Home Care Business Valuation and What a Home Health Agency Is Worth
Enter the agency's revenue and owner earnings and read a range benchmarked to what home health and home care businesses actually closed at, whether you are setting an asking price or checking an agency for sale before you make an offer.
Estimated business value
Method breakdown
What moves this number
Estimate, not a certified appraisal. Your figures are not stored.
US home health care businesses sold across 2021 to 2025 at a median of 3.00x seller discretionary earnings, or 0.52x annual revenue, with a lower quartile of 2.22x and an upper quartile of 3.63x. The median agency sold for $700,000 against a median asking price of $795,000, on median revenue of $1,300,000 and median owner earnings of $263,436, after a median 175 days on the market.
Unlike most small businesses, the median home care agency is priced well below what a lender would finance. On a 10 year SBA loan, the median earnings support about $1,007,005 at an $80,000 owner draw, 43.9 percent above the median sale. The discount is for risk: caregivers who leave, payers who cut rates, licenses that have to be reissued and an owner who is the whole office. This is a benchmark and an estimator, not a certified appraisal.
Home care agencies, median asking price against sale price
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
$913k
0.93
$675k
0.92
$600k
0.93
$699k
0.92
$667k
0.90
BizBuySell, home health care businesses sold 2021 to 2025. Light bar median asking price, dark bar median sale price, average sale to ask below each year.
Closed transactions
01What home care businesses actually sold for
These are home health care businesses reported sold across the five years 2021 to 2025. The source describes them as businesses providing medical and non-medical services to people in their own homes, from elderly and disabled clients who need help with daily activities to post-surgical patients in rehabilitation, typically staffed by aides, nurses and therapists. That mixes non-medical personal care agencies with skilled home health agencies, so read the range with your own model in mind. If you have been pricing from a listing site's instant estimate, our comparison of BizBuySell valuation alternatives explains what those tools leave out.
Median sale price
$700,000
What the middle home care business actually closed at, 2021 to 2025
Median asking price
$795,000
What the same sold agencies were listed at
Median revenue
$1,300,000
Annual billings of the middle agency sold
Median owner earnings (SDE)
$263,436
Seller discretionary earnings, a 20.3 percent owner margin
| Home health care businesses, 2021 to 2025 | Lower quartile | Median | Average | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings multiple, sold | 2.22x | 3.00x | 3.01x | 3.63x |
| Earnings multiple, current listings | 1.28x | 2.75x | 2.95x | 4.00x |
| Revenue multiple, sold | 0.38x | 0.52x | 0.63x | 0.74x |
| Revenue multiple, current listings | 0.26x | 0.55x | 0.83x | 0.98x |
| Owner earnings, sold | $140,167 | $263,436 | $369,766 | $438,349 |
| Owner earnings, current listings | $131,849 | $229,684 | $376,563 | $326,884 |
| Revenue, sold | $755,000 | $1,300,000 | $2,183,232 | $2,500,000 |
| Revenue, current listings | $583,085 | $1,084,651 | $1,933,790 | $1,801,740 |
Source: BizBuySell home health care business valuation benchmarks, businesses reported sold on the platform 2021 to 2025, read October 2026. Shaded rows are current and recent listings at their asking prices. The headline box on the same page shows an average earnings multiple of 3.03x; the five year tables used here show 3.01x. Benchmarks, not quotes.
Three things stand out. First, the readings disagree, and you should know which one the other side is quoting. The median multiple is 3.00x, the average 3.01x, but the median sale over the median earnings is only 2.66x. Multiplying medians gives $790,308, 12.9 percent above the median sale; the revenue route, $1,300,000 at 0.52x, gives $676,000, 3.4 percent below. When a broker multiplies your earnings by three, the result sits above what the middle agency actually fetched.
Second, and unusually, current listings are smaller and cheaper than the agencies that sold. Agencies on the market now report median owner earnings of $229,684, 12.8 percent below the sold set, on revenue 16.6 percent lower, and ask a median 2.75x against 3.00x paid. Sold agencies still closed at an average 0.92 of their asking price, so the sellers who listed high came down by about 8 percent.
Third, the owner margin is the thinnest in the health and medical group and it swings. The five year median is 20.3 percent; in 2024 it fell to 17.1 percent before recovering to 20.2 percent in 2025. Each point of margin on $1,300,000 of revenue is $13,000 of earnings, about $39,000 of value at the median multiple, which is why caregiver pay rates and overtime are the first thing a buyer reads.
