The short answer
Use the SBA files to see which lenders made loans of your size, in your industry and state, over the last three years. Count loans, not dollars, and check how each loan was processed. The files list approvals, not declines or the credit behind them. They show who lends, not who will say yes to you.
What the files hold
The SBA posts loan-level files for both programs on data.sba.gov. The 7(a) loans come in four files, by fiscal year, from 1991 to the present. The 504 loans come in two. A data dictionary explains each field. The SBA says the files update every quarter and usually appear about a month after the quarter ends. The newest set is as of September 30, 2026.
For Oct 2023 through Sep 2026, lenders made 175,022 SBA FOIA, 7(a) loans worth $89.0B in all, once cancelled approvals are taken out. Over the same window the file shows 11,054 funded 504 loans. This site counts the same way everywhere, so a number here will agree with the lender pages and the rankings.
The fields a broker uses
The dictionary lists about forty fields. These are the ones that decide whether a lender fits your deal.
| Field | What it tells you | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| BankName, BankFDICNumber, BankNCUANumber | The lender, and the certificate or charter number that lets you join it to a call report | The dictionary calls the name the bank the loan is currently assigned to. A lender that merged or sold loans can carry loans it did not make. |
| GrossApproval | The total loan amount (7(a)) | For a 504 loan this is the SBA and CDC portion, not the project cost. |
| SBAGuaranteedApproval | The SBA’s guaranty amount | A share of the loan, not extra money. |
| ApprovalDate, ApprovalFY | The date SBA gave its approval | An approval date is not a closing date. The fiscal year runs October to September. |
| ProcessingMethod | The route the loan took, such as the Preferred Lenders Program or SBA Express | The most useful field for judging how a lender works. See below. |
| InitialInterestRate, FixedorVariableInterestInd | The rate at approval, base plus spread, and whether it floats | An initial rate only. It says nothing about later adjustments. |
| TermInMonths | The length of the term | Real estate loans run longer than working capital loans, so term is a clue to the use of proceeds. |
| NaicsCode | The industry | The most specific field for finding lenders that work in your business. |
| ProjectState, ProjectCounty | Where the project is | The project, not the borrower’s mailing address. |
| LoanStatus | Cancelled, charged off, undisbursed, paid in full, or exempt | Loans that are disbursed and still open show as exempt. |
On a 504 row, the third-party lender is named in ThirdPartyLender_Name with its city and state, and its loan is in ThirdPartyDollars. The file carries no lender ID for these loans, so every 504 first lien is tied to a lender by name and state. A name that no call report filer carries, and that appears on fewer than three projects in the window, gets no lender record. That is 1.9% SBA FOIA, of first liens, and they sit in every total and in no lender’s count.
What 7(a) processing methods tell you
Lenders reach the SBA through different doors, and the door matters to how fast a request moves.
| Processing method | Loans | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Preferred Lenders Program (the lender makes the credit decision; SBA does not review it first) | 102,782 | 59% |
| SBA Express and Export Express (the lender's delegated authority) | 62,591 | 36% |
| General processing (SBA reviews the request) | 8,567 | 5% |
| Other (CAPLines, international trade, other programs) | 1,082 | 0.6% |
SBA FOIA, Net of cancelled approvals. Method is the SBA field ProcessingMethod, grouped here.
Under the Preferred Lenders Program, SBA does not review the lender’s credit analysis before it issues a loan number. The lender makes the credit decision on a standard 7(a) request and carries the risk if it is wrong. SBA Express loans are $500,000 or less, and only a lender with Express authority can make one. Under general processing, the lender sends the file to SBA first. If you are waiting on a lender that sends everything to SBA, you are also waiting on SBA.
For a 504 loan, the parallel question is who processes it. Of the funded 504 loans in the window, 76% SBA FOIA, went through a development company with Accredited Lenders authority and 1.4% through one with Premier Certified authority.
Looking for a lender now? Find lenders for this in your state or see SBA 7(a) lenders state by state.
Reading a 504 row
A 504 project has three parts. SBA policy says the bank, called the third-party lender, provides 50 percent or more of the financing. The development company provides up to 40 percent through the debenture, which SBA guarantees in full. The borrower puts in at least 10 percent. A new business or a special purpose building raises the borrower’s share to 15 percent, and both together raise it to 20 percent.
So a row that shows a $1,000,000 first lien and an $800,000 debenture fits a project of about $2,000,000, with roughly $200,000 from the borrower. That is a rule of thumb, not a record. The down payment is not in the file, and the split moves when the new business or special purpose rules come into play.
What the files leave out
- Declines. The files list approvals. A request a lender turned down, or never sent to SBA, is not there.
- The credit. There is no debt service coverage, no collateral value, no equity injection and no score. Two identical rows can be very different loans.
- Performance. Loans that are disbursed and not cancelled, paid in full or charged off are exempt from disclosure, so the file cannot show how most loans are doing.
- Appetite today. A lender’s last three years say what it did. They do not say it is taking requests now.
- Self-reported fields. Jobs supported is the lender’s own estimate, and SBA does not audit it.
The files include borrower names and street addresses. This site leaves both out. It shows lenders and counts.
Using the files to choose lenders
- Pick the program. If you are choosing between 7(a) and 504, start with which one fits.
- Find your size band. Most 7(a) loans are small. 65% SBA FOIA, were $350,000 or less, and 14% were over $1 million.
