The most and least expensive industries to buy in 2026

January 08, 2026

by an intermediary from Johns Hopkins University in Brooklyn, NY, USA

One of the most common questions we get: What are average EBITDA multiples by industry, and are they changing? We've analyzed 100,000+ listings across our platform to show where multiples stand by sector - including the 20th and 80th percentiles so you can identify where deals might exist. Key findings: 1. Manufacturing trades at the highest average multiple (5.0x), 2. Wholesale Trade offers the best value (2.3x average), 3. Real Estate Rentals shows the widest quality spread (1.5x to 5.0x). Set up a free account at https://getdealmatch.com or DM us with any questions!

Reply by an intermediary
from The University of Chicago in Chicago, IL, USA

‌^redacted‌ I have done similar analysis many years back. I found large std. deviation even after I threw out 10% of the data at the top and at the bottom. I split the data by size and found good correlation with size.

Reply by an intermediary
from Arizona State University in Long Beach, CA, USA

Thanks for sharing. I see that this is based on Listing price rather than Closed transactions. Since many deals are listed without an asking price, how do you think that impacts your figures?

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