U.S. States by SBA 7(a) Loan Volume, FY2026 YTD
U.S. States by SBA 7(a) Loan Volume, FY2026 YTD
California leads the confirmed U.S. state ranking for SBA 7(a) loan approval volume in fiscal year 2026 through July 31, 2026, at $3.2223 billion. Texas ranks second at $2.8049 billion, followed by Florida at $2.1409 billion.
The metric is gross 7(a) approval volume by project state, not loan count, disbursements or the SBA-guaranteed portion. Higher approved dollar volume ranks higher. Because FY2026 runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, this is a partial-year snapshot rather than a final FY2026 ranking.
The table is a compiled research dataset based on official SBA monthly lender activity data and the state aggregation published by SBA Pulse, with supporting SBA and Census documentation used for methodology and region labels. All 10 ranking values are classified as calculated_value: SBA Pulse aggregates official observed project-state approval inputs across lenders. These are observed FY2026 YTD totals, not forecasts or projections.
Coverage: 10 confirmed states. Unit: U.S. dollars. Target period: FY2026 YTD through July 31, 2026. Direction: higher volume ranks higher. Status counts: 10 calculated_value, 0 official_value, 0 official_forecast, 0 modeled_projection.
California has the largest confirmed gross 7(a) approval volume through July 31, 2026.
Pennsylvania is tenth in the confirmed Top 10.
Every row uses the same July 31, 2026 cumulative FY2026 snapshot.
Published state aggregates derived from official observed SBA project-state inputs; no projections are used.
What this SBA 7(a) state ranking measures
SBA 7(a) approval volume measures the dollar value of approved loans associated with business projects in each state. The geographic assignment follows the project state, so a lender headquartered in one state can contribute approval volume to many other states.
Dollar volume and loan count are different measures. A state can rank high because it has many approvals, larger approved loans, or both. This table therefore ranks financing volume rather than the number of borrowers or businesses receiving approvals.
National context: SBA Pulse reports $24.7 billion in total FY2026 YTD 7(a) approval volume across 45,528 loans as of July 31, 2026. The ranking below is limited to the 10 confirmed state aggregates used in this snapshot.
Top 10 states by SBA 7(a) loan volume
California, Texas and Florida form a distinct top tier, each above $2 billion in FY2026 YTD gross approval volume. New York ranks fourth at $1.1353 billion, followed by six states between approximately $756 million and $884 million.
Top 10 confirmed states · FY2026 YTD through July 31, 2026
| Rank | State | Volume | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $3.2223B | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = CA. |
| 2 | Texas | $2.8049B | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = TX. |
| 3 | Florida | $2.1409B | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = FL. |
| 4 | New York | $1.1353B | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = NY. |
| 5 | Georgia | $884.1M | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = GA. |
| 6 | Ohio | $837.0M | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = OH. |
| 7 | Washington | $834.7M | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = WA. |
| 8 | New Jersey | $796.9M | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = NJ. |
| 9 | Illinois | $781.2M | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = IL. |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | $755.6M | calculated_value SBA Pulse state aggregate from official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report project-state inputs; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; formula basis: sum gross approvals where Project State = PA. |
The state totals above are published calculated aggregates from SBA Pulse, not direct official-value fields copied from an SBA state table. SBA Pulse documents that its geographic totals are aggregated from the project-state breakdown in the official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report.
Chart: Top 10 states by FY2026 YTD approval volume
California and Texas are clearly ahead of the rest of the confirmed Top 10. Florida remains above $2 billion, while New York is the only other state above $1 billion in this July 31 snapshot.
Methodology
The ranking uses the state-level geographic distribution published by SBA Pulse for the SBA 7(a) program as of July 31, 2026. SBA Pulse documents that these state totals are calculated from the project-state breakdown in the official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report, which is published monthly and reflects cumulative fiscal-year-to-date activity.
Metric and unit
Gross SBA 7(a) approval amount by project state, measured in U.S. dollars. The ranking does not use loan count.
Target period
FY2026 YTD through July 31, 2026. FY2026 began October 1, 2025 and ends September 30, 2026.
Direction
Descending. A larger gross approved dollar amount receives a higher rank.
Geography
Loan activity is assigned by project state, not by the headquarters state of the originating lender.
Value status
All 10 values are calculated_value because the state result is an aggregation of official observed SBA lender/project-state inputs rather than a directly published official-value field used here.
Source roles
U.S. SBA provides the official underlying activity data and official state/lender reporting environment. SBA Pulse publishes the confirmed July 31 state aggregation. Census documentation supplies region labels only.
Calculation inputs and formula
Inputs: official FY2026 observed SBA 7(a) approval amounts broken out by lender and project state in the monthly 7(a) Lender Activity Report. SBA Pulse states that geographic totals are aggregated across all lenders from that project-state breakdown.
Formula for each state: State FY2026 YTD approval volume = sum of gross approval amounts across all lender observations where Project State equals the selected state.
No extrapolation is performed beyond July 31, 2026. No future approvals, growth rates or fiscal-year-end estimates are added. The only assumptions are that SBA Pulse's published state aggregation follows its documented project-state methodology and that the July 31 snapshot is used consistently across every included row.
Source hierarchy and verification
Official SBA reporting is the primary source for the underlying observations and definitions. SBA's Office of Capital Access also provides a State and County Report and a 7(a) and 504 Lender Report that can be filtered by fiscal year and project state. The numeric state aggregates used in this ranking are the July 31 values published by SBA Pulse, which identifies the official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report as its source.
