By StartBusinessByStatePublisher: Robert SmithResearch process
SBA 7(a) FOIA · As of Jun 30, 2026 · Window FY2021–FY2025 · Observed GrossApproval counts · Not legal advice
Observed size-band exposure, not a QoE deal count. Among 21,548 site-industry SBA 7(a) approvals in FY2021–FY2025, 417 (1.94%) had GrossApproval ≥ $3 million — yet those loans carried 20.48% of approved dollars. Daycare shows the highest industry count share (237 of 3,737 = 6.34%). This is a transparent size-band proxy for the Oct 1, 2026 SOP 50 10 8.1 conversation — FOIA has no acquisition field, and approved amount is not purchase price.
Critical disclosure (read before citing): The SBA FOIA extract has no loan-purpose / acquisition / change-of-ownership field. The field used here is GrossApproval (approved loan amount). Lender explainers for SOP 50 10 8.1 describe Quality of Earnings (QoE) expectations tied to certain business purchase prices ≥ $3M (often excluding owner-occupied real estate) — a different concept. These tables are size-band exposure / proxy only. They are not a count of deals that will require QoE.
Key findings (observed FOIA counts)
- 417 of 21,548 in-scope service 7(a) approvals (1.94%) cleared a
GrossApprovalof $3M+. - Those approvals represent $1,703,474,400 of $8,317,910,700 total approved dollars (20.48%).
- Daycare dominates the ≥ $3M count among site industries; HVAC/plumbing is second; food trucks almost never appear in the band.
- Largest ≥ $3M counts by state (all site industries combined): Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, Colorado.
Planning to buy a business?
Move from historical loan sizes to the purchase price, cash contribution and repayment terms of your own deal. The acquisition-financing guide explains the routes to compare.
Why Oct 1, 2026 is in the news
If you are planning a business purchase, move from approval-size data to our business acquisition financing guide. The SBA 7(a) comparison covers one financing route to discuss against the actual transaction budget.
Trade explainers (for example CBIZ, EisnerAmper, and Loan Analytics) describe SOP 50 10 8.1 as applying to SBA loan numbers issued on or after October 1, 2026, including strengthened acquisition underwriting and, for certain structures, a lender-ordered Quality of Earnings review when business purchase price is at or above $3 million. This page does not restate the SOP and is not a substitute for lender counsel or the official SBA text.
What journalists and brokers still lack — and what we publish here — is a reproducible look at how often site-industry 7(a) approvals historically sit in the $3M+ approved-amount band, with the FOIA limitations labeled up front.
Related financing research on this site (different questions): variable-rate payment shock after the Sep 2026 hike, jobs supported and lender concentration, and SBA volume & seasoned charge-offs.
≥ $3M GrossApproval share by industry
| Industry | NAICS | Approvals | Σ GrossApproval | ≥ $3M count | Count share | ≥ $3M $ | $ share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daycare | 624410 |
3,737 | $3,053,551,400 | 237 | 6.34% | $992,832,600 | 32.51% |
| HVAC / plumbing | 238220 |
4,588 | $2,076,541,700 | 111 | 2.42% | $449,271,600 | 21.64% |
| Landscaping | 561730 |
4,505 | $1,382,140,100 | 46 | 1.02% | $169,798,000 | 12.29% |
| Salon / barber / nail | 812111;812112;812113 |
5,441 | $1,115,572,000 | 11 | 0.20% | $44,008,100 | 3.94% |
| Cleaning | 561720 |
2,240 | $591,383,400 | 11 | 0.49% | $42,564,100 | 7.20% |
| Food truck | 722330 |