If you are working out how to calculate SDE for the agency in front of you, start with what the owner does. An owner who covers shifts, takes the on-call phone and recruits every weekend is doing work a buyer will have to pay for or do. Separate one-time costs, like a survey consultant or a lawsuit, from the payroll that repeats, then find your row in section 05.
| Year | Median sale | Median ask | Sale to ask | Days on market | Average SDE multiple | Average revenue multiple | Median revenue | Median SDE | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $912,500 | $1,047,534 | 0.93 | 143 | 3.11x | 0.63x | $1,411,318 | $299,726 | 21.2% |
| 2022 | $675,000 | $760,000 | 0.92 | 195 | 2.87x | 0.59x | $1,400,000 | $275,000 | 19.6% |
| 2023 | $600,000 | $650,000 | 0.93 | 166 | 3.34x | 0.69x | $1,006,514 | $226,843 | 22.5% |
| 2024 | $699,000 | $750,000 | 0.92 | 192 | 3.02x | 0.67x | $1,294,372 | $221,000 | 17.1% |
| 2025 | $667,000 | $700,000 | 0.90 | 160 | 2.84x | 0.60x | $1,240,294 | $250,000 | 20.2% |
Source: BizBuySell, same page. The median sale price fell 26.9 percent from 2021 to 2025 while median owner earnings fell 16.6 percent, so most of the drop is smaller agencies selling, not cheaper multiples. The source ties the 2022 and 2023 decline to higher interest rates.
Our calculation
02The lender is not what holds a home care price down
In most small business sectors we price, the SBA loan a buyer can carry sets a ceiling at or below the median sale. Home care is the exception. The table runs a business only loan at 10.5 percent over 10 years, 1.25x debt service coverage and a 10 percent injection against the median $263,436 of owner earnings. Home care agencies rarely own real estate, so there is no blended building loan here. Everything in it is computed here, not quoted.
SBA-supportable price at an $80,000 draw, against the median sale
Scale $0 to $1,200,000
$700,000
What the median home care business sold for.
$790,308
Median earnings times the median 3.00x multiple (black line).
$1,007,005
What $263,436 supports on a 10 year SBA loan.
| Owner draw the buyer takes | Left for debt service | Supportable price, 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| $0 (buyer takes no salary) | $263,436 | $1,446,179 |
| $60,000 | $203,436 | $1,116,798 |
| $80,000 | $183,436 | $1,007,005 |
| $100,000 | $163,436 | $897,211 |
| $120,000 | $143,436 | $787,418 |
| $135,924 (the most a buyer can draw at $700,000) | $127,512 | $700,000 |
Computed here. Annual loan constant 0.16192 for 10 years at 10.5 percent. Supportable price is (SDE minus draw) divided by 1.25, divided by the loan constant, divided by 0.90. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer or a credit decision.
Work it backwards and a buyer paying the median price can draw up to $135,924 a year, or needs only $207,512 of earnings to draw $80,000. That headroom is why owner-operators can pay toward the upper quartile for an agency they understand, and why sellers keep asking whether they should hold out for more.
The answer in the record is that buyers do not pay up to the loan. They price the chance that earnings drop after the handover. A large share of an agency's hours can walk out with one scheduler or one referral source, and a Medicaid rate change hits every hour at once. Lenders know it too, which is why they lean on the independent valuation rather than the coverage ratio alone.
Cash to close on the median agency
$84,175
A $700,000 purchase at 10 percent down is a $70,000 injection and a $630,000 loan. The guaranteed portion is $472,500, so the 3 percent SBA guaranty fee is $14,175. Debt service is about $102,010 a year, covered 2.58 times by $263,436, which leaves $161,426 before the owner is paid. Working capital for payroll comes on top, and in home care it is real money, because caregivers are paid every week or two while Medicaid programs and insurers often take weeks to pay.
The lower quartile agency
$330,298
That is what a lender can support on lower quartile earnings of $140,167 if the buyer draws $80,000. At the lower quartile multiple the same agency is priced at $311,171, so even small agencies finance on paper. They sell low because a $755,000 billing book is usually one owner, one scheduler and a handful of clients, and the buyer is buying that owner's job.
The lender orders the valuation
Under SOP 50 10 8.1 the lender may value the business in house only when the price is $350,000 or less and buyer and seller are not closely related. The median $700,000 agency is above that line, so an independent valuation is ordered, and anything paid above what it supports comes from equity or seller financing.
