Brevard: 2,151 buyable (2.9% of the state's)
- Volusia: 1,984 buyable (2.6% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Florida

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 12,665 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 11,904 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 5,209 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 3,439 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 3,436 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 3,414 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business

## Before You Close in Florida

The buyer withholds enough of the purchase money to cover the seller's unpaid tax, interest and penalties, and a buyer who does not becomes personally liable for them.

Cited as Florida Statutes section 212.10.

## Next Door to Florida

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

- Alabama: 16,540 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/alabama)
- Georgia: 36,421 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/georgia)

## 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