# Where to Buy a Business in Maine

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/maine
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 5,803 of 11,992 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 413
- Share of the national buyable market: 0.5%
- Rank among the guided states: 41
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 159 since FY2020, 29 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $250,000
- Population: 1,405,012

## The Deepest Counties in Maine

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.

- Cumberland: 1,669 buyable (28.8% of the state's)
- York: 768 buyable (13.2% of the state's)
- Penobscot: 575 buyable (9.9% of the state's)
- Kennebec: 441 buyable (7.6% of the state's)
- Androscoggin: 411 buyable (7.1% of the state's)
- Aroostook: 211 buyable (3.6% of the state's)
- Hancock: 189 buyable (3.3% of the state's)
- Knox: 157 buyable (2.7% of the state's)
- Oxford: 125 buyable (2.2% of the state's)
- Somerset: 104 buyable (1.8% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Maine

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 945 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 653 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 500 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 353 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 342 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 298 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant

## Before You Close in Maine

A successor to a business that owed Maine trust fund taxes withholds enough of the purchase money to cover those taxes, interest and penalties until the former owner produces the State Tax Assessor's receipt showing payment or a certificate that nothing is due. A purchaser who does not withhold is jointly and severally liable up to the purchase price and can be assessed for six years after the sale.

Cited as 36 M.R.S. section 177(6).

## Next Door to Maine

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

- New Hampshire: 6,072 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/new-hampshire)

## 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