How big is US small business lending, who gets approved, and what do lenders charge?
US banks hold $745.1B in small business and small farm loans (June 2026), up only 0.72% in a year while all business (C&I) lending grew 6.56%. Only 47% of firms with 1–4 employees that applied got at least some of the financing they sought, against 72% of firms with 50–499 employees, and an online lender's small business loans yield about 48% a year while SBA 7(a) loans charge off 0.55%.
FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile (June call reports 2022–2026), Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey (2023–2025), Census Annual Business Survey (2022–2023 reference years), Census SUSB 2022, FDIC Small Business Lending Survey (2022 reference year), Federal Reserve SLOOS, SBA program reports, company 10-K filings — all tier 1 · verified as of
How much small business credit US banks hold (June 2026)
FDIC call-report definition: a small business loan is a commercial loan with an original amount under $1 million (under $500,000 for farm loans), whatever the size of the borrower. Balances outstanding at FDIC-insured institutions on 30 June.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All small business and small farm loans outstanding | $745.1B | FDIC-insured banks · loans under $1M | June 2026 | fdic.gov |
| Commercial and industrial loans under $1M | $430.5B | working capital and equipment credit | June 2026 | fdic.gov |
| Nonfarm nonresidential real-estate loans under $1M | $244.4B | owner-occupied and commercial property | June 2026 | fdic.gov |
| Commercial and industrial loans under $100K | $208.2B | micro business loans | June 2026 | fdic.gov |
| Number of commercial and industrial loans under $1M outstanding | 25,853,588 | loan count, not borrower count | June 2026 | fdic.gov |
| Small business and farm loans as a share of all business and farm loans | 16.95% | lowest of the five June readings 2022–2026 | June 2026 | fdic.gov |
| Loans under $1M as a share of all domestic C&I loans | 19.22% | June 2026 | fdic.gov |
Year-on-year change in bank loan balances (June 2026 vs June 2025)
Small-ticket lending is growing far slower than bank business lending overall, and small property loans are shrinking for the fourth June in a row.
Who the borrowers are and how many apply
Two federal surveys with different bases: the Census Annual Business Survey covers all US employer firms; the Fed Small Business Credit Survey covers employer firms with 1–499 employees and reports shares of firms in each segment.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US employer firms with fewer than 500 employees | 6,374,594 | addressable base | 2022 | www2.census.gov |
| All US employer firms that applied for new credit | 12.9% | all employer firms | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Firms with 1–4 employees that applied for new financing | 35% | small employer firms | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Firms aged 0–5 years that applied for new financing | 45% | small employer firms | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Low credit-risk firms that applied for new financing | 39% | small employer firms | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| High credit-risk firms that applied for new financing | 62% | small employer firms | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Firms with 1–4 employees that had at least one financial challenge in the past 12 months | 94% | small employer firms | 2024 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Firms with 1–4 employees that used the owner's personal funds to cover a shortfall | 58% | vs 27% at 50–499 employees | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
Who gets approved: by firm size, credit risk and age
Fed SBCS rows: share of applicants approved for at least some of the financing they sought. Census ABS rows: share of credit applicants that received the full amount requested, by firm age. The ladder is the same in both surveys: smaller, younger and riskier firms are approved less often.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approved for at least some financing — 50–499 employees | 72% | SBCS · applicants | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Approved for at least some financing — low credit risk | 60% | SBCS · applicants | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Approved for at least some financing — 1–4 employees | 47% | SBCS · applicants | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Approved for at least some financing — high credit risk | 30% | SBCS · applicants | 2025 | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| Received the full amount requested — firms aged 16+ years | 66.8% | ABS · credit applicants | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Received the full amount requested — firms aged under 2 years | 46.9% | ABS · credit applicants | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Received only part of the amount — firms aged under 2 years | 31.2% | ABS · credit applicants | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Received none of the amount — firms aged under 2 years | 9.4% | ABS · credit applicants · vs 5.9% at 16+ years | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Needed financing but did not apply because the application was too time-consuming — firms aged 4–5 years | 18.3% | ABS · firms that needed financing | 2022 | www2.census.gov |
