# Where to Buy a Business in Tennessee

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/tennessee
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 23,855 of 41,464 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 330
- Share of the national buyable market: 2%
- Rank among the guided states: 16
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 430 since FY2020, 106 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $797,800
- Population: 7,227,750

## The Deepest Counties in Tennessee

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.

- Davidson: 3,097 buyable (13% of the state's)
- Shelby: 3,053 buyable (12.8% of the state's)
- Knox: 2,043 buyable (8.6% of the state's)
- Hamilton: 1,579 buyable (6.6% of the state's)
- Williamson: 1,093 buyable (4.6% of the state's)
- Rutherford: 1,062 buyable (4.5% of the state's)
- Montgomery: 611 buyable (2.6% of the state's)
- Sumner: 602 buyable (2.5% of the state's)
- Sullivan: 535 buyable (2.2% of the state's)
- Washington: 506 buyable (2.1% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Tennessee

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 4,718 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 3,735 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 1,589 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 1,508 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 956 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 917 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business

## Before You Close in Tennessee

The purchaser withholds enough of the purchase price to cover the seller's unpaid sales tax unless the seller hands over a receipt showing it paid or a certificate saying none is due, and a purchaser who does not is liable for it.

Cited as Tennessee Department of Revenue, how tax debt follows a business when purchased.

## Next Door to Tennessee

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

- Alabama: 16,540 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/alabama)
- Arkansas: 10,505 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/arkansas)
- Georgia: 36,421 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/georgia)
- Kentucky: 14,943 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/kentucky)
- Missouri: 22,224 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/missouri)
- Mississippi: 9,700 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/mississippi)
- North Carolina: 39,632 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/north-carolina)
- Virginia: 31,567 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/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

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