Receivables decide working capital
Agree whether receivables stay with the seller or come with the business, and how much working capital is left in it on closing. A Medicaid-heavy agency can need several payrolls of cash before the first payments arrive under the new owner's provider number.
Seller financing bridges the risk
Because the risk is in the handover, many deals put part of the price into a seller note or an earnout tied to retained hours. A seller who believes the clients and caregivers will stay can get a higher headline price that way, and a buyer pays it only if they do.
Sources: SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026 (changes of ownership: maturity, valuation). FY2026 guaranty fee tiers. A summary for pricing, not legal or lending advice.
What makes home care different
03You buy a caregiver roster, a payer book and a license you may have to earn again
A home care agency has no building, no machines and no inventory worth much. What you pay for is a set of relationships: clients and families who trust the caregivers, caregivers who stay for the scheduler, referral sources who send new clients, and payers who will keep paying under a new owner. Each needs its own evidence before you agree a price.
The caregivers
Every billed hour is an aide in a client's home. The roster, how long people stay and how many hours each one will take are what keep revenue in place after the sale. Ask for the caregiver list with hire dates, pay rates, hours worked per week and turnover by month for two years.
The payer mix
Private pay clients, Medicaid waiver programs, the VA, long-term care insurers and, for skilled agencies, Medicare each pay at different rates and on different timelines. Ask for revenue by payer for three years, the top ten clients as a share of hours, and the age of receivables by payer.
The license and enrollment
Most states license home care agencies, and a change of ownership often means a new application. A Medicare-certified home health agency adds a federal rule: if majority ownership changes within 36 months of enrollment or the last ownership change, the Medicare agreement and billing privileges do not convey to the buyer (42 CFR 424.550(b)).
One billed hour, illustrative at national medians
Consumer price of a home health aide hour (Genworth 2024 median)
$34.00
Aide pay at the BLS median plus employer FICA
$18.53
Left for overtime, travel, insurance, office and profit
$15.47, 45.5 percent
Computed here. Genworth and CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2024: home health aide national median $34 an hour ($77,792 a year). BLS May 2025: home health and personal care aides (SOC 31-1120) median $35,800 a year, $17.21 an hour on 2,080 hours, 4,305,810 jobs. Medicaid rates are usually lower than the private pay price.
Read the hours report like a balance sheet
Ask for billed hours by client, by payer and by month for three years, plus the hours that were authorized but not staffed. Revenue is hours times rate, and the gap between authorized and staffed hours shows whether the agency is short of clients or short of caregivers. Those are different problems with very different prices.
Sources: 42 CFR 424.550(b), change in majority ownership of a home health agency; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; Genworth and CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2024. A summary for pricing, not legal advice. Home care licensing rules are set by each state.
Our calculation
04What the agency is worth if you will not run the office
Seller discretionary earnings include the owner's pay, and in most small agencies the owner is the administrator who recruits caregivers, takes intake calls, handles the state surveyor and fills a shift when nobody else can. A buyer who will not do that job has to pay someone who will. The rows below use the Bureau of Labor Statistics national median wages for May 2025, plus employer FICA.
The same $700,000 price
2.66x
to an owner who runs the office
4.42x
owner runs it, adds a nurse supervisor
5.38x
with an administrator hired
| Who does the owner work | Earnings left | Price as a multiple | SBA-supportable price, 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner runs the agency as administrator | $263,436 | 2.66x | $1,007,005 at an $80,000 draw |
| Owner runs it, adds a nurse supervisor ($105,013) | $158,423 | 4.42x | $430,519 at an $80,000 draw |
| Administrator hired ($133,335) | $130,101 | 5.38x | $714,211 at no owner draw |
Computed here. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates for May 2025: medical and health services managers (SOC 11-9111), median $123,860 a year, 597,080 jobs; registered nurses (SOC 29-1141), median $97,550, 3,379,720 jobs. Plus 7.65 percent employer FICA. A non-medical agency can often hire an office manager for less than the health services manager median.
To an owner who runs the office, $700,000 is 2.66x earnings, inside the middle half of sales. With an administrator hired at the median wage, the earnings fall to $130,101 and the same price is 5.38x, which is roughly where adjusted EBITDA multiples for small agencies start. An investor who takes nothing out can still finance about $714,211, slightly more than the median price. That makes home care one of the few small health care businesses where a semi-absent owner can buy a median-sized agency on an SBA loan, provided the administrator and the scheduler stay. In a skilled agency, the nurse supervisor row matters too: Medicare conditions of participation require a clinical manager (42 CFR 484.105), so a buyer who is not a clinician pays for one.
