All industry multiples

FINANCIAL SERVICES · AUGUST 2026 MARKET DATA

How much is your insurance agency worth?

Apply the reported 2.87× SDE and 1.52× revenue averages to your numbers, then inspect what makes one insurance agency differ from another.

Cash flow multiple

2.87×Price ÷ seller’s discretionary earnings

Revenue multiple

1.52×Price ÷ annual gross revenue

Versus Financial services

+17%Cash-flow multiple versus the 2.46× broad-sector average

Versus all businesses

+11%Cash-flow multiple versus 2.58× overall

ASKING VS. CLOSED SALE · FULL YEAR 2025

Reported insurance agency deals averaged 87% of asking.

Based on 50 reported sales. Use the ratio to understand category-level negotiation—not as a forecast for one transaction.

Average sale / ask87%Average transaction-level ratio
Median asking price$650,000Separate category median
Median closed price$650,000Separate category median
Median time on market184 days50 reported sales

Do not subtract the two medians. Median asking and sale prices may describe different transactions. The source's average sale-to-ask ratio is the supported negotiation measure.

COMPANY-SPECIFIC DILIGENCE

What buyers examine beyond the average.

These factors help explain why two businesses in the same category can sell at different multiples. They are diligence questions—not automatic percentage adjustments.

01Renewal commissions and policy retention
02Carrier and customer concentration
03Producer retention and book transferability

ORIGINAL INDEX SIGNAL

Private transaction evidence for financial services, from Main Street to $1B+.

Independently indexed as of August 14, 2026. The index classifies this evidence at the broader sector level, not as this exact business type. Counts reveal evidence depth—not a universal multiple. Percentiles and individual rows stay protected. Explore the full evidence map.

Under $1M10indexed records
$1M–$10M12indexed records
$10M–$50M23indexed records
$50M–$250M191indexed records
$250M–$1B175indexed records
$1B+239indexed records
Displayed cross-size records650Only counts inside published cells
Public size coverage6 / 6Broad Financial services sector · a blank may be zero or privacy-withheld
Contributor view25th · median · 75thShare an operating profile to see the protected range
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WORKED MARKET REFERENCE

How the two common methods compare

For an example insurance agency with $1,000,000 in annual revenue and $250,000 in SDE:

SDE method$717,500$250,000 × 2.87
Revenue method$1,520,000$1,000,000 × 1.52

The indications can differ because margins vary. A personalized market reference should use the company’s actual revenue and normalized SDE, then consider transferability and deal terms separately.

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CITATION PREVIEW

Insurance agency valuation benchmark: 2.87× SDE, 1.52× revenue, and $500,000 median reported sale price. Reported US closed-business aggregates from BizBuySell, Q3 2021–Q2 2026. Analysis and source notes: https://businessvaluation.fyi/business-valuation/insurance-agency?utm_source=shared_benchmark&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=industry_benchmark

COMMON QUESTIONS

Reading this insurance agency benchmark

How much is my insurance agency worth?

A company-specific answer requires normalized earnings, revenue, and its operating risks. As a public starting point, reported sales in this category average 2.87× seller’s discretionary earnings and 1.52× annual revenue. The reported median sale price is $500,000.

What percentage of asking do reported insurance agency sales achieve?

Across 50 reported 2025 sales, the source reports an average sale-to-ask ratio of 87%. That is an average of transaction-level ratios, not a promise that every seller discounted by the same amount.

How long do reported insurance agency sales take?

The reported median was 184 days on market during 2025. Preparation, pricing, buyer financing, diligence, lease transfer, and deal terms can make an individual sale faster or slower.

How should I use the 2.87× multiple?

Apply it first to normalized SDE, not tax-return profit without review. Then cross-check the revenue method and examine the business-specific risks a buyer would inherit.

Does this tell me exactly what my insurance agency is worth?

No. It is a reported-sale average, not an appraisal or offer. Company size, margins, growth, transferability, assets, liabilities, geography, and deal terms can produce a different outcome.

Source and scope

Public aggregates reported by BizBuySell for closed US sales of insurance agencies. The headline multiples cover Q3 2021–Q2 2026; asking-price, sale-price, and time-on-market metrics cover the full 2025 calendar year. The separate businessvaluation.fyi index adds privacy-protected transaction counts for the broader financial services sector as of 2026-08-14; it does not expose individual deals or valuation multiples. These are useful relative indicators, not a formal appraisal, offer, or complete census.