Top SBA Lenders in Texas - Find your Lender

September 13, 2023

Adam Hoeksema

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the go to funding source for launching, buying, or growing a small business, but there are hundreds of SBA lenders, how can you find the SBA lender that is the right fit for your business?  In this article I am going to highlight the top SBA lenders in Texas.  Specifically I plan to cover the following:

With that as our plan, let’s get into it!

SBA Loan State Rankings

The following list ranks the top states based on the number of SBA loans approved over the last 6 years (2018 - 2023).  Although California tops the list in terms of number of SBA loans approved with 25,090 loans approved during this time period, Texans will be happy to know that everything is bigger in Texas including the average SBA loan amount.  Texas had the highest average SBA loan amount at $796,513.  

Resource: Top SBA Lenders Nationwide

Rank State # of Loans Approved Average Loan Amount
1 California 25,090 $726,892
2 Texas 16,146 $796,513
3 Florida 14,001 $620,885
4 Ohio 13,785 $311,699
5 New York 12,547 $382,580
6 Michigan 9,271 $372,034
7 Illinois 7,479 $557,354
8 Pennsylvania 7,080 $473,172
9 Minnesota 7,054 $420,733
10 New Jersey 6,742 $531,682

Top SBA Lenders in Texas

The top SBA lender in Texas over the last 6 years (2018 - 2023) was Wells Fargo Bank with 1,056 SBA loans approved. 

Rank Lender # of Loans Approved Average Loan Amount
1 Wells Fargo Bank, National Association 1,056 $314,201
2 JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 656 $300,735
3 PNC Bank, National Association 654 $630,901
4 Live Oak Banking Company 578 $1,471,609
5 United Midwest Savings Bank, National Association 486 $252,242
6 BayFirst National Bank 444 $244,403
7 Cadence Bank 411 $533,291
8 Frost Bank 401 $585,008
9 Comerica Bank 371 $497,505
10 Wallis Bank 343 $1,624,451

Keep in mind that you might not want to go to the highest volume SBA lender by default, it might make sense to dig a bit deeper and determine which SBA lenders are the most active for your specific situation.  Next we will look at the top SBA lenders for both startups and business acquisitions. 

Best SBA Lenders in Texas for Startups

United Midwest Savings Bank has been the top SBA lender for startups in Texas over the past 6 years (2018 - 2023).  This is a great example to demonstrate that the top SBA lender might not always be the best fit for you, because Wells Fargo, which was top of the overall list, is 4th on the list for startup lenders.  Clearly Wells Fargo is not as aggressive with startup lending as they are with other SBA loans. 

Rank Lender # of Loans Approved Average Loan Amount
1 United Midwest Savings Bank, National Association 423 $142,182
2 The Huntington National Bank 242 $341,204
3 Frost Bank 171 $489,285
4 Wells Fargo Bank, National Association 155 $645,708
5 Cadence Bank 150 $637,271
6 Stearns Bank National Association 142 $300,292
7 Wallis Bank 139 $1,862,721
8 Midwest Regional Bank 128 $541,943
9 Simmons Bank 121 $440,908
10 PeopleFund 117 $135,509

Texas SBA Lenders for Buying a Business

Live Oak Bank is the top SBA lender in Texas for business acquisition loans.  Live Oak Bank approved 265 SBA loans for business acquisitions between 2018 and 2023 which is nearly three times the number of the 2nd ranked lender. 

Rank Lender # of Loans Approved Average Loan Amount
1 Live Oak Banking Company 265 $1,440,943
2 Wells Fargo Bank, National Association 94 $560,640
3 Midwest Regional Bank 71 $754,556
4 Celtic Bank Corporation 70 $1,331,779
5 Stellar Bank 57 $1,224,346
6 Bank of Hope 54 $437,546
7 Stearns Bank National Association 46 $471,235
8 Frost Bank 44 $1,016,582
9 First IC Bank 38 $1,771,592
10 Veritex Community Bank 38 $1,678,063

How to Find the Right Business Lender

In order to find the perfect SBA lender for your unique location, business type, stage of business and loan amount request, you may need to do a deeper dive.  We have developed an SBA Lender Analysis Tool as pictured below that can help you sort SBA loan data by State, Industry, Business Stage, Franchise Name, and Lender Name which can allow you to truly customize a report and find the perfect lender for your business.  

We hope this information has been helpful, and if you need any help finding the perfect SBA lender in your area please don’t hesitate to contact us.

About the Author

Adam is the Co-founder of ProjectionHub which helps entrepreneurs create financial projections for potential investors, lenders and internal business planning. Since 2012, over 50,000 entrepreneurs from around the world have used ProjectionHub to help create financial projections.

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