# Where to Buy a Business in West Virginia

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/west-virginia
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 5,827 of 9,851 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 329.2
- Share of the national buyable market: 0.5%
- Rank among the guided states: 40
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 87 since FY2020, 14 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $832,000
- Population: 1,769,979

## The Deepest Counties in West Virginia

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.

- Kanawha: 703 buyable (12.1% of the state's)
- Monongalia: 415 buyable (7.1% of the state's)
- Cabell: 335 buyable (5.7% of the state's)
- Wood: 291 buyable (5% of the state's)
- Berkeley: 265 buyable (4.5% of the state's)
- Harrison: 228 buyable (3.9% of the state's)
- Raleigh: 203 buyable (3.5% of the state's)
- Ohio: 173 buyable (3% of the state's)
- Putnam: 160 buyable (2.7% of the state's)
- Marion: 139 buyable (2.4% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in West Virginia

- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 1,075 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 939 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 651 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 359 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Pharmacies and Drug Retailers (NAICS 446110): 341 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-pharmacy
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 250 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center

## Before You Close in West Virginia

The successor is personally liable once the seller's thirty days to pay expire, unless the purchase was at arm's length and the buyer withheld enough of the consideration until the seller produced the Tax Commissioner's receipt. What is owed is a lien on the successor's property.

Cited as W. Va. Code section 11-10-11(f).

## Next Door to West Virginia

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

- Kentucky: 14,943 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/kentucky)
- Maryland: 20,716 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/maryland)
- Ohio: 41,505 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/ohio)
- Pennsylvania: 44,963 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/pennsylvania)
- 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

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt