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Where small businesses rely most on SBA loans

Counts favor big states. This adjusts for them (SBA loans per 1,000 businesses) to show where small businesses actually lean hardest on SBA credit.

By Mario Bailey · Source: SBA FOIA data + U.S. Census Census County Business Patterns 2022

Published · Updated

Texas and California top every raw SBA ranking, because they're big. The more revealing question is intensity: relative to how many businesses a place has, where do small businesses use SBA loans most? Dividing cumulative SBA loans (FY2010–2026) by the number of businesses (Census County Business Patterns 2022) reorders the map.

States that lean most on SBA credit

SBA loans per 1,000 businesses

  1. 1. New Hampshire 245.35
  2. 2. Utah 226.91
  3. 3. Ohio 216.43
  4. 4. Minnesota 195.9
  5. 5. Rhode Island 188.34
  6. 6. Massachusetts 182.38
  7. 7. Idaho 178.57
  8. 8. Vermont 177.74
  9. 9. Wisconsin 171.56
  10. 10. Michigan 170.72

Lowest intensity: Tennessee (66.55), Louisiana (70.01), Alabama (73.96), South Carolina (75.6), Arkansas (76.46).

Industries that lean most on SBA credit

SBA loans per 1,000 establishments

  1. 1. Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing † 565.7
  2. 2. Manufacturing 279.43
  3. 3. Arts, Entertainment, Recreation 199.96
  4. 4. Transportation and Warehousing 181.08
  5. 5. Accommodation and Food Services 175.36
  6. 6. Construction 142.02
  7. 7. Wholesale Trade 133.8
  8. 8. Educational Services 131.14

† Census CBP counts employer establishments and excludes most agriculture, government, and railroads, so the denominator is understated for those sectors and their rate overstates real intensity. Read them with caution.

Method, sources, and caveats. Numerator: cumulative SBA 7(a) and 504 funded loans, FY2010–2026 (as of 2026-03-31). Denominator: business establishments from the Census County Business Patterns 2022. Because the numerator is cumulative over years and the denominator is a single-year snapshot, treat the ratio as a relative intensity index for ranking, not a same-period rate. CBP excludes most agricultural production, government, and railroads; U.S. territories aren't in the state file, so they show no rate. See the methodology and data sources.
Cite this analysis

Mario Bailey. (2026). Where Small Businesses Rely Most on SBA Loans. SBA Loan Index. https://sbaloanindex.com/studies/sba-penetration/

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