- Read the rate by size. SBA caps the spread over the base rate, and the cap falls as the loan grows: 6.5 points at $50,000 or less, 6 points up to $250,000, 4.5 points up to $350,000 and 3 points above that. The middle rate in the table below falls with size in the same way.
- Filter to your industry and state. Use the NAICS code and the project state. Narrow until the count is small enough to read lender by lender.
- Count loans, then check the door. A lender with ten loans in your industry and size band is a different call from a lender with one. Then check how it processes them.
- Use the term as a clue. Real estate loans can run up to 25 years. Working capital and equipment loans are shorter. 11% SBA FOIA, of loans in the window had a term of 20 years or more.
| Loan size | Loans | Share | Middle rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to $150,000 | 71,049 | 41% | 10.75% |
| $150,001 to $350,000 | 42,460 | 24% | 10.25% |
| $350,001 to $1 million | 37,383 | 21% | 9.75% |
| $1,000,001 to $2 million | 12,660 | 7% | 9.25% |
| Over $2 million | 11,470 | 7% | 9.00% |
SBA FOIA, Net of cancelled approvals. Size is the gross approval, rounded to two significant figures. The rate is the initial note rate, to the nearest quarter point.
A worked example
A buyer wants $400,000 to buy a restaurant in Ohio. The Loan Comps link in the next step carries those three facts. The record behind it is 870 SBA FOIA, 7(a) loans to restaurants in Ohio in the window, made by 90 lenders, with a middle loan of $130,000. A $400,000 request is well above the middle, so the useful lenders are the ones with loans at that size, not the ones with the most loans.
Open a lender from the results and read its recorded loans. Ask three things. Has it made loans near this size? Are they recent? Does it process under its own authority? Then call. The record tells you which lenders to try first. It cannot tell you who will say yes.
Mistakes that cost time
- Reading dollars instead of counts. A few very large loans can lift a lender to the top of a dollar ranking while it makes few loans your size.
- Treating a name as one lender. Affiliates, mergers and loans assigned to a new owner split and merge counts. Check the lender’s page before you trust a total.
- Reading approvals as closings. The file dates the SBA’s approval, not the day money moved.
- Using one year. A single fiscal year is noisy for small lenders. Use 36 months, as this site does.
- Reading the rate as an offer. The initial rate is where a past loan started. Your rate depends on the lender’s review.
Terms used here
- SBA 7(a) loan: SBA's main business loan program. A lender makes the loan and SBA guarantees part of it: up to 85 percent of $150,000 or less and 75 percent of more, on loans up to $5,000,000.
- SBA 504 loan: A fixed-asset financing in which a bank lends 50 percent or more, a certified development company funds up to 40 percent through an SBA debenture, and the borrower puts in at least 10 percent.
- Preferred Lenders Program (PLP): A status SBA gives some 7(a) lenders to decide eligibility and credit on their own authority, with SBA reviewing a loan only at purchase or oversight.
- Certified development company (CDC): A lender certified by SBA to package, close and service 504 loans and to issue the debenture that funds up to 40 percent of a project.
- Third-party lender (SBA 504): The bank or other lender that makes the first-lien loan, usually about half the project cost, in an SBA 504 project. SBA does not guarantee its loan.
- Debenture (SBA 504): The bond a certified development company issues to fund SBA's share of a 504 project. SBA guarantees it in full, and debentures are normally sold once a month.
Sources
Every rule and outside figure above comes from one of these, opened on . Dates are the source's own. Figures from this site's data carry their own source and date beside them.
- SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan data, dataset page (updated quarterly, data as of September 30, 2026), page last modified .
- SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA data dictionary, retrieved .
- SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs, effective .
- SBA Information Notice 5000-881797, 7(a) fees for fiscal year 2027, published .
Next step: check the record
- Loan Comps for the 7(a) example in this guideRestaurants in Ohio at $400,000 is the example below. Change the industry, state and amount to yours.
- SBA 7(a) lenders by loans madeThe 36-month count for every lender, with the method printed above the table.
- SBA lenders by industryTwenty-one industry groups, each with the lenders that made loans in it.
Keep reading
- SBA Preferred Lenders Program and Express: how they differ: Some SBA lenders decide a loan on their own authority and some send it to SBA first. The difference changes who reads your file and who carries the risk.
- SBA 7(a) or 504: which fits your loan: Both are SBA loans, and they work differently. The choice usually turns on what you are buying and how much cash you can put in.
- SBA 7(a) loan package checklist: A 7(a) package is the bank's usual file plus SBA's own list. Know which items SBA requires and you can have them ready before the first call.
- SBA 504 loan package checklist: A 504 project has three parties, two loans and a closing date set by a monthly bond sale. Build the package for all three.
Questions people ask
Does the SBA file show loans that were turned down?
No. It lists approvals only, including some later cancelled. A request a lender declined, or never sent to the SBA, does not appear anywhere in the public record.
Can I see whether a lender's SBA borrowers are paying?
Mostly no. The SBA marks loans that are disbursed and not cancelled, paid in full or charged off as exempt from disclosure, so the file cannot show how most loans are performing.
Cite this
Source: The Lender Report, How to read SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data, https://lender.report/guides/how-to-read-sba-loan-data/, data as of November 9, 2026.
General information, not legal, tax or credit advice. A lender's own policy decides what it will do; ask it for the policy in writing.
SBA does not require you to use an agent or broker for a loan application. SBA has not reviewed or endorsed this site.
Source and date appear beside each figure. Banks report balances, not loans made. Loans made come only from HMDA and SBA files. We do not audit filings and can make errors joining them. Report a problem