This distinction is intentional: StatRanker is not presenting the SBA Pulse totals as directly published official SBA state values. They are calculated aggregates derived from official observed SBA inputs. If SBA subsequently restates current-year activity, later versions of the same FY2026 snapshot may differ.
Inclusion, exclusion and missing values
The table includes the 10 highest confirmed U.S. states in the July 31 geographic distribution. Missing values: none within the confirmed Top 10 used here. District of Columbia and U.S. territories are not included because the ranking is specifically limited to U.S. states.
What the metric does not measure
Approval volume does not measure approval rate, dollars actually disbursed, outstanding loan balance, SBA guarantee exposure, borrower credit quality, default risk, loan performance, financing per small business, or the number of businesses receiving financing.
Main ranking: SBA 7(a) loan volume by state
Search the confirmed Top 10, filter by U.S. Census region or data status, or change the sort order. The ranking itself is based on the raw approval-volume values shown in the table.
Top 10 confirmed states · gross SBA 7(a) approval volume · FY2026 YTD
| Rank | State | Volume | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $3.2223B | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = CA. |
| 2 | Texas | $2.8049B | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = TX. |
| 3 | Florida | $2.1409B | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = FL. |
| 4 | New York | $1.1353B | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = NY. |
| 5 | Georgia | $884.1M | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = GA. |
| 6 | Ohio | $837.0M | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = OH. |
| 7 | Washington | $834.7M | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = WA. |
| 8 | New Jersey | $796.9M | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = NJ. |
| 9 | Illinois | $781.2M | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = IL. |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | $755.6M | calculated_value SBA Pulse; source year 2026; target FY2026 YTD through Jul. 31, 2026; underlying source: official SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report; input: gross approvals by lender × project state; formula: Σ gross approvals where Project State = PA. |
Rank is calculated directly from the raw state volume values, descending. Display formatting does not change ranking order.
Insights from the state ranking
Key Insight
California ranks first at $3.2223 billion, $417.4 million above Texas. California's confirmed volume is about 14.9% higher than Texas's in this snapshot.
Notable Pattern
The steepest adjacent drop is between Florida and New York. Florida's $2.1409 billion is $1.0056 billion above New York's $1.1353 billion.
Regional/Source Concentration
The Top 10 contains three Southern states, three Northeastern states, two Western states and two Midwestern states. Every ranking value comes from the same July 31 SBA Pulse state aggregation based on official SBA project-state inputs.
Outlier
The top three form a separate scale tier: California, Texas and Florida all exceed $2 billion, while fourth-ranked New York is at $1.1353 billion.
What the ranking means
A high rank shows that businesses located in a state account for a large dollar amount of approved SBA 7(a) financing during FY2026 so far. It does not show that a borrower is more likely to receive approval in that state, because the dataset does not provide a comparable denominator of all submitted applications and denials.
The ranking should also be separated from lender rankings. State volume follows the location of the financed project, while lender volume follows the financial institution originating the approved loans.
Related StatRanker research
FAQ
Which state has the highest SBA 7(a) loan volume in FY2026?
California ranks first in the confirmed July 31, 2026 snapshot at $3.2223 billion in FY2026 YTD gross 7(a) approval volume. Texas ranks second at $2.8049 billion and Florida third at $2.1409 billion.
Are these final FY2026 figures?
No. The data are cumulative through July 31, 2026. FY2026 ends September 30, 2026, so later approvals can change both state totals and final ranking positions.
What does “loan volume” mean here?
It means gross approved SBA 7(a) dollars associated with projects in each state. The ranking is based on approved dollar volume rather than loan count.
Are these official published state values?
The underlying observations come from official SBA 7(a) lender activity data. The state totals used here are calculated aggregates published by SBA Pulse, which states that it sums the official project-state breakdown across lenders. For that reason, StatRanker classifies the rows as calculated_value rather than official_value.
Does gross approval volume equal the SBA-guaranteed amount?
No. Gross approval volume represents total approved loan size. The SBA guarantee covers only the guaranteed portion of an eligible 7(a) loan.
Does the ranking use lender headquarters?
No. State attribution follows project state. A lender can therefore contribute approval volume to states other than the state where the lender is headquartered.
Does an approval mean the full amount has already been disbursed?
No. Approval volume is an approval-stage measure. It is not the same as dollars disbursed, unpaid principal balance or eventual loan performance.
Sources
U.S. Small Business Administration — Current 7(a) & 504 Activity Reports
Primary official source for the monthly SBA 7(a) Lender Activity Report and the observed lender/project-state activity underlying the state aggregates.
https://data.sba.gov/dataset/7a-504-activity-reports-current-month
U.S. SBA Office of Capital Access — State, County and Lender Reports
Official reporting environment confirming that SBA provides State and County reporting and lender reports that can be filtered by Project State, Program and Fiscal Year.
SBA Pulse — Activity Dashboard
Published July 31, 2026 state-level aggregation used for the Top 10 numeric values, plus national FY2026 YTD volume and loan-count context.
SBA Pulse — Data Sources and Methodology
Documents the July 31, 2026 cutoff, fiscal-year convention, gross approval definition and calculation of state geographic totals from official SBA project-state lender data.
U.S. Census Bureau — Geographic Levels
Official reference for the Northeast, Midwest, South and West regional labels used only for table filtering and descriptive analysis.
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/guidance-geographies/levels.html