Find your row
05What a home care agency at your earnings is worth
Each row takes an earnings level and prices it at the lower quartile, median and upper quartile multiple, next to what an SBA buyer drawing $80,000 a year could finance on a 10 year business loan.
| Owner earnings (SDE) | At 2.22x | At 3.00x | At 3.63x | SBA, $80,000 draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $140,167 (lower quartile sold) | $311,171 | $420,501 | $508,806 | $330,298 |
| $200,000 | $444,000 | $600,000 | $726,000 | $658,761 |
| $263,436 (median sold) | $584,828 | $790,308 | $956,273 | $1,007,005 |
| $300,000 | $666,000 | $900,000 | $1,089,000 | $1,207,729 |
| $369,766 (average sold) | $820,881 | $1,109,298 | $1,342,251 | $1,590,722 |
| $438,349 (upper quartile sold) | $973,135 | $1,315,047 | $1,591,207 | $1,967,221 |
Computed here. SBA column on the same terms as section 02, before working capital. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer.
From the lower quartile up, the loan covers the lower quartile price, and from $200,000 of earnings it covers the median multiple price too. At the median earnings it even passes the upper quartile price, $1,007,005 against $956,273. So when a home care deal fails, it rarely fails on financing. It fails on diligence: hours that drop in the months before closing, a payer audit, a license application that drags. If your numbers sit between rows, the estimator at the top of the page will place them.
Value drivers
06What moves a home care agency between the quartiles
The distance between the lower and upper quartile multiple is 2.22x to 3.63x, which on $263,436 of earnings is the difference between $584,828 and $956,273. The scale shows where the published readings fall, and how far a hired administrator pushes the same price.
Home care earnings multiples on one scale
0x to 6x
2.22x
Lower quartile
2.66x
Median sale over median SDE
3.00x
Median multiple
3.63x
Upper quartile
5.38x
Median price with an administrator hired
BizBuySell home health care benchmarks, 2021 to 2025. Dark band, 2.22x to 3.63x, the middle half of sales. The 2.66x and 5.38x readings are computed here.
Revenue and size
BizBuySell states that a home health care business consistently generating sales over $2 million annually may sell for an earnings multiple of 3.5 or higher, while a smaller one with sales below $800,000 may sell closer to 2. Those thresholds sit near the sold revenue quartiles of $755,000 and $2,500,000.
Owner involvement
An owner who schedules, recruits, answers the after-hours phone and handles the state surveyor is part of the SDE. An agency with an office manager, a scheduler and a clinical supervisor in place sells closer to the upper quartile because a buyer can step in without doing three jobs.
Payer concentration
An agency with most of its hours from one Medicaid program, one long-term care insurer or one referral hospital carries the risk of a rate change or a lost contract. Spread across private pay and several programs, the same earnings are worth more.
Caregiver turnover and overtime
Hours that are not staffed are revenue that does not happen. High turnover means constant recruiting cost and overtime at time and a half. Federal overtime rules for agency-employed home care workers have been in flux since a July 2025 Department of Labor proposal, and New York, New Jersey and California require overtime under state law in any case.
Medicare certification and timing
A skilled, Medicare-certified agency is a different asset from a non-medical personal care agency. Inside the 36 month window after enrollment or the last majority ownership change, the buyer has to enroll as a new provider and pass a state survey or accreditation, unless the agency has filed two consecutive full cost reports.
Electronic visit verification and records
Medicaid personal care and home health services require electronic visit verification under the 21st Century Cures Act. An agency with clean visit records, care plans and caregiver files is easier to finance, survey and audit than one running on paper timesheets.
Same margin, different multiple, illustrative
$304,500
$750k revenue
about 2x on $152,250
$700,000
Median agency
sold, 2.66x on $263,436
$1,421,000
$2M revenue
about 3.5x on $406,000
Computed here. Earnings at the median 20.3 percent owner margin, multiples from BizBuySell's size statement (3.5 or higher above $2 million of sales, closer to 2 below $800,000). Revenue rises 2.7 times; value rises 4.7 times.
