Penetration and loan size

High-penetration states are small-loan states

Each point is a state. Horizontal: SBA loans per 1,000 businesses, FY2021–FY2025. Vertical: average gross approval.

Top ten by penetrationBottom tenAll other states

States where SBA credit reaches the most businesses are not states where borrowers need more capital. They are states where a high-volume lender is writing a large number of comparatively small loans.

65.3New Hampshire — highest penetration, $325k average loan

19.4Louisiana — lowest penetration, $661k average loan

3.4×spread between best and worst-served states

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. Published by sba-feasibility-study.com.