# Where to Buy a Business in Maryland

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/maryland
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 20,716 of 38,863 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 330.8
- Share of the national buyable market: 1.8%
- Rank among the guided states: 22
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 468 since FY2020, 108 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $692,500
- Population: 6,263,220

## The Deepest Counties in Maryland

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.

- Montgomery: 3,592 buyable (17.3% of the state's)
- Baltimore: 3,005 buyable (14.5% of the state's)
- Prince George's: 2,363 buyable (11.4% of the state's)
- Anne Arundel: 2,289 buyable (11% of the state's)
- Baltimore city: 1,370 buyable (6.6% of the state's)
- Howard: 1,253 buyable (6% of the state's)
- Frederick: 988 buyable (4.8% of the state's)
- Harford: 849 buyable (4.1% of the state's)
- Carroll: 689 buyable (3.3% of the state's)
- Washington: 535 buyable (2.6% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Maryland

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 3,701 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 2,731 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 1,577 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 959 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 906 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business
- Landscaping Services (NAICS 561730): 821 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-landscaping-business

## Before You Close in Maryland

On a bulk transfer, once the Comptroller files a claim for the sales and use tax the transferor owes, the transferee withholds the amount claimed out of what would go to the seller.

Cited as Maryland Tax-General section 11-505.

## Next Door to Maryland

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

- Washington, D.C.: 2,578 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/washington-dc)
- Delaware: 3,870 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/delaware)
- Pennsylvania: 44,963 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/pennsylvania)
- Virginia: 31,567 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/virginia)
- West Virginia: 5,827 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/west-virginia)

## 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