Average Small Business Loan Amount

The average small business loan amount is $458,497, according to the latest official data on SBA loans. However, lenders determine the amount of a business loan by looking at your business’s finances, including your revenue, credit score and current debts. 

If you have strong credit and revenue, lenders might be willing to lend more to you than a business with lower credit and revenue. 

Be aware that lenders might not approve you for the full amount that you apply for. According to the 2025 Report on Employer Firms, lenders fully approve 39 percent of business loans and partially approve another 30 percent. To improve your chances of getting fully approved, estimate the cost of the business loan and add the loan repayments to your budget to ensure you can manage them.

To help you find the best small business loan for you, here’s an in-depth look at the loan amounts you can get for different types of business loans.

Small business loan amounts by loan type

The loan amount offered to your business will differ based on the type of loan you apply for. See the loan amounts that are possible with each type of loan.

Short-term loans

Short-term loans are loans with a short timeframe for you to repay the loan, usually 24 months or less. Loan amounts depend largely on the lender but can range from $5,000 to $750,000. 

These loans may be available to startups, businesses with fair or bad credit or businesses that simply want to pay off their loan quickly. That said, short-term loans can come with high interest rates, such as 30 percent or higher.

Business lines of credit

Business lines of credit are similar to business credit cards, allowing you to draw from the line of credit whenever you need it. The available credit limit replenishes as you pay back past loans so that you can borrow from them again.

Credit limits for business lines of credit often stop at $250,000 to $500,000. But some lenders will offer higher credit limits, such as $1 million. Lines of credit are ideal if you know you’ll need to borrow money in the future and want flexible access to funding.

Equipment financing

Equipment financing is a type of term loan that backs the loan with the equipment that you’re purchasing. The business loan amount typically equals the cost of the equipment purchase. You can find equipment loans from both traditional banks like Bank of America or online lenders like Triton Capital.

Because the equipment secures the loan, you can expect lower interest rates than an unsecured term loan. But the lender is able to seize the equipment if you default on the loan.

Invoice financing and invoice factoring

Both invoice financing and invoice factoring are short-term loans that advance you a percentage of your unpaid invoices, like 70 percent to 90 percent. This type of financing works well if you have bad credit because the lender weighs the creditworthiness of your clients more than your business.  

Once approved, you’ll repay the lender the loan amount plus fees as your clients pay you. With invoice factoring, you sell your invoices to the lender, which will then collect the invoices for you.

These loans can be useful if you have cash flow gaps from slow-paying clients. But consider that they often come with high fees like 4 percent of the invoice amount.

Merchant cash advances

Merchant cash advances offer a lump sum based on your business’s future credit or debit card sales. Once approved, your business will repay the loan  automatically with a percentage of your daily or weekly sales. This alternative business loan tends to have high approval rates, even for bad credit borrowers.

But they often come with high interest rates or factor rates that you’ll want to factor into the cost of borrowing. Because the fees can be steep, you may want to use a merchant cash advance as a last resort.

Microloans

Microloans are business loans with low loan amounts, such as $1,000 to $100,000. SBA lenders and nonprofits often offer these loans to support businesses that don’t qualify for traditional business loans.

Microlenders often relax the  lending criteria, accepting poor or no credit as well as approving startups. They may also provide business coaching and education to further support small businesses.

SBA loans

SBA loans are loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, aimed at helping businesses that can’t get conventional business loans. SBA loans are known for their long repayment terms as well as their low interest rates, which are set by the SBA.

Because these loans come with attractive features, you can expect a long, competitive application process. Here are the average business loan amounts for each type of SBA loan:

Additional business financing options

If you can’t get the amount of funding you need, you may be able to use one of these alternatives:

• Business credit cards. Business credit cards offer credit limits that would cover small expenses. They often don’t consider your business’s time in business or revenue. However, you will need strong credit to qualify for most cards, unless you go with cards designed for bad credit borrowers.
• Business grants. Grants offer money to your business that you don’t have to repay. These are ideal if you can’t afford repayments or need additional funding on top of a loan. But this option is competitive as many businesses are likely to apply, and receiving funding can be a slow process.
• Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding allows you to raise funds for your business, either as a donation or an investment from multiple investors. There are several types of crowdfunding businesses can utilize, including rewards-based crowdfunding that offers equity in your business or some other reward to investors. Debt crowdfunding works like a business loan in which you repay lenders over time with interest. 

