# Where to Buy a Business in Wisconsin

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/wisconsin
Last checked: 2026-09-23

## The Opportunity

- Buyable businesses: 21,765 of 40,218 establishments in the covered trades
- Buyable per 100,000 residents: 365.1
- Share of the national buyable market: 1.9%
- Rank among the guided states: 20
- SBA change-of-ownership loans: 1,113 since FY2020, 176 of them in FY2025
- Median loan: $572,000
- Population: 5,960,975

## The Deepest Counties in Wisconsin

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. Chicago (https://searchspheresource.com/data/metro-target-scans/chicago) is scanned in the Metro Target Scans, which rank the strongest industries in each region by loans approved, median loan size and seasoned charge-off.

- Milwaukee: 3,079 buyable (14.1% of the state's)
- Dane: 2,345 buyable (10.8% of the state's)
- Waukesha: 1,794 buyable (8.2% of the state's)
- Brown: 989 buyable (4.5% of the state's)
- Outagamie: 764 buyable (3.5% of the state's)
- Racine: 628 buyable (2.9% of the state's)
- Winnebago: 580 buyable (2.7% of the state's)
- Rock: 490 buyable (2.3% of the state's)
- Kenosha: 484 buyable (2.2% of the state's)
- Washington: 483 buyable (2.2% of the state's)

## What Trades Run Deepest in Wisconsin

- Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511): 3,648 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Limited-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722513): 3,164 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-restaurant
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores (NAICS 447110): 1,510 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-convenience-store
- Offices of Dentists (NAICS 621210): 1,368 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice
- Child Care Services (NAICS 624410): 1,062 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-childcare-center
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220): 838 buyable. https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-hvac-business

## Before You Close in Wisconsin

The successor withholds enough of the purchase price until the former owner produces a receipt or a certificate, and a purchaser who does not is personally liable to the extent of the purchase price.

Cited as Wis. Stat. section 77.52(18).

## Next Door to Wisconsin

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

- Iowa: 11,982 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/iowa)
- Illinois: 42,174 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/illinois)
- Michigan: 34,085 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/michigan)
- Minnesota: 20,943 buyable (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/states/minnesota)

## 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