US SMALL-BUSINESS SALE DATA · UPDATED NOVEMBER 4, 2026
The sale market, in numbers.
Q3 2026 sale prices and cash-flow multiples, alongside clearly dated industry benchmarks and timelines. Each number keeps its period and source.
Q3 2026 · REPORTED US CLOSED SALES
One national multiple hides a size difference.
The source groups completed sales by their sale price. These are different groups of businesses, not a rule for choosing a multiple or a promise that crossing $1M increases value.
| Reported sale price | Cash-flow multiple | Revenue multiple | Sale / asking price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below $1M | 2.30× | 0.62× | 93.6% |
| Above $1M | 3.73× | 0.97× | 100.8% |
The report calls the earnings measure cash flow. It does not specify how sales at exactly $1M are grouped. These bands are not revenue, earnings, or enterprise-value bands.
BizBuySell Q3 report · Published October 16, 2026 · Checked November 4, 2026COPYABLE EVIDENCE DESK
Use the number. Keep its context.
Copy a source-linked citation or share the public report. Q3 sale-price bands, the Q2 overall multiple and enterprise value, and older industry data keep separate periods. No private transaction row is exposed.
Take the evidence into a spreadsheet or copy every source-linked citation at once.
2,132 US small-business transactions were reported sold in Q3 2026.
The median reported US small-business sale price was $350,000 in Q3 2026; the source notes that the mix of businesses sold affects the national median.
Reported US business sales below $1M in Q3 2026 averaged 2.30 times annual cash flow, 0.62 times revenue, and 93.6% of asking price. The group is defined by completed sale price, not earnings or revenue.
Reported US business sales above $1M in Q3 2026 averaged 3.73 times annual cash flow, 0.97 times revenue, and 100.8% of asking price. The group is defined by completed sale price, not earnings or revenue.
Reported US small-business sales averaged 2.7 times annual cash flow in Q2 2026.
Reported US small-business sales represented $1.8B of enterprise value in Q2 2026.
24 of 25 US business types with at least 10 reported sales had an average sale-to-asking-price ratio below 100% in 2025.
The median of 25 category-level average sale-to-asking-price ratios was 91% in 2025.
Across 25 adequately sampled US business types, the median of category median days on market was 169 days in 2025.
Supported business-type medians ranged from 85 days for websites & ecommerce businesses to 250 days for electrical & mechanical contractors in 2025.
Reported average cash-flow multiples across 26 specific US business types ranged from 1.74 times SDE for nail salons to 4.87 times SDE for car washes for sales reported from Q3 2021–Q2 2026.
Applying the reported average cash-flow multiples for 26 US business types to $250,000 of annual SDE produces market indications from $435,000 to $1,217,500, with a $665,000 median.
The businessvaluation.fyi independent sanitized transaction index contained 4,359 records as of 2026-08-14; 392 included usable valuation-multiple evidence after quality screening.
KNOW A COMPLETED US SALE?
Put the outcome in context.
If you bought, sold, or advised on a completed business sale, contribute the price, earnings, and terms privately. See its price-to-revenue and price-to-SDE or EBITDA multiples immediately.
No business names or documents. Submissions stay private and require review before entering a benchmark.
THREE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS
Price, multiple, and timeline are not interchangeable.
What did a business sell for?
Use reported closed-sale prices. A national median describes the market, not your company.
Compare price outcomesHow did buyers price earnings?
Compare like business models and the same earnings definition. SDE is common for owner-operated businesses.
Model any SDEHow long did reported sales stay listed?
Days on market excludes preparation time and businesses that never completed a reported sale.
Compare timelinesMETHOD & PROVENANCE
Aggregated on purpose.
Quarterly market figures, trailing-five-year valuation multiples, and full-year asking-versus-sold data come from BizBuySell's public reported sales. Q3 overall enterprise value and the overall average cash-flow multiple were not verified in the latest report, so those two cards retain their Q2 period. We do not infer either value from the sale-price bands.
Q3 report Q2 archive Multiple table 2025 transaction tableApproved transaction records are copied into separate infrastructure, sanitized, deduplicated, screened for usable valuation evidence, and published only as threshold-protected aggregates. Individual transactions remain private.
Read the index methodologyImportant: Category statistics do not account for an individual company's normalized earnings, growth, customer concentration, recurring revenue, owner dependence, assets, working capital, or deal terms. They are market references, not certified appraisals.
YOUR BUSINESS · PRIVATE
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QUICK ANSWERS
Reading valuation statistics
What is the average valuation multiple for a small business?
In Q3 2026, BizBuySell reported average cash-flow multiples of 2.30× for sales below $1M and 3.73× for sales above $1M. These groups describe completed sale prices, not a rule for selecting a multiple for your company. The older Q2 market-wide average and trailing-five-year industry benchmarks are labeled separately below.
What is the median sale price of a small business?
The median reported sale price was $350,000 in Q3 2026. Changes in the mix of sold businesses affect this market-wide median; it is not a valuation for an individual company.
Do small businesses usually sell for their asking price?
Not at the category level in the 2025 public table. 24 of 25 business types with at least 10 reported sales had an average sale-to-ask ratio below 100%; the median of those category averages was 91%.
How long does it take to sell a small business?
The median of supported category medians was 169 days in 2025, with category medians ranging from 85 to 250 days. This excludes preparation time and listings that never closed.
Can I cite these statistics?
Yes. Each card has a copyable citation that links to this report and names the underlying source. Preserve the period, definition, and limitations when quoting a number.