Small business loan amount by lender

Another major factor in how much business loan you can get is the lender you choose. Every lender will offer different loan amounts to different businesses, based on each business’s financial condition. 

You can get an idea of how much each lender offers at a maximum. But ultimately it will depend on what the lender is willing to offer you specifically. You will need to apply with each lender to see your specific loan offer.

Bank loans

Traditional banks, like TD Bank and PNC Bank, typically lend large amounts to borrowers, with business loan amounts ranging from $10,000 to $5 million. That said, banks have been continually tightening credit standards, making approval more difficult. Traditional banks normally require that borrowers have several years in business, a credit score of at least 680 and strong annual revenue, such as $250,000.

Online loans

Online loans are alternative business loans offered through lenders that primarily work online, without physical branches. These lenders can offer loans of $500,000 up to $10 million in some cases. However, loan amounts are typically less than what you can get through a traditional bank.

Online lenders tend to approve and fund loans quickly, with many approving loans within 24 to 48 hours. Online lenders also tend to have more accessible loan requirements, often accepting startups or businesses with bad credit. Online loans might be a solid option if you need fast funding or you’re a subprime borrower.

Here are some examples of how much funding you can get with an online business loan:

How much business loan can I get?

When approving you for a business loan, lenders will look at several factors to determine if you can manage a new business loan. Lenders will look at your:

• Credit score: Lenders are more likely to approve you for funding if you have strong credit. If you have fair or poor credit, the lender may approve you for less funding than you requested or deny the loan.
• Revenue and cash flow: Lenders want to see that you have plenty of revenue left after expenses to cover business loan repayments.
• Debt obligations: Lenders will evaluate how much debt you already have and whether you can handle new debt. They may use a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio or debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) to determine your debt load. Lenders typically like to see a DTI of 36 percent or less and DSCR of at least 1.25.

How much is a small business loan?

Your exact loan repayments will depend on the amount of small business loan that you get as well as the interest rate and the length of repayment term. You can use a business loan calculator to estimate your repayments and the total interest that you’ll pay. It’s a good idea to estimate costs before you sign for the loan.

Examples of how much a small business loan will cost:

What to look for when comparing business loans

Before you sign for a loan, consider multiple loan options and lenders and compare these features:

• Type of lender. You might prefer a lender that you can meet in persono to go over your lon details. In that case, you may opt for a bank with a physical location near you.
• Eligibility requirements. Consider if you meet the lender’s requirements for credit score, time in business, revenue and more. You might qualify if you meet all or most of their requirements.
• Loan amounts offered. Consider if the possible loan amounts offered by each lender is the amount of funding you need. Some lenders may offer low loan amounts, which may not cover the purchases you want to make.
• Interest rates. Find the loan and lender that offers you the lowest interest rate for your credit level. The lower the rate, the less you’ll pay in borrowing costs.
• Fees. Factor in the cost of fees that the lender might charge you, such as an origination fee for originating the loan or draw fees for withdrawing from a line of credit. Some lenders also charge a prepayment penalty if you pay off the loan early.

Bottom line

The average small business loan amount varies considerably depending on what type of loan you take out, the lender you choose and your business’s finances. Lenders want to see that you can reasonably repay the loan amount from your expected revenue. Some types of business loans are easier to qualify for because the loan amounts are based on your future invoices or credit or debit card sales.

Always compare interest rates, repayment terms, loan amounts, eligibility criteria and fees when selecting a loan to ensure you find the most affordable option for your circumstances.