Against other health businesses
07Home care agencies against assisted living, medical and dental practices
Home care is the biggest business in the group by revenue and by sale price, and the thinnest by margin. It sells for twice the median dental practice, $700,000 against $350,000, because it bills more than twice as much. On the medians it trades at 2.66x, second only to assisted living and nursing homes at 3.63x, which own or lease a building and keep 30.4 percent of revenue. BizBuySell's own reading is that home care sells for higher multiples in aggregate because it generates higher revenues. SDE multiples by industry shows the whole market.
| Category | Median revenue | Median SDE | Average SDE multiple | Median sale over median SDE | Owner margin | Median sale | Sale to ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home health care businesses | $1,300,000 | $263,436 | 3.01x | 2.66x | 20.3% | $700,000 | 0.92 |
| Assisted living and nursing homes | $551,785 | $168,000 | 4.25x | 3.63x | 30.4% | $610,000 | 0.94 |
| Medical practices | $790,052 | $227,196 | 2.37x | 2.13x | 28.8% | $485,000 | 0.97 |
| Other health care and fitness | $742,950 | $200,000 | 2.71x | 2.25x | 26.9% | $450,000 | 0.91 |
| Dental practices | $557,518 | $149,838 | 2.63x | 2.34x | 26.9% | $350,000 | 0.84 |
| Gyms and fitness centers | $400,000 | $99,389 | 2.55x | 2.12x | 24.8% | $210,500 | 0.89 |
| Dance, Pilates and yoga studios | $281,709 | $77,500 | 2.07x | 1.74x | 27.5% | $135,000 | 0.88 |
Source: BizBuySell health and medical comparisons, 2021 to 2025. Owner margin and median sale over median SDE computed here.
Against other people-heavy service businesses, home care sits close to staffing agencies at a $670,000 median sale, which also bill hours worked by employees in someone else's location, and well above day care centers at $395,000, where licensing ratios cap revenue per site. The dental practice valuation page covers the clinical side of the group.
Methods
08The five ways a home care agency gets valued
You will meet most of them in one sale. The lender counts earnings after the owner's salary, the appraiser it hires reconciles several methods, a regional operator looking to add a territory talks EBITDA and hours, and a first-time buyer usually starts from SDE. Knowing which one the other side is using is most of the negotiation.
Seller discretionary earnings multiple
The primary method for an owner-run agency and the one an SBA lender underwrites. Normalized SDE times a multiple, where half of all sales landed between 2.22x and 3.63x. Normalize first: family members on payroll, an owner who also covers shifts or on-call nights, personal vehicles and phones, and one-time legal or survey costs.
Revenue multiple
Agencies sold at a median 0.52x revenue and an average 0.63x. Use it as a cross-check only. Two agencies billing the same hours can keep very different shares of them, depending on pay rates, overtime, payer mix and how much of the office the owner personally replaces.
Adjusted EBITDA multiple
Larger agencies and regional operators are priced on EBITDA after a market salary for an administrator and a clinical manager. That figure is far lower than SDE. On the median agency, paying an administrator at the BLS median cuts the earnings base by about half, so an EBITDA multiple of five is roughly the same price as 2.66x SDE.
Gross margin per billed hour
Industry buyers read the spread between the hourly bill rate and the fully loaded caregiver cost, by payer. A private pay book billing well above Medicaid rates, with overtime under control, supports the upper half of the range.
Asset approach
Rarely the deciding method. Home care owns little equipment, so the asset value is mostly receivables and cash. It sets a floor only for an agency that is losing money, where the buyer is paying for a license, a roster or a payer contract rather than for earnings.
Our guide to business valuation for an SBA loan lists what the lender and its appraiser will ask for, and business valuation cost shows what each kind of report costs. On a $700,000 agency, a $1,500 to $8,000 calculation engagement is 0.21 to 1.14 percent of the price, and a $5,000 to $15,000 conclusion of value is 0.71 to 2.14 percent.
Questions
Home care business valuation questions, answered against the sold record
How much is a home care business worth?
The median US home health care business sold between 2021 and 2025 went for $700,000, on median revenue of $1,300,000 and median owner earnings of $263,436. Half of all sales landed between 2.22x and 3.63x owner earnings, which on $263,436 is $584,828 to $956,273. Size, payer mix, staffing and owner involvement decide where an agency lands.
How much is a home health agency worth?
An owner-operated home health agency of median size sold for $700,000 in the 2021 to 2025 record, about 2.66 times its owner earnings and 0.54 times its revenue. Medicare-certified agencies with skilled nursing revenue and clean survey history sit at the top of the range; agencies inside the 36 month change of ownership window are worth less to a buyer who needs the Medicare billing number.
What is the valuation multiple for a home care business?
