# Where to Buy a Business in New Hampshire

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/new-hampshire
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 6,072 of 11,717 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 430.9
- Share of the national buyable market: 0.5%
- Rank among the guided states: 39
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 241 since FY2020, 52 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $372,000
- Population: 1,409,032

## The Deepest Counties in New Hampshire

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.

- Hillsborough: 1,657 buyable (27.3% of the state's)
- Rockingham: 1,576 buyable (26% of the state's)
- Merrimack: 638 buyable (10.5% of the state's)
- Strafford: 455 buyable (7.5% of the state's)
- Grafton: 420 buyable (6.9% of the state's)
- Cheshire: 249 buyable (4.1% of the state's)
- Belknap: 245 buyable (4% of the state's)
- Carroll: 238 buyable (3.9% of the state's)
- Sullivan: 75 buyable (1.2% of the state's)
- Coos: 62 buyable (1% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in New Hampshire

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 1,077 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 750 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 428 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 369 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 364 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 300 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center

## Before You Close in New Hampshire

New Hampshire asks a buyer for nothing at closing, publishes no clearance instrument, and writes the protection into the statute itself. A transferee is liable for the seller's tax only where the transfer was without adequate consideration, would render the seller insolvent, or would leave the seller without enough property in the state to cover the liability.

Cited as RSA 21-J:38.

## Next Door to New Hampshire

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

- Massachusetts: 27,394 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/massachusetts)
- Maine: 5,803 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/maine)
- 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