Liquor Store Valuation: Liquor Store Value and What Liquor Stores Sell For
Enter the store's revenue and owner earnings and read a range benchmarked to what liquor stores actually closed at, whether you are setting an asking price or checking a listing before you make an offer.
Estimated business value
Method breakdown
What moves this number
Estimate, not a certified appraisal. Your figures are not stored.
Liquor stores sold in the US across the five years 2021 to 2025 went for a median of 2.85x seller discretionary earnings, or 0.42x annual revenue, with a lower quartile of 2.20x and an upper quartile of 4.00x. The median liquor store sale price was $400,000, on median revenue of $1,047,000 and median owner earnings of $150,000, after a median 168 days on the market. Divide the median price by the median earnings and the multiple that clears the market is 2.67x.
The number that explains the rest of this page: financed with an SBA loan at 10 percent down, a buyer who pays themselves $80,000 a year can support about $384,000 for the median store. The market price is $400,000, and the inventory usually comes on top. The median liquor store is priced right at the lending ceiling, which is why the license, the sales volume and the stock count decide the deal. This is a benchmark and an estimator, not a certified appraisal.
Closed transactions
01What liquor stores actually sold for
These are sale prices, not asking prices, from 1,076 liquor stores sold across the five years 2021 to 2025. Most liquor store valuation guides give a rule of thumb, 35 to 50 percent of sales or two to three times cash flow, and stop. The distribution below is more useful. It also carries a result that surprises most owners: liquor stores post the highest average earnings multiple of any retail category measured, 3.33x, and one of the most stable owner margins, 14.3 percent at the median.
Median sale price
$400,000
What the middle liquor store actually closed at, 2021 to 2025
Median asking price
$444,500
What the same sold stores were listed at
Median revenue
$1,047,000
Annual sales of the middle liquor store sold
Median owner earnings (SDE)
$150,000
Seller discretionary earnings of the middle store sold
| Liquor stores sold, 2021 to 2025 | Lower quartile | Median | Average | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller discretionary earnings multiple | 2.20x | 2.85x | 3.33x | 4.00x |
| Revenue multiple (multiple of annual sales) | 0.29x | 0.42x | 0.50x | 0.61x |
| Revenue | $660,000 | $1,047,000 | $1,406,947 | $1,742,500 |
| Owner earnings (SDE) | $96,525 | $150,000 | $216,204 | $263,593 |
Source: BizBuySell liquor store business valuation benchmarks, 1,076 liquor stores sold on the platform 2021 to 2025, read September 2026. Benchmarks, not quotes. The multiple rows and the dollar rows describe the same population but not the same store, so multiplying a median by a median will not exactly reproduce a quartile. The same source's retail comparison table shows the liquor store median sale as $425,000 rather than $400,000; we use the $400,000 headline figure, which matches the quartile tables.
The size thresholds BizBuySell publishes line up with these quartiles almost exactly. It states that a store generating over $1.75 million of sales may command an earnings multiple close to 4, and one under $700,000 closer to 2. The upper quartile of sold revenue was $1,742,500 and the lower quartile $660,000. So the practical reading is simple: a store in the top quarter by sales sells near 4x, a store in the bottom quarter near 2x, and everything else is argued out between them. If you are working out how to calculate SDE for the store in front of you, do that first, then find its row in section 09.
Our calculation
02The median liquor store is priced at the lending ceiling
Most liquor stores are bought by an owner-operator with an SBA 7(a) loan, so the price a seller can get is capped by what that buyer can borrow. The table below runs a loan at 10 years, 10.5 percent, 1.25x debt service coverage and a 10 percent injection against the median $150,000 of owner earnings, at each level of salary the buyer takes out. Everything in it is computed here, not quoted.
| Owner draw the buyer takes | Left for debt service | Supportable purchase price | As a multiple of $150,000 SDE |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 (buyer takes no salary) | $150,000 | $823,442 | 5.49x |
| $50,000 | $100,000 | $548,961 | 3.66x |
| $60,000 | $90,000 | $494,065 | 3.29x |
| $80,000 | $70,000 | $384,273 | 2.56x |
| $100,000 | $50,000 | $274,481 | 1.83x |
Computed here. Annual loan constant 0.16192 for a 10 year loan at 10.5 percent, so the supportable price is (SDE minus draw) divided by 1.25, divided by 0.16192, divided by 0.90. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer or a credit decision.
