# Where to Buy a Business in Michigan

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/michigan
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 34,085 of 62,853 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 336.1
- Share of the national buyable market: 2.9%
- Rank among the guided states: 10
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 1,177 since FY2020, 270 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $635,000
- Population: 10,140,459

## The Deepest Counties in Michigan

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.

- Oakland: 5,445 buyable (16% of the state's)
- Wayne: 4,867 buyable (14.3% of the state's)
- Macomb: 2,907 buyable (8.5% of the state's)
- Kent: 2,594 buyable (7.6% of the state's)
- Washtenaw: 1,318 buyable (3.9% of the state's)
- Genesee: 1,255 buyable (3.7% of the state's)
- Ingham: 976 buyable (2.9% of the state's)
- Ottawa: 936 buyable (2.7% of the state's)
- Kalamazoo: 900 buyable (2.6% of the state's)
- Livingston: 639 buyable (1.9% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Michigan

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 6,122 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 5,296 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 2,833 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 1,997 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (NAICS 524210): 1,245 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-insurance-agency
- Pharmacies and Drug Retailers (NAICS 446110): 1,184 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-pharmacy

## Before You Close in Michigan

The purchaser escrows enough to cover the tax until the seller produces a receipt or a certificate, and on the seller's written waiver the Treasury releases the known or estimated liability within sixty days, which is what the escrow is sized against.

Cited as MCL 205.27a.

## Next Door to Michigan

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

- Indiana: 23,903 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/indiana)
- Ohio: 41,505 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/ohio)
- 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