# Where to Buy a Business in Massachusetts

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/massachusetts
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 27,394 of 54,593 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 383.9
- Share of the national buyable market: 2.3%
- Rank among the guided states: 14
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 708 since FY2020, 151 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $430,500
- Population: 7,136,171

## The Deepest Counties in Massachusetts

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.

- Middlesex: 6,366 buyable (23.2% of the state's)
- Norfolk: 3,209 buyable (11.7% of the state's)
- Essex: 3,050 buyable (11.1% of the state's)
- Worcester: 2,978 buyable (10.9% of the state's)
- Suffolk: 2,897 buyable (10.6% of the state's)
- Plymouth: 2,178 buyable (8% of the state's)
- Bristol: 2,071 buyable (7.6% of the state's)
- Hampden: 1,453 buyable (5.3% of the state's)
- Barnstable: 1,236 buyable (4.5% of the state's)
- Berkshire: 545 buyable (2% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Massachusetts

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 4,717 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 3,530 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 2,130 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 1,961 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 1,477 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 1,130 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business

## Before You Close in Massachusetts

A corporation selling substantially all of its Massachusetts assets notifies the Commissioner in writing at least five days before the sale and pays what it owes to that date. If it does not, the Commonwealth takes a lien on the assets effective immediately before the transfer.

Cited as M.G.L. chapter 62C section 51.

## Next Door to Massachusetts

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

- Connecticut: 13,789 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/connecticut)
- New Hampshire: 6,072 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/new-hampshire)
- New York: 64,697 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/new-york)
- Rhode Island: 4,330 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/rhode-island)
- Vermont: 2,695 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/vermont)

## 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