Navigating the expansive landscape of Small Business Administration (SBA) lenders can be a daunting task for entrepreneurs seeking the best financial partner. With hundreds of institutions offering SBA-backed loans, finding the right fit is critical to securing the necessary funding to launch, buy, or expand a business. In this article we analyze SBA loan data from 2018 through 2023 to find the top lenders for your specific situation. I plan to cover the following:
The following SBA lenders are the top 100 SBA lenders over the past 5+ years (2018 - 2023) based on the number of SBA loans made. Huntington Bank has a commanding lead, closing over twice as many SBA loans over the time period as the next closest SBA Lender.
Lender
# of Loans Approved
Average Loan Amount
The Huntington National Bank
19,720
$195,963
TD Bank, National Association
9,238
$139,389
U.S. Bank, National Association
8,720
$261,927
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association
7,567
$361,126
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
6,022
$149,714
Live Oak Banking Company
5,316
$1,487,898
BayFirst National Bank
5,161
$254,980
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association
5,119
$239,247
Newtek Small Business Finance, Inc.
3,844
$715,897
United Midwest Savings Bank, National Association
3,463
$290,406
Celtic Bank Corporation
3,178
$801,052
KeyBank National Association
2,997
$465,274
Cadence Bank
2,822
$368,446
PNC Bank, National Association
2,733
$464,042
Umpqua Bank
2,104
$463,170
Readycap Lending, LLC
1,929
$787,162
Stearns Bank National Association
1,870
$339,835
Byline Bank
1,853
$1,203,223
Bank of America, National Association
1,779
$493,945
Zions Bank, A Division of
1,659
$385,103
BMO Harris Bank National Association
1,659
$714,723
Five Star Bank
1,647
$252,981
Northeast Bank
1,605
$168,769
Eastern Bank
1,585
$118,202
Enterprise Bank & Trust
1,476
$1,162,935
Bank of Hope
1,460
$630,075
Truist Bank
1,340
$704,274
Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC
1,154
$1,182,149
Berkshire Bank
1,145
$912,036
Comerica Bank
1,102
$399,948
United Community Bank
1,067
$742,370
Citizens Bank
1,051
$711,820
Banner Bank
1,026
$236,946
CDC Small Business Finance Corporation
973
$149,392
SouthState Bank, National Association
965
$872,018
Webster Bank National Association
927
$379,682
Hanmi Bank
917
$783,645
Commonwealth Business Bank
873
$1,188,422
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
851
$180,800
First Bank
843
$825,980
Fifth Third Bank
827
$498,851
First Financial Bank
812
$776,823
Peoples Bank
785
$819,674
Pinnacle Bank
765
$1,190,326
Seacoast National Bank
681
$412,607
Simmons Bank
659
$426,533
Santander Bank, National Association
649
$147,630
Midwest Regional Bank
648
$719,004
Northwest Bank
641
$381,893
Open Bank
637
$1,548,925
Oriental Bank
636
$147,341
The Bancorp Bank National Association
631
$840,910
Citizens Bank, National Association
626
$438,831
First Internet Bank of Indiana
604
$1,073,727
BancFirst
603
$390,035
First Commonwealth Bank
588
$782,706
PCB Bank
587
$1,206,096
Arvest Bank
564
$297,006
First Savings Bank
563
$757,060
Regions Bank
555
$1,151,294
Dogwood State Bank
538
$826,035
1st Source Bank
534
$163,952
Mountain America FCU
532
$390,632
Old National Bank
522
$927,129
Independence Bank
518
$121,641
First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company
509
$857,403
East West Bank
506
$861,903
FinWise Bank
505
$1,198,309
Glacier Bank
505
$350,601
First Bank of the Lake
497
$1,445,389
Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB
482
$846,926
Customers Bank
480
$936,101
First National Bank of Pennsylvania
469
$829,422
Wallis Bank
456
$1,528,915
IncredibleBank
451
$1,186,989
Pacific Western Bank
442
$1,278,579
Metro City Bank
441
$1,810,911
Ameris Bank
436
$977,708
GBank
435
$2,330,226
BankVista
429
$544,146
HomeTrust Bank
425
$1,213,506
Independent Bank
425
$835,230
Meridian Bank
410
$994,370
Frost Bank
406
$587,899
Central Bank
395
$411,249
Nicolet National Bank
376
$554,552
Community Banks of Colorado, A Division of
366
$895,995
VelocitySBA, LLC
358
$1,215,067
Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company
353
$798,330
LendingClub Bank, National Association
349
$1,290,743
Fulton Bank, National Association
348
$730,934
Bank Five Nine
344
$905,999
Fund-Ex Solutions Group, LLC
342
$1,182,710
United Business Bank
334
$1,048,630
OakStar Bank
334
$634,145
Community Trust Bank, Inc.