At an $80,000 draw the ceiling is $384,273, and the median store sold for $400,000. That is close enough to explain why liquor stores close at 0.97 of asking: the market price and the financeable price are nearly the same number. Then the inventory arrives. Stock is normally counted on the closing date and paid for at cost on top of the business price, and if the buyer finances it on the same loan, every dollar of it comes out of what they can pay for the business.
| Inventory financed on the same loan | Business price supportable at an $80,000 draw | Against the $400,000 median sale |
|---|---|---|
| No inventory on the loan | $384,273 | $400,000 median sale is $15,727 above it |
| $50,000 of inventory | $334,273 | $65,727 short of the median sale |
| $100,000 of inventory | $284,273 | $115,727 short of the median sale |
| $150,000 of inventory | $234,273 | $165,727 short of the median sale |
Computed here on the same loan terms. The inventory amounts are illustrative inputs, not a published benchmark; count the actual stock of the store in front of you.
The crossover
$166,000
The owner earnings a liquor store needs before a buyer paying the median 2.85x can service the SBA debt and still take $80,000 a year, with no inventory on the loan. Put $100,000 of stock on the same loan and the crossover rises to about $204,000. The median store earns $150,000, so the typical deal needs either a larger down payment, a seller note, or inventory paid in cash.
Cash to close on the median store
$48,100
A $400,000 purchase at 10 percent down is a $40,000 injection and a $360,000 loan, with a 3 percent SBA guaranty fee of $8,100 on the $270,000 guaranteed portion. Annual debt service is about $58,292, covered 2.57 times by $150,000 of earnings, leaving about $91,700 before the owner pays themselves. Add $100,000 of inventory to the loan and cash to close rises to about $60,125.
The practical point for a seller is that a price above the ceiling needs a reason a lender will accept: documented earnings above the median, a license with transfer value of its own, or a seller note that closes the gap. For a buyer, it means the offer should be built from the financing backwards, with inventory as a separate line that you can pay in cash or finance on its own terms. Our guide to using an SBA loan to buy a business walks through the lender side.
State law
03How the liquor license changes the value
BizBuySell names the licensing requirement, and the limited supply of licenses, as perhaps the most valuable aspect of a liquor store. That is true, but only in some states. The national multiple blends four quite different legal regimes, and a store should be priced against the one it actually sits in.
| License regime | Example | What it does to a valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Population quota, county level | Florida: a quota license under s. 565.02(1)(a) to (f) is capped at one per 7,500 county residents (Fla. Stat. 561.20), with new ones issued as population grows. | The license is scarce and transferable, so it carries its own market price and is often priced alongside the business rather than inside the earnings multiple. |
| Population quota, municipal level | New Jersey: no new plenary retail distribution license is issued until a municipality has fewer than one per 7,500 residents (N.J.S.A. 33:1-12.14). | Same effect as Florida, at town level. In a fully licensed town the only way in is to buy an existing store or license, which supports the premium. |
| State control of spirits retail | The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association counts 17 control states, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Utah, where spirits are sold through state or local government stores or their agents. | A private store in a control state is usually a beer and wine business, or an agency store on state terms. Price it on its own earnings, not on a license premium it does not hold. |
| Open licensing | States that issue off-premises licenses without a numeric cap, subject to local zoning and approval. | The license protects no territory, so value rests on location, volume and margin rather than on scarcity. Apply the sold multiple to earnings alone. |
Sources: Florida Statutes s. 561.20; New Jersey Revised Statutes 33:1-12.14; National Alcohol Beverage Control Association control state directory. License rules change and vary by county and municipality; confirm the current rule with the state alcohol beverage control agency before relying on it.
Two consequences follow for anyone pricing a store. First, check what a comparable sale included. A quota-state deal quoted as one number may be a business price and a license price added together, and applying its multiple to a store in an open-license state will overshoot. Second, the license transfer is a closing condition. The state agency, and often a local board, has to approve the buyer before the store can trade under new ownership, so the purchase agreement, the lender and the landlord all wait on it. In many states the license is also tied to the premises, which makes the lease part of the license value.