Where firms apply and how banks decide
Lender-source shares are from Census ABS (a firm can name several sources). Bank-side rows are from the FDIC Small Business Lending Survey, published in 2024 for the 2022 reference year — the latest edition — and the Fed's Senior Loan Officer Survey.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicants naming a bank as the lender | 72.9% | all employer firms that applied | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Applicants naming a finance company as the lender | 22.9% | all employer firms that applied | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Applicants naming a fintech or online lender — firms aged 2–3 years | 10.8% | vs 4.9% at 16+ years | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Applicants naming a CDFI as the lender | 0.6% | all employer firms that applied | 2023 | www2.census.gov |
| Large banks that would auto-approve a $25K business loan | 28% | 1% for a $1M–$3M loan | 2022 | fdic.gov |
| Small banks able to approve a small, simple business loan in one business day or less | 29% | 2022 | fdic.gov | |
| Banks with no plans to use fintech in small business lending | 48% | 72% cite cybersecurity risk, 69% implementation cost as large concerns | 2022 | fdic.gov |
| Net share of banks tightening standards on C&I loans to small firms | 8.9% | net percent of banks · demand net 0.0% | 2026-Q1 | federalreserve.gov |
What lenders charge and lose: online lender against SBA
Two ends of the market. Enova's small business book (company 10-K) shows online-lender pricing and losses; SBA program reports show the government-guaranteed end. Company figures describe one lender, not the market.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average annualized yield — online lender, small business installment loans | 48% | Enova · lines of credit 49% | 2025 | sec.gov |
| Net charge-offs as % of average balance — online lender, small business loans | 4.6% | Enova · quarterly rate | 2025-Q4 | sec.gov |
| Balance more than 30 days delinquent — online lender, small business loans | 6.2% | Enova | 2025-Q4 | sec.gov |
| Median annual sales of online-lender small business borrowers | $585K | Enova · average operating history 11.4 years | 2025 | sec.gov |
| SBA 7(a) loans guaranteed | 77,600 | fiscal year | FY2025 | sba.gov |
| SBA 7(a) and 504 loans guaranteed, dollar volume | $44.8B | fiscal year | FY2025 | sba.gov |
| SBA 7(a) charge-off rate, % of unpaid principal balance | 0.55% | 504 loans 0.12% | FY2024 | sba.gov |
| Typical SBA 7(a) guarantee share | 75% | as reported by Live Oak Bancshares | 2025 | sec.gov |
Rules a lending product has to plan for
Verified against the regulator's own text.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFPB Section 1071 small business lending data rule — compliance date | 1 January 2028 | single date for all covered lenders, replacing the tiered 2026–2027 schedule | final rule May 2026 | consumerfinance.gov |
| Section 1071 coverage threshold | 1,000 originations a year | in each of two years · raised from 100; merchant cash advances and small-dollar loans excluded | final rule May 2026 | consumerfinance.gov |
| Section 1071 definition of a small business | revenue ≤ $1M | cut from $5M | final rule May 2026 | files.consumerfinance.gov |
Why the US small business lending numbers do not add up to one figure
Each source measures a different thing. The FDIC counts loans by size at origination, not borrowers by size: a $900K loan to a large company is a 'small business loan', and a $2M loan to a 40-person firm is not. It also covers only FDIC-insured banks, so online lenders, finance companies and merchant cash advances are outside the $745.1B. The Fed Small Business Credit Survey asks employer firms with 1–499 employees and reports 'approved for at least some' financing, while the Census Annual Business Survey covers all employer firms and separates full, partial and no approval — so 47% and 46.9% are not the same measure. Reference years differ too: FDIC balances are June 2026, SBCS rows are 2024–2025, ABS rows are 2022–2023, and the FDIC bank survey is the 2022 reference year (its latest edition). Enova's yield and losses describe one online lender's book, not the online lending market, and SBA charge-offs are low partly because the program guarantees a large share of each loan. Read the FDIC rows as the size of bank credit, the surveys as who gets turned down, and the company rows as price points.
FDIC — Quarterly Banking Profile, time-series spreadsheets Q2 2026 · Federal Reserve — Small Business Credit Survey (via FRED) · US Census Bureau — Annual Business Survey · FDIC — Small Business Lending Survey 2024 · US Small Business Administration — loan program performance
Methodology
Every number on this page is a fact node in the God of Startups Atlas — a knowledge graph where each metric carries its source URL, reporting period, evidence tier and the verbatim quote it was taken from. All rows are tier 1: official statistics (FDIC, Federal Reserve, US Census Bureau, SBA), regulator rules (CFPB) and statutory company filings (10-K). Values are shown as the source reports them, rounded to one decimal in billions; nothing is converted, estimated or modelled.
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