Press

Press and data kit

For journalists and researchers writing about SBA lending. Our data and analysis are free to cite with attribution.

About SBA Loan Index

SBA Loan Index is an independent reference that turns the U.S. Small Business Administration's public 7(a) and 504 loan data into clear answers for small-business owners: which lenders fund which businesses, at what volume, and with what track record. It publishes free tools and original research built on the SBA's complete public loan record, and was founded by Mario Bailey, who has a background in banking and financial services. It is not affiliated with the SBA.

Key facts

Loans analyzed: 1,036,074
Lenders ranked: 3,304
Total funded volume: $497.6B
Coverage: FY2010–2026

Story-ready findings

Free to cite with attribution and a link. Every figure is computed from the SBA's public FOIA 7(a) and 504 data (FY2010–2026); charge-off rates are 7(a)-only.

Among major franchise brands, DICKEY'S BARBECUE PIT has the highest SBA default rate (20.4% of its 7(a) loans charge off), while the safest brands sit near zero. Source →
25.7% of all SBA loans (265,843) go to startups or businesses under two years old. Source →
Business-acquisition loans are the largest in the program (averaging $1.1M) and among the lowest-risk, at 1.4% 7(a) charge-off. Source →
7(a) charge-off risk swings widely by industry: trucking 5.6% versus self-storage 0.3%. Source →
Restaurants are the most-financed business type, with 112,895 SBA loans. Source →
The top 10 SBA 7(a) lenders account for 27.2% of all 7(a) loan volume. Source →
The SBA guarantees 74.8% of each 7(a) loan. The lender carries the rest of the risk. Source →
The median 7(a) loan that charges off does so 50 months after disbursement: recent loans haven't seasoned. Source →
We rate 1,648 SBA lenders 0–100 on track record, scale, activity, and consistency: the transparent, independent SBA Lender Score. Source →

These are drawn from our full State of SBA Lending report. Browse all analysis on the research page, or request a custom data pull (by state, industry, lender, or year) via the contact page.

Using our data and research

You are welcome to cite, quote, and screenshot our figures and charts with attribution to "SBA Loan Index" and a link to the page. A sample citation:

SBA Loan Index. (2026). What predicts an SBA loan charge-off? https://sbaloanindex.com/studies/sba-charge-off-patterns/

Data sources and methodology

Every figure comes from public, authoritative data, documented on our data sources page, with definitions and limitations in our methodology.

Brand assets

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Press contact

Email contact@sbaloanindex.com or use the contact page for interviews, custom data pulls, or fact-checking. We respond to press quickly.