Our calculation
04Where the money goes between the listing and the closing
Liquor stores currently listed ask a median 3.18x owner earnings. Stores that sold went for 2.85x. The 10.4 percent gap is made of two things. Some is selection: listings that ask too much never close and drop out of the sold set. The rest is negotiation: the discount a store takes off its own asking price. Dividing the sold multiple by the sale-to-ask ratio recovers what the sellers who actually closed had been asking, which splits the gap.
| Reading of the sale-to-ask ratio | All listings ask | Closers asked | Selection | Sold at | Negotiation | Total gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published average sale to ask, 0.97 | 3.18x | 2.94x | -7.6% | 2.85x | -3.0% | -10.4% |
| Ratio of five-year medians, 0.90 | 3.18x | 3.17x | -0.4% | 2.85x | -10.0% | -10.4% |
| Average of the five yearly ratios, 0.96 | 3.18x | 2.96x | -7.0% | 2.85x | -3.6% | -10.4% |
Computed here from the published listing multiples, sold multiples and sale-to-ask ratios. The ratio of medians ($400,000 over $444,500) reads 0.90 and moves almost all of the gap into negotiation; the per-deal readings, 0.97 published and 0.96 as the average of the five yearly figures, put most of it in selection. The total is 10.4 percent in every row.
Against the other sectors measured on this site, liquor stores have the second smallest total gap after gas stations. On the published ratio, sellers who close lose about 3 percent at the table, the same as accounting practices and a fraction of the 11.0 percent pharmacies give up. A liquor store priced within the sold range tends to sell close to its number. The money is lost earlier, by stores that list above the range and never close.
| Sector | All listings ask | Closers asked | Selection | Sold at | Negotiation | Total gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquor stores | 3.18x | 2.94x | -7.6% | 2.85x | -3.0% | -10.4% |
| Pharmacies | 3.02x | 2.75x | -8.8% | 2.45x | -11.0% | -18.9% |
| Laundromats | 4.80x | 3.80x | -20.7% | 3.50x | -8.0% | -27.1% |
| Restaurants | 2.50x | 2.06x | -17.8% | 1.85x | -10.0% | -26.0% |
| Accounting and tax practices | 2.32x | 2.10x | -9.3% | 2.04x | -3.0% | -12.1% |
| Gas stations | 2.89x | 3.00x | +3.8% | 3.00x | 0.0% | +3.8% |
Same calculation applied to each sector's published figures on the corresponding benchmark pages, using the published average sale-to-ask ratio in each case.
Listings against reality
05What liquor stores for sale are asking
If you are browsing liquor stores for sale, the listings ask more per dollar of earnings than the stores that sold, at every quartile. Unlike pharmacies or laundromats, though, the listed stores are not bigger or more profitable than the sold ones. At the median they report exactly the same $150,000 of owner earnings, and at the top end they are smaller.
| Quartile | Listed SDE multiple | Sold SDE multiple | Difference | Listed revenue multiple | Sold revenue multiple | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | 2.35x | 2.20x | -6.4% | 0.37x | 0.29x | -21.6% |
| Median | 3.18x | 2.85x | -10.4% | 0.54x | 0.42x | -22.2% |
| Average | 4.09x | 3.33x | -18.6% | 0.75x | 0.50x | -33.3% |
| Upper quartile | 4.31x | 4.00x | -7.2% | 0.86x | 0.61x | -29.1% |
| Financials | Liquor stores listed now | Liquor stores that sold | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile owner earnings | $96,000 | $96,525 | -0.5% |
| Median owner earnings (SDE) | $150,000 | $150,000 | 0.0% |
| Average owner earnings | $203,830 | $216,204 | -5.7% |
| Upper quartile owner earnings | $240,000 | $263,593 | -9.0% |
| Median revenue | $1,000,000 | $1,047,000 | -4.5% |
| Upper quartile revenue | $1,500,000 | $1,742,500 | -13.9% |
| Implied owner margin (computed here) | 15.0% | 14.3% | +0.7 points |
Listed and sold figures are published. Difference columns and the margin row are computed here.
That combination is the useful part. The listed pool earns the same as the sold pool at the median and 9.0 percent less at the upper quartile, yet asks 11.6 percent more per dollar of earnings at the median (3.18x against 2.85x) and 28.6 percent more per dollar of revenue (0.54x against 0.42x). The premium in liquor store asking prices is price, not size. For a buyer that means the sold multiples, not the listing multiples, are the right yardstick for an offer, and a listing sitting at the listed average of 4.09x is asking for a price only the top quarter of stores achieved.
