# Where to Buy a Business in Illinois

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/illinois
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 42,174 of 86,582 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 331.8
- Share of the national buyable market: 3.6%
- Rank among the guided states: 6
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 1,321 since FY2020, 311 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $692,000
- Population: 12,710,158

## The Deepest Counties in Illinois

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. Chicago (https://searchspheresource.com/data/metro-target-scans/chicago) is scanned in the Metro Target Scans, which rank the strongest industries in each region by loans approved, median loan size and seasoned charge-off.

- Cook: 16,065 buyable (38.1% of the state's)
- DuPage: 3,894 buyable (9.2% of the state's)
- Lake: 2,446 buyable (5.8% of the state's)
- Will: 2,314 buyable (5.5% of the state's)
- Kane: 1,698 buyable (4% of the state's)
- McHenry: 1,069 buyable (2.5% of the state's)
- Madison: 939 buyable (2.2% of the state's)
- Winnebago: 881 buyable (2.1% of the state's)
- St. Clair: 752 buyable (1.8% of the state's)
- Sangamon: 724 buyable (1.7% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Illinois

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 7,628 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 6,878 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 3,181 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 2,215 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 1,927 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 1,870 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center

## Before You Close in Illinois

The purchaser files notice of the sale with the Department of Revenue at least ten business days before it, and a purchaser who does not becomes personally liable for the seller's tax up to the value of what was bought.

Cited as 35 ILCS 120/5j.

## Next Door to Illinois

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

- Iowa: 11,982 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/iowa)
- Indiana: 23,903 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/indiana)
- Kentucky: 14,943 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/kentucky)
- Missouri: 22,224 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/missouri)
- Wisconsin: 21,765 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/wisconsin)

## 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