# Where to Buy a Business in Georgia

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/georgia
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 36,421 of 70,292 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 325.7
- Share of the national buyable market: 3.1%
- Rank among the guided states: 9
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 1,310 since FY2020, 261 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $920,000
- Population: 11,180,878

## The Deepest Counties in Georgia

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.

- Fulton: 4,479 buyable (12.3% of the state's)
- Gwinnett: 3,371 buyable (9.3% of the state's)
- Cobb: 2,971 buyable (8.2% of the state's)
- DeKalb: 2,287 buyable (6.3% of the state's)
- Chatham: 1,344 buyable (3.7% of the state's)
- Cherokee: 879 buyable (2.4% of the state's)
- Forsyth: 846 buyable (2.3% of the state's)
- Muscogee: 760 buyable (2.1% of the state's)
- Henry: 701 buyable (1.9% of the state's)
- Richmond: 682 buyable (1.9% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Georgia

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 7,288 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 5,766 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 2,422 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 1,950 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 1,925 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 1,463 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant

## Before You Close in Georgia

The successor withholds enough of the purchase money to cover the tax, interest and penalties until the former owner produces a receipt or a certificate that none are due, and a purchaser who does not is personally liable up to the purchase money.

Cited as O.C.G.A. section 48-8-46.

## Next Door to Georgia

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

- Alabama: 16,540 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/alabama)
- Florida: 74,917 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/florida)
- North Carolina: 39,632 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/north-carolina)
- South Carolina: 18,930 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/south-carolina)
- Tennessee: 23,855 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/tennessee)

## 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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