Five-year record
06Liquor store sale prices year by year
Liquor stores stayed open as essential businesses through the pandemic, and BizBuySell notes that their sale prices were largely unaffected by the rate increases of 2022 and 2023. The record bears that out. The median sale moved in a narrow band from $400,000 to $420,000 in four of five years, with a spike to $500,000 in 2024, while the average earnings multiple rose from 3.03x to a peak of 3.66x.
| Year | Median revenue | Median SDE | Owner margin | Avg SDE multiple | Avg revenue multiple | Median sale | Median ask | Sale/ask | Effective SDE multiple | Effective revenue multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $1,300,000 | $170,000 | 13.1% | 3.03x | 0.45x | $400,000 | $425,000 | 0.96 | 2.35x | 0.31x |
| 2022 | $955,847 | $127,993 | 13.4% | 3.30x | 0.47x | $415,000 | $419,500 | 0.97 | 3.24x | 0.43x |
| 2023 | $956,059 | $170,000 | 17.8% | 3.28x | 0.51x | $417,500 | $450,000 | 0.98 | 2.46x | 0.44x |
| 2024 | $1,050,000 | $157,441 | 15.0% | 3.66x | 0.54x | $500,000 | $500,000 | 0.98 | 3.18x | 0.48x |
| 2025 | $993,864 | $148,988 | 15.0% | 3.41x | 0.52x | $420,000 | $444,500 | 0.93 | 2.82x | 0.42x |
Revenue, SDE, margin, the two average multiples, sale price, asking price and the ratio are published. The effective multiple columns are computed here as that year's median sale price divided by that year's median SDE and median revenue. They are ratios of medians and usually sit below the published averages of per-deal ratios.
Two readings for someone deciding now. The 2021 row is the outlier on revenue: stores sold that year reported $1.3 million of sales on a 13.1 percent margin, a pandemic sales bump that buyers paid only 2.35x earnings for, the lowest effective multiple in the record. From 2022 the margin settled between 13.4 and 17.8 percent and the effective multiple between 2.46x and 3.24x. And 2025 is the year to watch: the sale-to-ask ratio fell to 0.93 from 0.98, so sellers who priced off the 2024 spike took the largest discount of the five years to get a deal done.
Cross-check
07Every published multiple lands above the median sale
An owner handed a multiple usually multiplies. For liquor stores all four ways of doing that land above the price the market actually paid, although by less than in most sectors, which is another sign of how consistent this market is.
| Method | Arithmetic | Implied value | Against the observed median sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median earnings x median earnings multiple | $150,000 x 2.85 | $427,500 | +6.9% |
| Median earnings x average earnings multiple | $150,000 x 3.33 | $499,500 | +24.9% |
| Median revenue x median revenue multiple | $1,047,000 x 0.42 | $439,740 | +9.9% |
| Median revenue x average revenue multiple | $1,047,000 x 0.50 | $523,500 | +30.9% |
| Observed median sale price | reported directly | $400,000 | n/a |
Computed here from the published medians and multiples.
The median earnings multiple applied to median earnings gets closest, 6.9 percent above. The average revenue multiple applied to median revenue is furthest off, 30.9 percent above, and should not be used to price a single store. The median identity confirms how tight the market is: 2.85x earnings times a 14.3 percent owner margin gives 0.41x revenue, against the published median of 0.42x. In a market that consistent, a price well outside the quartiles needs a specific, documentable reason.
Sector comparison
08Liquor stores against the rest of retail
Sorted by average earnings multiple, liquor stores top the list of thirteen retail categories. The two comparisons worth quoting: the median liquor store and the median pharmacy both earn their owner exactly $150,000, and the liquor store sells for 30.8 percent more. Against convenience stores the liquor store earns 25.5 percent more and sells for 102.4 percent more.
