Small Business Sale Research and Data

Research on owning and selling a small business, built from public data you can check: every number links to its source, every table downloads as a CSV, and every report shows how to reproduce it.

SMBB registry of state bulk sale and tax successor rules (hand-coded from official texts) · Updated 2026-10-28

Bulk Sales Law by State: Tax Clearance Certificates and Notice Deadlines (2026)

A registry of the tax-side bulk sale rules in all 50 states and D.C., read from statutes, rules and revenue department forms, with the lead times a seller should plan around.

State real estate license statutes (definitions sections), coded by SMBB; Census SUSB 2022 for firm weights · Updated 2026-10-28

Business Broker License Requirements by State: A 2026 Registry of 51 Jurisdictions

We read the definitions section of each state's real estate license law to find out when a person who sells businesses for a fee needs a license, and which one.

Census Annual Business Survey, Characteristics of Business Owners (table AB2300CSCBO) · Updated 2026-11-02

Age of Small Business Owners by State: Owners 65 or Older in Employer Firms, 2017 to 2023

A state and industry atlas of owner age built from seven years of Census Annual Business Survey files, with each state tested against its margin of error.

Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances 2025 and 2022 (summary extract, full public data, replicate weights) · Updated 2026-11-02

Business Owner Net Worth: How Much of It Is the Business? Federal Reserve Data (2026)

We computed the business share of net worth for every owner family in the Fed's 2025 and 2022 public microdata, with error margins, after reproducing the Fed's own published figures.

SMBB registry of child care center license rules on a change of ownership (51 jurisdictions) joined to Census County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 624410 · Updated 2026-11-02

Can a Child Care License Transfer to a New Owner? State-by-State Rules for Selling a Daycare (2026)

A registry of the 50 states and DC, coded from licensing statutes, rules and agency forms read on 2026-11-02, joined to Census counts of child day care employers.

SMBB registry of contractor license qualifier and transfer rules (26 states) joined to Census County Business Patterns 2023 · Updated 2026-10-31

Contractor License Qualifier Rules: What Happens to the License When You Sell a Contracting Business (2026)

We read the licensing statute, board rule or board form in 26 states to see whether a contractor license can follow a sale and how long a company may run after its qualifier leaves.

SMBB registry of state transfer tax statutes and rules (51 jurisdictions), hand-coded · Updated 2026-11-02

Controlling Interest Transfer Tax by State: When Selling a Company That Owns Real Estate Triggers Transfer Tax (2026)

No deed is recorded, yet a tax bill can still arrive: we coded the transfer tax law of every state and the District of Columbia from official texts and ran one $1,000,000 building through each rule.

SMBB coding of 23 state comprehensive privacy statutes (official texts) · Updated 2026-11-02

Selling Customer Data When Selling a Business: The Merger Carve-Out in 23 State Privacy Laws (2026)

A clause-by-clause reading of the 'sale' definition and the coverage test in every state comprehensive privacy law enacted through November 2, 2026.

Census Annual Business Survey, Characteristics of Business Owners (2018 ABS, reference year 2017) with ASE 2014 to 2016 and SBO 2012 · Updated 2026-11-02

Buying an Existing Business Statistics: How Many US Owners Bought Their Company Instead of Starting It (2026)

An index of 19 industries, 50 states and DC built from Census owner files: who bought, who founded, who inherited, and where the money came from.

U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS), 2023 release · Updated 2026-11-02

How Many Businesses Close Each Year? Firm Closures by Age, State and Industry (2026)

A Census Business Dynamics Statistics tracker of US employer firm deaths since 1998, with the closures of firms open 21 years or more counted separately.

DOL EBSA Form 5500 Latest datasets, form years 2015 to 2025 (main form, Schedules H and I, Form 5500-SF) · Updated 2026-11-02

How Many ESOP Companies Are There? 6,231 Employee-Owned Sponsors by State, Industry and Size (Plan Year 2024)

A plan-by-plan count of employee stock ownership plans from the Department of Labor's raw Form 5500 filings, one year newer than the published totals.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024; Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022; Vintage 2025 population estimates · Updated 2026-10-28

How Many Small Businesses Are There in the US? State Counts by Size (2026)

Owner-only businesses, employer firms under 500 and the 5 to 99 employee band, computed from the latest Census files for every state.

FMCSA Company Census File (MCMIS), data.transportation.gov az4n-8mr2 · Updated 2026-10-31

How Many Trucking Companies Are There in the US? Carriers by Fleet Size and State (2026)

A count of every active trucking company in the FMCSA census, with the fleet-size ladder, power-unit concentration and a state map of mid-sized carriers.

SMBB registry of state liquor license transfer rules (51 jurisdictions) joined to Census County Business Patterns 2023 · Updated 2026-10-28

Liquor License Transfer Rules by State: Can a Bar or Restaurant License Be Sold? (2026)

We read the statute, rule or agency page for the main on-premises license in every state and DC, then matched the result to Census counts of full-service restaurants.

State statutes and rules coded by SMBB; U.S. Census Bureau Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022 · Updated 2026-10-31

Mini WARN Act by State: 16 Layoff Notice Laws Compared With Federal WARN (2026)

Which states require more than the federal 60-day notice, which reach smaller employers, and what each law says when the business changes hands.

SMBB registry of state non-compete statutes, coded from official text · Updated 2026-11-02

Non Compete Sale of Business Rules: 51-Jurisdiction Statute Registry (2026)

What a buyer can ask a seller to sign, read from each state's own code: who counts as a seller, how long, where, and what changed in 2026.

CMS Skilled Nursing Facility Change of Ownership (19 releases, 2022 to 2026) with Owner Information, SNF Enrollments and Care Compare Provider Information · Updated 2026-10-31

Nursing Home Change of Ownership: Every Medicare CHOW Since 2016, by Year and State (2026)

A tracker built from all 19 quarterly CMS change-of-ownership files, which recovers sales the current file no longer shows.

SMBB coding of state pharmacy rules (51 jurisdictions); Census County Business Patterns 2023 · Updated 2026-11-02

Pharmacy Change of Ownership Rules by State: Permits, Notice Periods and Share-Sale Triggers (2026)

A 51-jurisdiction registry coded from board rules and statutes, with the equity share that turns a stock sale into a new-permit event.

SMBB registry of occasional-sale and sale-of-business rules, hand-coded from official texts · Updated 2026-11-02

Sales Tax on Sale of Business Assets: Occasional Sale Exemptions in 51 Jurisdictions (2026)

When a business sells its furniture, fixtures and equipment along with the company, the state may treat the transfer as a taxable retail sale. We read the statute, rule or revenue guidance for every state and D.C.

State UI statutes, rules and agency forms (44 jurisdictions) plus U.S. DOL Significant Provisions of State UI Laws, July 2026 · Updated 2026-10-31

SUTA Successor Rules by State: When a Buyer Inherits the Seller's Unemployment Tax Rate (2026)

A state-by-state registry of what happens to the seller's unemployment insurance experience when a business changes hands, coded from statutes and agency texts read on 2026-10-31.

State dental practice acts and board rules; Census County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 621210) · Updated 2026-11-02

Who Can Own a Dental Practice? State Rules on Non-Dentist Ownership and What They Mean for Sellers (2026)

A state-by-state reading of dental practice acts, sized with Census counts of dental offices, with the time an estate has to sell.

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