322
$206,302
Synovus Bank
322
$1,306,085
Sunflower Bank, National Association
321
$890,372
First IC Bank
321
$1,604,090
West Town Bank & Trust
313
$535,777
Top SBA Lenders in 2023
The following are the top 10 SBA lenders for the first six months of 2023. Again Huntington Bank is the top SBA lender for the first half of 2023.
Lender
# of Loans Approved
Average Loan Amount
The Huntington National Bank
1895
$207,730
TD Bank, National Association
1079
$133,749
BayFirst National Bank
951
$164,696
U.S. Bank, National Association
598
$157,165
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association
452
$225,783
Newtek Small Business Finance, Inc.
391
$514,550
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association
358
$192,183
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
340
$128,162
Live Oak Banking Company
333
$1,545,068
Cadence Bank
300
$328,014
Best Lenders for Buying a Business
Live Oak Bank is the top SBA Lender for buying a business. Live Oak has closed over 3 times the number of SBA loans for acquisitions over the last 6 years (2018 - 2023) when compared to the next most active SBA lender.
Lender
# of Loans Approved
Average Loan Amount
Live Oak Banking Company
2524
$1,506,710
The Huntington National Bank
745
$722,485
Celtic Bank Corporation
533
$1,485,950
Hanmi Bank
490
$808,823
Byline Bank
458
$1,421,590
Stearns Bank National Association
442
$450,969
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association
425
$736,715
Bank of Hope
382
$666,630
Umpqua Bank
355
$870,077
United Midwest Savings Bank, National Association
354
$1,283,279
You will notice that SBA lenders tend to specialize, so it is important to find the most active SBA lender in your specific area, industry, and stage of business if you want the best chance at approval.
Best SBA Lender for Startups
Huntington Bank is the top SBA Lender for startups over the past 6 years (2018 - 2023) closing 3,695 SBA loans to startups during that time period.
Lender
# of Loans Approved
Average Loan Amount
The Huntington National Bank
3695
$276,249
United Midwest Savings Bank, National Association
2882
$141,202
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
1061
$184,542
Stearns Bank National Association
1042
$287,464
KeyBank National Association
857
$470,312
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association
691
$725,101
Live Oak Banking Company
629
$1,627,923
United Community Bank
560
$632,286
Cadence Bank
540
$545,045
Citizens Bank
508
$536,777
SBA Loan Approved for Startups
The following graph shows the number of SBA loans approved for startup companies by all SBA lenders over the last 5 years. You can see that an average of approximately 7,000 SBA loans are made to startups each year.
Industries with the Most SBA Loans
The following list is the top 70 industries ranked by the number of SBA loans closed over the last 6 years (2018 - 2023). The broad category of Professional Services was the top industry with 17,836 SBA loans closed followed by manufacturers and retailers.
Industry
# of SBA Loans Approved
Professional Services
17836
Manufacturing
12476
Retail Stores
11803
Subcontractors
10573
Full-Service Restaurants
10478
Wholesalers, Distributors
9457
Limited-Service Restaurants
7663
Trucking, Long-Distance
5783
General Automotive Repair
5607
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels
4320
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
4242
General Freight Trucking, Local
4017
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists)
3987
Residential Remodelers
3806
Landscaping Services
3640
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors
3430
Specialty Trade Contractors
3374
Child Day Care Services
3010
Beauty Salons
2915
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
2866
Construction
2783
Offices of Dentists
2753
Coffee Shops
2704
Electrical Contractors
2294
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores
2201
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
2188
Home Health Care Services
2165
Offices of Chiropractors
2006
Offices of Lawyers
1958
Janitorial Services
1842
Other Personal Care Services
1729
Farming
1725
Bars
1647
Ecommerce
1613
Breweries
1553
Private Schools
1488
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
1472
Nursing Homes / Assisted Living
1452
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores
1451
Equipment Rental
1418
Car Dealers
1380
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
1326
Real Estate Investors
1271
Bakeries
1254
Car Washes
1246
Veterinary Services
1166
Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers
1144
Salons
1125
New Single-Family Housing Construction (except Operative Builders)
1104
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1066
Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists
1040
Convenience Stores
1025
Specialized Freight (except Used Goods) Trucking, Local
873
Roofing Contractors
868
Personal Trainers
841
Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians)
789
Self Storage
779
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
699
Laundromats
697
Food Trucks
675
Caterers
671
Drycleaning
649
Couriers
620
Tow Truck
454
Vending Machine Operators
367
Moving Truck
355
Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists
302
Photography
301
Trucking, Local
275
Software Publishers
256
Airbnbs, Short Term Rentals
206
How to Find the Perfect SBA 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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