| Retail category | Median revenue | Avg revenue multiple | Median SDE | Avg SDE multiple | Owner margin | Median sale | Median ask | Sale/ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All retail businesses | $720,000 | 0.53x | $131,498 | 2.62x | 18.3% | $295,000 | $305,000 | 0.95 |
| Liquor stores | $1,047,000 | 0.50x | $150,000 | 3.33x | 14.3% | $425,000 | $444,500 | 0.97 |
| Nursery and garden centers | $1,021,316 | 0.68x | $204,361 | 3.11x | 20.0% | $560,000 | $537,500 | 1.05 |
| Pharmacies | $1,334,270 | 0.42x | $150,000 | 2.79x | 11.2% | $325,000 | $399,000 | 0.89 |
| Furniture and furnishings stores | $1,072,815 | 0.57x | $200,000 | 2.72x | 18.6% | $465,000 | $450,000 | 1.03 |
| Grocery stores and supermarkets | $1,380,000 | 0.35x | $192,408 | 2.66x | 13.9% | $390,000 | $429,000 | 0.98 |
| Bike shops | $627,422 | 0.45x | $118,848 | 2.62x | 18.9% | $240,123 | $249,847 | 0.98 |
| Health food and nutrition businesses | $492,798 | 0.58x | $100,000 | 2.51x | 20.3% | $200,000 | $200,000 | 0.98 |
| Convenience stores | $660,500 | 0.40x | $119,495 | 2.39x | 18.1% | $210,000 | $225,000 | 0.92 |
| Vending machine businesses | $71,000 | 1.16x | $39,601 | 2.35x | 55.8% | $83,500 | $88,498 | 0.93 |
| Clothing and accessory stores | $500,000 | 0.52x | $103,668 | 2.30x | 20.7% | $200,000 | $249,000 | 0.95 |
| Jewelry stores | $463,061 | 0.61x | $131,207 | 2.05x | 28.3% | $214,757 | $292,000 | 0.88 |
| Flower shops | $478,290 | 0.47x | $106,066 | 2.01x | 22.2% | $189,000 | $219,000 | 0.91 |
| Smoke shops | $420,000 | 0.47x | $100,000 | 1.98x | 23.8% | $150,000 | $150,000 | 0.93 |
Source: BizBuySell retail valuation benchmarks, businesses sold 2021 to 2025, read September 2026. Every column except owner margin is published. Owner margin is computed here as median SDE divided by median revenue.
BizBuySell attributes the premium to stable revenue, a recession and pandemic resistant model, small space requirements and, above all, the license. The margin column adds a caveat. At 14.3 percent, liquor stores run one of the thinner owner margins in the table, above only grocery at 13.9 percent and pharmacies at 11.2 percent. The premium is paid for durability of earnings, not for their size relative to sales, which is why volume matters so much: a thin margin on a large sales base is what gives a financed buyer the room to pay 4x.
Find your row
09What a liquor store is worth at each level of owner earnings
The first three columns apply the sold lower quartile, median and upper quartile multiples to each earnings level. The fourth is the SBA-supportable price at an $80,000 owner draw with no inventory on the loan, which tells you whether a financed buyer can actually reach the market price for a store that size.
| Seller discretionary earnings | At 2.20x (lower quartile) | At 2.85x (median) | At 4.00x (upper quartile) | SBA capacity at an $80,000 draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $96,525 (lower quartile sold) | $212,355 | $275,096 | $386,100 | $90,716 |
| $148,988 (2025 median sold) | $327,774 | $424,616 | $595,952 | $378,717 |
| $150,000 (median sold) | $330,000 | $427,500 | $600,000 | $384,273 |
| $216,204 (average sold) | $475,649 | $616,181 | $864,816 | $747,707 |
| $263,593 (upper quartile sold) | $579,905 | $751,240 | $1,054,372 | $1,007,854 |
| $350,000 | $770,000 | $997,500 | $1,400,000 | $1,482,195 |
Computed here. Business value before inventory, which is normally counted and paid for separately at cost. SBA column on the same terms as section 02. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer.
Read the last column against the others. At the lower quartile, $96,525 of earnings supports only about $90,716 of financed price once the buyer takes $80,000, far below the $212,355 the lower quartile multiple implies, so small stores sell to buyers who take less salary, put more down or get seller financing. At the median, the financeable $384,273 sits 4 percent under the observed $400,000 sale and 10 percent under the $427,500 the median multiple implies. From the average up, financing capacity runs ahead of the median multiple, and the upper quartile price comes within reach. That is the mechanism behind the size effect in section 01.
Methods
10The five ways a liquor store gets valued
You will meet all five in a liquor store sale, and they will not agree. Knowing which one the other side is using is most of the negotiation.
Seller discretionary earnings multiple
The primary method for an owner-operated liquor store. Normalized SDE times a multiple between about 2.20x and 4.00x, which is where half of all liquor store sales landed. It is the method a lender checks, because SDE is what services the acquisition debt.
Revenue multiple
A cross-check. Sold liquor stores traded at a median 0.42x revenue, in a tight 0.29x to 0.61x band, and the rule of thumb of 35 to 50 percent of sales you will see quoted sits inside it. It is more reliable here than in most retail because liquor margins are narrow and stable: the yearly owner margin in this dataset stayed between 13.1 and 17.8 percent.
