# Where to Buy a Business in Hawaii

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/hawaii
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 4,831 of 8,717 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 334.1
- Share of the national buyable market: 0.4%
- Rank among the guided states: 43
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 45 since FY2020, 10 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $545,000
- Population: 1,446,146

## The Deepest Counties in Hawaii

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.

- Honolulu: 3,233 buyable (66.9% of the state's)
- Hawaii: 594 buyable (12.3% of the state's)
- Maui: 558 buyable (11.6% of the state's)
- Kauai: 284 buyable (5.9% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Hawaii

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 1,018 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 910 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 393 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 327 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 181 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 158 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store

## Before You Close in Hawaii

The purchaser in a bulk sale withholds payment of the purchase price until the department certifies that every tax, penalty and interest levied against the seller has been paid, and the sale is reported within ten days after possession, control or title passes. The purchaser is personally liable up to the purchase price where the report is not made or the tax is still unpaid twenty days after the sale.

Cited as HRS section 237-43.

## 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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