Business valuation multiples by industry
Average earnings and revenue multiples for small business sales by sector and industry, what they mean, and how to use them without fooling yourself.
A valuation multiple is the sale price of a business divided by its earnings or its revenue. Multiples from actual sales are the fastest way to get a rough sense of what businesses like yours sell for.
Small business multiples by sector
These figures are averages for businesses sold on BizBuySell from Q3 2021 to Q2 2026 (source). The earnings multiple is sale price divided by seller's discretionary earnings (SDE). The median sale price across all sectors was $340,000, so these are mostly small, owner-operated businesses.
| Sector | Earnings multiple (SDE) | Revenue multiple |
|---|---|---|
| Online and technology | 3.28 | 1.09 |
| Automotive and boat | 3.10 | 0.71 |
| Manufacturing | 3.04 | 0.73 |
| Health care and fitness | 2.72 | 0.75 |
| Building and construction | 2.65 | 0.59 |
| Retail | 2.63 | 0.55 |
| Service businesses | 2.61 | 0.83 |
| Financial services | 2.46 | 1.21 |
| Food and restaurants | 2.27 | 0.42 |
| Beauty and personal care | 2.12 | 0.54 |
| All sectors | 2.58 | 0.67 |
Selected industries
| Industry | Earnings multiple (SDE) | Revenue multiple |
|---|---|---|
| Websites and ecommerce | 3.37 | 1.06 |
| Insurance agencies | 2.87 | 1.52 |
| Auto repair and service | 2.85 | 0.65 |
| HVAC businesses | 2.83 | 0.60 |
| Dental practices | 2.75 | 0.76 |
| Plumbing businesses | 2.61 | 0.69 |
| Landscaping and yard services | 2.49 | 0.72 |
| Medical practices | 2.39 | 0.73 |
| Accounting and tax practices | 2.27 | 1.08 |
| Cleaning businesses | 2.25 | 0.72 |
| Restaurants | 2.18 | 0.39 |
Larger businesses sell for higher multiples
The figures above describe small, owner-operated businesses. As businesses get bigger, buyers pay more for each dollar of earnings, because larger businesses tend to be less dependent on one person and attract more buyers.
For comparison, GF Data, which tracks private-equity-backed deals, reported an average of 6.4 times EBITDA for deals with an enterprise value of $10 million to $25 million in the first nine months of 2025 (as reported by CapitalPad). That is a different earnings measure and a different kind of buyer, so it is not directly comparable with the SDE multiples above. See SDE vs EBITDA.
How to use these numbers
- Work out your SDE. See what is my business worth?
- Multiply it by your industry's earnings multiple for a midpoint.
- Treat the result as the middle of a range, not an answer. Businesses in the same industry sell for well above and well below the average.
Or use the free value check, which does the same calculation.
What the averages hide
- They are averages. Many of the businesses behind each figure sold for less, some for much less.
- They only cover businesses that sold. Businesses that never found a buyer are not in the data.
- They mix good and bad businesses. Customer concentration, owner dependence and the quality of the books move the multiple more than the industry does.
- They move. Multiples shift with interest rates, lending conditions and buyer demand.
BizBuySell itself says the figures are useful as relative indicators but should not be relied on to value a specific business. That is the right way to read them.
Common questions
Should I use the earnings multiple or the revenue multiple?
Use the earnings multiple first. Revenue multiples ignore profitability, so they overvalue low-margin businesses and undervalue high-margin ones. Use revenue as a cross-check.
Why is my industry's multiple lower than another industry's?
Buyers pay less where earnings are harder to keep: thin margins, heavy competition, high staff turnover or dependence on the owner's personal relationships.
Do multiples change month to month?
Industry averages move slowly, but they do move. Rising interest rates make it more expensive for buyers to borrow, which tends to push multiples down. More active buyers in a sector tends to push them up.