License value, priced separately
In quota states the license is a scarce asset with a price of its own. Where it is, buyers and brokers often separate the license from the business, so a deal reads as a business price plus a license price. Make sure you know which one a comparable sale includes before you apply its multiple.
Inventory at cost, on top
Stock on the shelves and in the back room is normally counted on the closing date and paid for at cost, in addition to the business price. Whether a reported sale price includes it varies by listing, so confirm it on every comparable and every offer.
Asset value
The floor. Coolers, shelving, the point of sale system and leasehold improvements at depreciated value, plus inventory. A store whose earnings will not support a loan sells near this floor, plus whatever the license fetches on its own in a quota state.
Value drivers
11What moves a liquor store between the quartiles
The distance between the lower and upper quartile multiple is 2.20x to 4.00x, which on $150,000 of earnings is the difference between $330,000 and $600,000. These are the factors that decide where a specific store lands.
The license and the state it sits in
The single factor with no equivalent in the rest of retail. A quota license in a fully licensed Florida county or New Jersey town protects the store from new competition and carries a transfer value of its own. A private store in a control state has no spirits license premium to sell. The same earnings are worth materially different amounts depending on which system the store is in.
Sales volume
BizBuySell states that a liquor store generating over $1.75 million in revenue may command an earnings multiple close to 4, while stores under $700,000 of sales may trade closer to 2. The upper quartile of sold revenue was $1,742,500 and the lower quartile $660,000, so those two thresholds line up almost exactly with the quartile edges.
Owner hours and payroll
A store the owner runs behind the counter six days a week shows high SDE and low transferable value. A store with a manager and part-time clerks shows lower SDE but sells to a wider pool of buyers. Buyers will ask for the schedule and the payroll register, not just the income statement.
Margin mix
Spirits, wine and beer carry different margins, and lottery, tobacco and snacks carry different margins again. Two stores with the same revenue can produce very different earnings. Expect a buyer to ask for sales by category from the point of sale system before agreeing a multiple.
Cash handling and reported sales
Cash-heavy retail is where buyers find the widest gap between the story and the tax return. Lenders price the return. Sales that are not on it are not in the valuation, whatever the seller says.
Lease, location and parking
Traffic counts, parking and proximity to grocery anchors are the location value. A lender will not amortize a ten year loan against a short remaining lease, and in many states the license is tied to the premises, so the lease also protects the license.
Inventory quality
Dead stock, dusty high-end bottles and short-dated beer are a negotiation item in their own right. Count it, age it, and agree the valuation basis (cost, not retail) in the letter of intent.
Questions
Liquor store valuation questions, answered against the sold record
How much is a liquor store worth?
The median US liquor store sold over the five years 2021 to 2025 went for $400,000, on median revenue of $1,047,000 and median owner earnings of $150,000. That is 2.67 times owner earnings on the reported medians. The published median multiple is 2.85x and half of all liquor stores sold between 2.20x and 4.00x owner earnings, usually before inventory.
How much is a liquor store worth per year of profit?
On the sold record, a liquor store is worth about 2.85 years of seller discretionary earnings at the median, with the middle half between 2.20 and 4.00 years. Liquor stores posted the highest average earnings multiple of the thirteen retail categories BizBuySell measures, 3.33x, ahead of nursery and garden centers at 3.11x.
What is the multiple for a liquor store?
Liquor stores sold at a median of 2.85 times seller discretionary earnings and an average of 3.33 times, with a lower quartile of 2.20x and an upper quartile of 4.00x. On revenue the median was 0.42x and the average 0.50x. The yearly average earnings multiple peaked at 3.66x in 2024 and was 3.41x in 2025.
How do you value a liquor store?
Start from normalized seller discretionary earnings: net profit plus owner salary, owner benefits, interest, depreciation and one-time costs. Apply a multiple between about 2.20x and 4.00x based on sales volume, license type and owner hours. Add inventory at cost on the closing date. In a quota state, price the license separately if it trades separately.
How much is my liquor store worth?
Work out your seller discretionary earnings first, then find your row. A store at the lower quartile of $96,525 is worth roughly $212,000 to $386,000 on the sold multiples; at the median $150,000, roughly $330,000 to $600,000; at the upper quartile of $263,593, roughly $580,000 to $1,054,000. Inventory is normally counted and paid for on top.
What percentage of sales is a liquor store worth?
