County penetration

Where SBA credit reaches, and where it does not

SBA 7(a) and 504 loans per 1,000 businesses, FY2021–FY2025. 3,144 counties and county equivalents.

fewer ← loans per 1,000 businesses → more

No SBA lending (240 counties) No business-count denominator

The national rate is 35.3 loans per 1,000 businesses over five years; the median county runs at 24.8. Counties drawn in hatch received no SBA loan of either programme in the entire period.

5.6×ratio between the 90th and 10th percentile county

240counties with no SBA lending, holding 25,444 businesses

292.7Covington County, Mississippi — highest in the country

Source: Analysis of SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan data (as of 31 March 2026), US Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023, and Population Estimates Vintage 2025. Cancelled and never-funded approvals excluded. Connecticut shown on the nine planning regions. Published by sba-feasibility-study.com.