Home health care businesses sold at a median 3.00 times seller discretionary earnings and an average of 3.01x across 2021 to 2025, with a lower quartile of 2.22x and an upper quartile of 3.63x. On revenue the median was 0.52x and the average 0.63x. In 2025 the average earnings multiple was 2.84x.
How do you value a home care agency?
Normalize the owner earnings first, then apply a multiple between about 2.22x and 3.63x, higher for agencies above roughly $2 million of revenue with a manager in place and a spread payer base. Check it against revenue at 0.38x to 0.74x and test what an SBA lender would finance at a realistic owner draw.
How much do home care agency owners make?
The median agency sold between 2021 and 2025 produced $263,436 of owner earnings on $1,300,000 of revenue, a 20.3 percent owner margin. The lower quartile earned $140,167 and the upper quartile $438,349. Those earnings include the pay of an owner who usually runs the office, recruiting and scheduling.
Is a home care business profitable?
Usually, but on thin margins. The median sold agency kept 20.3 percent of revenue as owner earnings, the thinnest of the seven health and medical categories BizBuySell compares, and the margin fell to 17.1 percent in 2024 before recovering to 20.2 percent in 2025. Caregiver pay and overtime move the margin more than anything else.
How much does it cost to buy a home care business?
The median home care business sold for $700,000. Financed with an SBA 7(a) loan at 10 percent down, that is a $70,000 injection plus a $14,175 guaranty fee, about $84,175 of cash at closing before working capital for the first payrolls, licensing and legal costs.
Can you get an SBA loan to buy a home care business?
Yes, and the median agency finances comfortably. On a 10 year loan at 10.5 percent, the median $263,436 of earnings supports about $1,007,005 at an $80,000 owner draw, well above the $700,000 median sale. Because the price is above $350,000, the lender orders an independent business valuation.
Does a home care license transfer to a new owner?
Often not automatically. Most states treat a change of ownership as a new license application or a required notice with a review. For a Medicare-certified home health agency, a majority ownership change within 36 months of enrollment or the last change means the Medicare billing privileges do not convey, unless an exception such as two full cost reports applies.
How long does it take to sell a home care business?
BizBuySell reports a median of 175 days on the market for home health care businesses that sold, a little under six months from listing to an accepted deal. The lender valuation, state license work and any Medicare change of ownership filing usually add two to four months before closing.
Asked another way
What home care owners and buyers ask when they are deciding
These come up once the numbers are understood and the decision is the real problem, whether that is answering a listing, buying without running the office yourself or deciding whether to wait for a better market. Answered against the same sold record.
Is a home care agency listed at 4 times earnings a fair price?
Only for a large, well-staffed agency. Sold agencies closed at a median 3.00x and an upper quartile of 3.63x, and BizBuySell ties 3.5x and up to agencies above about $2 million of revenue. On a $1.3 million agency with the owner running the office, 4x needs a manager in place and a spread payer base to hold up.
Why do home care agencies sell for less than an SBA loan could cover?
Because the risk, not the lender, sets the price. The median agency earns enough to support about $1,007,005 of SBA debt at an $80,000 draw, yet sold for $700,000. Buyers discount for caregiver turnover, payer rate changes, a license that has to be reissued and an owner who is the whole office.
Can I buy a home care agency without running it myself?
Yes, and home care is one of the few small health businesses where that roughly works. An administrator at the BLS median plus payroll tax costs $133,335, which takes the median earnings to $130,101 and makes $700,000 a 5.38x price. With no owner draw, those earnings still support about $714,211 of SBA debt.
Are home care agencies cheaper to buy now than in 2021?
Yes. The median sale fell from $912,500 in 2021 to $667,000 in 2025, down 26.9 percent, while median owner earnings fell 16.6 percent, from $299,726 to $250,000. Buyers are paying less per agency mostly because the agencies being sold earn less, and somewhat because multiples eased from 3.11x to 2.84x.
Do I need a formal appraisal or is an estimate enough?
An estimate is enough to set an asking range or decide whether a listing deserves an offer. For an SBA purchase above $350,000, which covers the median agency, the lender orders an independent valuation and will not lend above what it supports. Know your range before you pay for that report.
Benchmarks behind the estimate
Buying or selling a health or service business
Know the range before the lender's appraiser does
Enter revenue and owner earnings, for your own agency or for one you are considering, and read a value range against real home care sales. An estimate in a few minutes, before you pay a broker or an appraiser.