Sold liquor stores traded at a median 0.42 times annual revenue, or 42 percent of sales, with a lower quartile of 29 percent and an upper quartile of 61 percent. That is close to the 35 to 50 percent of sales rule of thumb brokers quote. Treat it as a cross-check on an earnings valuation, not as the price.
How much does a liquor store make a year?
The middle liquor store that sold reported $150,000 of seller discretionary earnings on $1,047,000 of revenue, a 14.3 percent owner margin. The lower quartile earned $96,525 and the upper quartile $263,593. In 2025 the median sold store earned $148,988 on $993,864 of revenue, a 15.0 percent margin.
Do liquor stores sell for the asking price?
More often than most retail. The published average sale to ask ratio is 0.97, close to grocery stores and bike shops at 0.98, and far above pharmacies at 0.89 and jewelry stores at 0.88. It was 0.98 in 2023 and 2024 but slipped to 0.93 in 2025, the weakest year in the five-year record.
How long does it take to sell a liquor store?
The median liquor store that sold spent 168 days on the market. That counts only stores that sold, so it describes a correctly priced store rather than every listing. The license transfer is the item most likely to stretch a sale, because a state and often a local board has to approve the new owner before the store can trade under them.
Does the liquor license add value to a liquor store?
In quota states, yes, and often as a separate line. Florida caps quota licenses at one per 7,500 county residents and New Jersey caps plenary retail distribution licenses at one per 7,500 municipal residents, so those licenses trade at a market price of their own. In the 17 control states, where the state runs spirits retail, there is no spirits license premium to sell.
Can you get an SBA loan to buy a liquor store?
Yes, and the arithmetic is the constraint to check first. At 10 years, 10.5 percent, 1.25x coverage and 10 percent down, the median $150,000 of owner earnings supports about $384,000 if the buyer draws $80,000 a year. The median store sells for $400,000, and if $100,000 of inventory goes on the same loan, the supportable business price falls to about $284,000.
How much does a liquor store valuation cost?
A formal business valuation commonly runs $1,500 to $8,000 for a calculation engagement and $5,000 to $15,000 for a full conclusion of value. On a $400,000 liquor store that is 0.4 to 2.0 percent of the sale price for a calculation and 1.3 to 3.8 percent for a full report. An estimate is enough to decide whether to list or whether a listing deserves an offer.
Asked another way
What liquor store 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 making an offer, reading a listing or choosing when to sell. Answered against the same closed-transaction data as the rest of this page.
Is a liquor store listed at 4x cash flow overpriced?
Not automatically. 4.00x is the upper quartile of liquor stores that sold, so a quarter of stores closed at or above it. BizBuySell ties that end of the range to stores above $1.75 million of sales. A 4x price on a store doing $700,000 in an open-license state is a different matter, and financing will usually not reach it.
Should I trust the cash flow in a liquor store listing?
Tie it to the tax returns and to point of sale reports by category before anything else. Liquor stores are cash-heavy, and a lender prices only what is on the return. Currently listed stores report the same $150,000 median owner earnings as stores that sold, so the headline figure is not inflated at the median; the issue is whether a specific store can document its own.
Is now a good time to sell a liquor store?
Multiples are near the top of the five-year record, with an average 3.41x in 2025 against 3.03x in 2021. But the sale to ask ratio slipped to 0.93 in 2025 from 0.98 in 2024, and the median price came back to $420,000 from $500,000. Buyers are still paying well per dollar of earnings; they are negotiating harder off the asking price.
Why do liquor stores sell for more than convenience stores?
The median liquor store earns $150,000 and sold for $425,000 in the retail comparison, while the median convenience store earns $119,495 and sold for $210,000. That is 25.5 percent more earnings for 102.4 percent more price. BizBuySell attributes the premium mainly to the license requirement and limited supply of licenses, plus recession-resistant demand.
Do I need a formal appraisal or is an estimate enough?
An estimate is enough to decide whether to list, to set an asking range, or to decide whether a listing deserves an offer. A formal appraisal becomes necessary for an SBA loan above the lender threshold, a partner buyout, estate or gift tax filings and litigation. This page and the estimator on it are benchmarks against closed sales, not a certified appraisal.
Benchmarks behind the estimate
Find out where in the range a liquor store sits
Enter revenue and owner earnings, for your own store or for a listing you are considering, and read a value range against real liquor store sales. An educational estimate, not a certified appraisal.