Answer
How much can I borrow for my small business?
What lenders will actually advance, what the median SBA borrower gets, and the two formulas that cap your number.
Most small businesses can borrow roughly 10% to 30% of annual revenue, and the amount is ultimately capped by cash flow, not by ambition. The median SBA 7(a) loan is $150,000. SBA 7(a) tops out at $5 million; online lenders rarely exceed $500,000.
The two formulas that decide your number
Lenders do not pick a number from your request. They compute two, and lend you the lower.
- The cash flow cap
- Your cash flow available for debt service, divided by the coverage ratio the lender requires (usually 1.25x), minus your existing debt payments. Whatever monthly payment that leaves is converted into a loan amount at the rate and term on offer. This is the binding constraint for most borrowers.
- The collateral or revenue cap
- A percentage of what secures the loan: 70% to 90% of receivables, 50% to 80% of equipment value, 65% to 90% of real estate. For unsecured lending it is a percentage of revenue instead, commonly 10% to 30% of your annual top line.
What SBA borrowers actually receive
Figures below come from SBA 7(a) loan-level FOIA data released 2026-06-30, covering 214,102 7(a) loans approved fiscal years 2023 to 2026, using data released June 2026.
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile loan | $50,000 |
| Median loan | $150,000 |
| 75th percentile loan | $500,000 |
| Average loan | $486,329 (pulled up by a small number of very large loans) |
| Program maximum | $5,000,000 |
The gap between the median and the average is the important part. Half of all 7(a) loans are under $150,000, but the average is $486,329 because a handful of multi-million-dollar deals drag it upward. If you are reading headlines about average loan sizes and feeling like you are asking for too little, the median is the honest comparison.
Ceilings by product
| Product | Practical maximum |
|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) | $5 million |
| SBA 504 | No hard project cap; CDC piece up to $5M-$5.5M |
| SBA Express | $500,000 |
| SBA microloan | $50,000 |
| Bank term loan | Limited by the bank's lending limit and your coverage |
| Online term loan | Usually $500,000 |
| Line of credit | $10,000 to $5 million by lender type |
| Equipment financing | Up to 100% of the asset's cost |
| Invoice factoring | Scales with your receivables |
Ask for the right number, not the biggest one
- Build a thirteen-week cash forecast and find the deepest point. That is your real need.
- Add roughly 20% for the things you have not thought of.
- Test it against coverage. Run it through our affordability calculator. If the payment pushes coverage below 1.25x, you are asking for more than you will get.
- Do not round up hopefully. Asking for $500,000 when the numbers support $220,000 does not get you $500,000. It gets you a slower decline, because the underwriter has to work out why the request does not match the business.
Questions people actually ask
How much can I borrow based on my revenue?
Unsecured lenders commonly cap at 10%% to 30%% of annual revenue, so a business doing $800,000 might see $80,000 to $240,000. SBA and bank lending is not calculated that way at all -- it is driven by cash flow coverage, which is why a profitable business can borrow well beyond a revenue-multiple rule of thumb.
Can I borrow more if I have collateral?
Usually yes, but collateral raises the ceiling rather than creating one. A lender still needs the cash flow to service the payment. What collateral genuinely does is improve your rate and let a lender stretch on the other factors.
What is the maximum SBA loan?
$5 million for a 7(a). A 504 project can exceed that overall because the CDC portion is capped at $5 million to $5.5 million while the bank's first mortgage sits on top of it. SBA Express is capped at $500,000 and microloans at $50,000.