# Where to Buy a Business in Texas

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/texas
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 97,820 of 178,217 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 312.6
- Share of the national buyable market: 8.4%
- Rank among the guided states: 2
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 2,815 since FY2020, 666 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $889,500
- Population: 31,290,831

## The Deepest Counties in Texas

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.

- Harris: 15,245 buyable (15.6% of the state's)
- Dallas: 9,357 buyable (9.6% of the state's)
- Tarrant: 7,459 buyable (7.6% of the state's)
- Bexar: 6,475 buyable (6.6% of the state's)
- Travis: 5,084 buyable (5.2% of the state's)
- Collin: 4,346 buyable (4.4% of the state's)
- Denton: 3,034 buyable (3.1% of the state's)
- El Paso: 2,651 buyable (2.7% of the state's)
- Fort Bend: 2,580 buyable (2.6% of the state's)
- Williamson: 2,363 buyable (2.4% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Texas

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 19,913 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 14,535 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 6,986 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 5,669 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 4,673 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (NAICS 722515): 4,536 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant

## Before You Close in Texas

The buyer withholds enough of the purchase price to cover the seller's unpaid taxes, penalty and interest until the seller produces a receipt or a Certificate of No Tax Due.

Cited as Texas Tax Code section 111.020.

## Next Door to Texas

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

- Arkansas: 10,505 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/arkansas)
- Louisiana: 16,009 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/louisiana)
- New Mexico: 7,050 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/new-mexico)
- Oklahoma: 14,213 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/oklahoma)

## 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