Research
SBA lending research
Original analysis of the public SBA loan data, written for small-business owners and the people who advise them.
SBA Lending Quarterly: January to March 2026
The newest complete quarter of SBA 7(a) lending: 16,114 approvals across 839 lenders. Lender league tables by loan count and by dollars, plus the sector mix. Updated each time SBA publishes.
Read the analysis →The State of SBA Lending
Our flagship report on 1,036,074 SBA 7(a) and 504 loans (FY2010–2026): how lending has changed over time, who borrows, where the risk is, how concentrated it has become, and where the money goes.
Original analysis →The SBA Lender Score
A transparent 0–100 rating of every SBA lender by scale, track record, activity, and consistency. Published methodology and the top-scored lenders.
Original analysis →What SBA borrowers actually pay
Actual initial rates on 919,627 7(a) loans: the pricing curve by loan size, the trend by year, and median rates by lender. The paid rates, not the maximums.
Original analysis →How long does an SBA loan take to fund?
Approval to first disbursement, measured on the full record: the median, the trend by year, why loan size barely matters, and the lender speed table nobody else publishes.
Original analysis →Who hits the SBA's $5 million ceiling?
4,345 loans have been approved at exactly the $5M 7(a) maximum: who they are, who writes them, and what the new $10M combined limit changes for them.
Original analysis →SBA lending statistics: the key numbers
The headline figures on SBA 7(a) and 504 lending: total loans and volume, the biggest lenders, and the top states and industries. A citable reference.
Original analysis →The State of SBA Franchise Financing
Which franchises get SBA-funded, which default most, what they borrow, and who lends. Original franchise-level data nobody else publishes.
Original analysis →How SBA loans actually work, by the data
The guarantee, term, collateral, pricing, and how long until a loan goes bad, measured across every SBA loan, not summarized from a brochure.
Original analysis →Where small businesses rely most on SBA loans
SBA loans per 1,000 businesses, joining the SBA data to U.S. Census business counts. Adjusting for size reorders the map: which states and industries lean hardest on SBA credit.
Original analysis →Is SBA 7(a) lending concentrating?
The 10 largest of 3,156 7(a) lenders now make 27.2% of volume, and their share is rising. A look at who is gaining share.
Original analysis →The fastest-growing SBA lenders
Which lenders multiplied their SBA volume fastest in recent years. A handful of national specialists are reshaping who funds small businesses.
Original analysis →SBA credit benchmarks
Charge-off rate reference tables for credit teams: by loan size, industry, state, and vintage, with seasoning made explicit. The tables to put your own book against.
Original analysis →What predicts an SBA loan charge-off?
Patterns in 1,036,074 SBA loans: charge-off rates fall sharply as loan size rises, vary widely by industry, barely move with the interest rate, and almost never hit in a loan's first year.
Original analysis →Which industries create the most jobs per SBA dollar?
SBA loans report 11,014,159 jobs supported, about 22.1 per $1M lent, but labor-intensive sectors report far more than capital-intensive ones.
Original analysis →SBA lending per capita by state
Funded SBA loans per 100,000 residents, ranked by state. Adjusting for population shows where small businesses lean most on SBA credit, and where they do not.
Original analysis →Which industries take the biggest SBA loans?
Average SBA loan size by industry. Capital-intensive sectors that buy real estate and equipment borrow far more per loan than service businesses.
Original analysis →504 vs 7(a), by the data
A side-by-side data comparison of the two SBA programs: 7(a) is the high-volume workhorse, 504 loans are fewer but much larger. Counts, volume, and average size.
Original analysis →