# Where to Buy a Business in Rhode Island

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/rhode-island
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 4,330 of 8,871 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 389.3
- Share of the national buyable market: 0.4%
- Rank among the guided states: 44
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 106 since FY2020, 29 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $500,000
- Population: 1,112,308

## The Deepest Counties in Rhode Island

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.

- Providence: 2,284 buyable (52.7% of the state's)
- Kent: 784 buyable (18.1% of the state's)
- Washington: 511 buyable (11.8% of the state's)
- Newport: 365 buyable (8.4% of the state's)
- Bristol: 149 buyable (3.4% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Rhode Island

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 816 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 604 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 336 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 239 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 197 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 149 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business

## Before You Close in Rhode Island

A taxpayer selling the major part in value of its assets outside the ordinary course notifies the tax administrator at least five days beforehand of the price, the terms and the character and location of the assets, by requesting a letter of good standing. It files every return and pays every tax due at that time, and a sale made without that notice is fraudulent and void as against the state.

Cited as R.I. Gen. Laws section 44-19-22.

## Next Door to Rhode Island

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

- Connecticut: 13,789 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/connecticut)
- Massachusetts: 27,394 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/massachusetts)

## 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

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