County acquisition guide
Buying a business in Broome County, New York
On this page6 sections
Rank these four by size and you get two different answers
Establishment counts are the figure every source quotes, and on these four counties they point the wrong way.
| County | Establishments | 10–49 employees | Under 5 employees | Avg annual pay | Sales tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulster | 5,065 | 899 | 3,157 (62.3%) | $54,178 | 8% |
| Oneida | 4,713 | 1,122 | 2,404 (51.0%) | $55,749 | 8.75% |
| Niagara | 4,475 | 982 | 2,397 (53.6%) | $52,212 | 8% |
| Broome | 4,001 | 1,047 | 1,897 (47.4%) | $57,627 | 8% |
About these figures. Establishment counts and size bands come from Census County Business Patterns for 2023 [1] ; wages come from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for 2024 [2] . The two series count slightly differently — CBP counts establishments with paid employees in a March reference period, QCEW counts covered employment across the year — so their establishment totals do not match, and we show each for what it measures rather than blending them. Both are published as an open dataset on our New York market data page, where you can compare any county to any other.
Broome has the fewest establishments of the four and the second most a buyer can realistically finance. Its 1,047 in the 10–49 band beat Ulster’s 899, from a base about a quarter larger. The two rankings are almost exactly reversed.
The difference is in the fourth column. Only 47.4% of Broome’s establishments have fewer than five employees, the lowest share of the four, because its employment sits in institutions and larger employers — the next section explains which. The general case for reading size bands rather than headline counts is set out once, with every county, on our New York small-business statistics page.
Broome’s size distribution in full
| Employment size | Establishments | Share | What it means for a buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 | 1,897 | 47.4% | Owner-operated; often little transferable beyond a lease and equipment |
| 5–9 | 808 | — | Bottom of the financeable range |
| 10–19 | 618 | — | The core first-acquisition band |
| 20–49 | 429 | — | A management layer usually exists; cleaner handover |
| 50–99 | 141 | — | Often beyond a single SBA 7(a) loan on price |
| 100+ | 96 | — | A different market with different buyers |
Binghamton, and a base built on institutions
Broome is the clearest example in our county data of why establishment counts mislead. It has the smallest total of these four and the second-largest financeable band, because its business base is structurally different: only 47.4% of establishments have fewer than five employees, against 62.3% in Ulster.
The economy behind that is institutional and industrial rather than micro-entrepreneurial — Binghamton University and its research activity, the regional healthcare systems, and a manufacturing and technology base with a long local history in electronics, imaging and defence work.
For a buyer this cuts the way it does in Syracuse and Oneida. Fewer businesses overall, but more of them at a size that has staff, systems and transferable value — and a stable institutional customer base for anyone buying B2B services. The trade-off is a narrower search: 1,047 establishments in the band is a real market but not a deep one, so widen the industry criteria or plan for a longer look.
Wages
Average annual pay in Broome’s private sector is $57,627, or $1,108 a week [2] . Benchmark the owner-compensation add-back against that rather than the seller’s own draw — a seller paying themselves below market is deferring a cost you will start paying. See the SDE guide and the owner earnings calculator.
Broome submarkets
| Area | Character | Deal profile |
|---|---|---|
| Binghamton | County seat and commercial centre; healthcare and downtown redevelopment | The broadest mix; retail, food, professional and healthcare-adjacent services |
| Vestal | University-adjacent; the county's main retail corridor | Retail, food and services with academic-calendar weighting — verify the summer months |
| Johnson City and Endicott | Industrial legacy; health sciences investment in Johnson City | B2B, trades, distribution; environmental diligence on legacy industrial sites |
| Rural towns | Low density, agricultural | Trades and agriculture-adjacent services; thin deal flow |
Two diligence items are more likely to matter here than in most New York counties. Academic-calendar seasonality for anything near the university — a summer trough on a student-driven business is normal and has to be financed. And environmental history on industrial-legacy sites: Endicott and Johnson City carry a long manufacturing history, so check DEC spill records and remediation status before taking on a site or a lease.
What to check in Broome
The statewide closing obligations apply here as they do everywhere in New York: the bulk-sale notice at least 10 days before you pay or take possession [4] , workers’ compensation, statutory disability and Paid Family Leave in force from day one [5] , and UI registration via the NYS-100 [6] — with the seller’s experience rating following the business. The due diligence checklist covers them in order. What follows is what is particular to this county.
- Sales tax at 8% [3] . Reconcile the filings to revenue and confirm the jurisdiction with the Department’s lookup service rather than by ZIP code; every rate and reporting code is in our sales-tax dataset.
- The academic calendar. Anything that sells to students in Vestal or near Binghamton University has a summer trough. Ask for monthly revenue, and size working capital to carry the business through it.
- Industrial history in Endicott and Johnson City. Check DEC spill records and remediation status before you take on a site or a lease there. Environmental diligence explains when a Phase I is worth commissioning.
- Institutional customers. Revenue from the university and the healthcare systems is stable, but test it contract by contract — term, renewal, change-of-control consent — as the concentration guide sets out.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Broome have fewer businesses but more worth buying?
Because only 47.4% of its establishments have under five employees, against 62.3% in Ulster. Broome's employment concentrates in the university, healthcare systems and a manufacturing and technology base, so its business population skews larger. 1,047 establishments sit in the 10–49 band against Ulster's 899, despite Ulster having 1,064 more businesses in total.
What sales-tax rate applies in Broome?
8% — the rate shared by 42 of the 62 New York counties. Confirm the jurisdiction with the Department's lookup service rather than by ZIP code; Publication 718 warns that ZIP-based lookups produce inaccurate reporting.
How seasonal is the Binghamton market?
For anything near the university, materially. The academic calendar produces a summer trough on student-driven businesses that is entirely normal and has to be financed rather than ignored. Get monthly figures for 36 months and run them through the seasonality stress test.
What environmental diligence should I do?
For any target occupying or leasing an industrial-legacy site — Endicott and Johnson City in particular — check DEC spill records and remediation status before you take on the site. A site condition attaches to the site, and the lease is usually where it reaches a buyer.
Is this page different from the Southern Tier guide?
Yes. The Southern Tier page covers the official ESD region. This one covers Broome County and the Binghamton operating market, with that county's own establishment, size-band and wage figures.
Sources cited on this page
Every mutable number on this page — program caps, tax rules, thresholds, filing deadlines — traces to one of these primary sources. Rules change; check the source before you act on the number.
- 1 U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, 2023 — county and establishment-size files. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp.html
- 2 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual — New York counties. https://www.bls.gov/cew/
- 3 NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. Publication 718: New York State Sales and Use Tax Rates by Jurisdiction. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/sales/pub718.pdf
- 4 NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. Tax Bulletin ST-360: Purchasers' Obligations to Pay Sales Taxes (Bulk Sales). https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/purchasers_obligations_to_pay_sales_taxes.htm
- 5 NYS Workers' Compensation Board. Employers' coverage requirements. https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/Employers/Employers.jsp
- 6 New York State Department of Labor. NYS 100 — New York State Employer Registration. https://dol.ny.gov/unemployment-insurance-employer-registration
Educational only — not legal, tax, lending, or investment advice. Confirm specific rules, rates, and forms with the relevant New York State agency, attorney, CPA, lender, or insurer before acting. See the editorial policy and methodology for how sourcing and review work.