1,037 | $98,722,100 | 1 | 0.10% | $5,000,000 | 5.06% |
GrossApproval size-band histogram
| Band | Approvals | Σ GrossApproval | Count % | Dollar % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <$250k | 13,729 | $1,088,784,100 | 63.71% | 13.09% |
| $250k–<$500k | 3,348 | $1,154,535,100 | 15.54% | 13.88% |
| $500k–<$1M | 2,385 | $1,632,455,400 | 11.07% | 19.63% |
| $1M–<$2M | 1,264 | $1,752,591,800 | 5.87% | 21.07% |
| $2M–<$3M | 405 | $986,069,900 | 1.88% | 11.85% |
| ≥$3M | 417 | $1,703,474,400 | 1.94% | 20.48% |
State size-band exposure (all site industries)
| State | Approvals | Σ GrossApproval | ≥ $3M count | Count share | ≥ $3M $ | $ share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 1,622 | $1,021,366,400 | 73 | 4.50% | $310,387,600 | 30.39% |
| Florida | 1,672 | $799,248,600 | 33 | 1.97% | $132,098,100 | 16.53% |
| California | 1,748 | $788,810,000 | 31 | 1.77% | $123,779,400 | 15.69% |
| Georgia | 597 | $376,555,100 | 20 | 3.35% | $82,142,300 | 21.81% |
| Colorado | 580 | $319,009,000 | 19 | 3.28% | $78,910,600 | 24.74% |
| New York | 1,231 | $328,141,100 | 18 | 1.46% | $70,588,700 | 21.51% |
| Virginia | 357 | $170,375,400 | 16 | 4.48% | $61,448,900 | 36.07% |
| Illinois | 742 | $289,074,200 | 15 | 2.02% | $58,127,900 | 20.11% |
| Washington | 525 | $227,822,100 | 15 | 2.86% | $57,806,300 | 25.37% |
| Pennsylvania | 965 | $317,824,400 | 14 | 1.45% | $55,614,400 | 17.50% |
| New Jersey | 845 | $322,009,000 | 14 | 1.66% | $57,371,200 | 17.82% |
| Ohio | 1,479 | $323,565,500 | 13 | 0.88% | $55,658,200 | 17.20% |
| North Carolina | 477 | $231,885,400 | 12 | 2.52% | $54,427,500 | 23.47% |
| Massachusetts | 779 | $180,577,400 | 11 | 1.41% | $44,104,600 | 24.42% |
| Michigan | 863 | $226,331,500 | 9 | 1.04% | $37,332,200 | 16.49% |
| Tennessee | 259 | $125,193,600 | 9 | 3.47% | $37,906,100 | 30.28% |
| South Carolina | 249 | $122,810,800 | 9 | 3.61% | $38,363,700 | 31.24% |
| Utah | 357 | $148,175,400 | 8 | 2.24% | $30,623,600 | 20.67% |
| Arizona | 439 | $214,058,500 | 7 | 1.59% | $27,941,700 | 13.05% |
| Oregon | 288 | $99,337,400 | 7 | 2.43% | $27,169,900 | 27.35% |
| Oklahoma | 177 | $78,296,400 | 7 | 3.95% | $30,221,700 | 38.60% |
| Indiana | 450 | $142,946,100 | 6 | 1.33% | $26,307,500 | 18.40% |
| Minnesota | 590 | $189,297,500 | 5 | 0.85% | $19,156,900 | 10.12% |
| Wisconsin | 432 | $141,436,900 | 4 | 0.93% | $14,633,500 | 10.35% |
| Missouri | 359 | $114,625,200 | 4 | 1.11% | $17,311,000 | 15.10% |
| Kentucky | 194 | $64,595,200 | 4 | 2.06% | $17,026,500 | 26.36% |
| Nevada | 230 | $83,413,900 | 3 | 1.30% | $10,708,000 | 12.84% |
| Louisiana | 148 | $60,627,700 | 3 | 2.03% | $11,730,300 | 19.35% |
| Nebraska | 142 | $54,038,400 | 3 | 2.11% | $12,129,800 | 22.45% |
| Arkansas | 111 | $35,943,900 | 3 | 2.70% | $12,016,000 | 33.43% |
| Montana | 83 | $35,751,000 | 3 | 3.61% | $13,579,000 | 37.98% |
| Alaska | 34 | $25,382,700 | 3 | 8.82% | $14,700,000 | 57.91% |
| Connecticut | 344 | $94,849,200 | 2 | 0.58% | $7,700,000 | 8.12% |
| Idaho | 207 | $57,511,500 | 2 | 0.97% | $8,500,000 | 14.78% |
| Alabama | 138 | $48,734,700 | 2 | 1.45% | $6,538,900 | 13.42% |
| Maryland | 410 | $119,243,800 | 1 | 0.24% | $3,500,000 | 2.94% |
| New Hampshire | 257 | $39,402,500 | 1 | 0.39% | $4,460,000 | 11.32% |
| Kansas | 162 | $56,571,900 | 1 | 0.62% | $3,700,000 | 6.54% |
| Iowa | 142 | $39,344,100 | 1 | 0.70% | $4,000,000 | 10.17% |
| Rhode Island | 96 | $27,512,100 | 1 | 1.04% | $4,790,000 | 17.41% |
| Mississippi | 91 | $22,471,800 | 1 | 1.10% | $3,167,000 | 14.09% |
| Vermont | 69 | $13,976,500 | 1 | 1.45% | $3,865,000 | 27.65% |
| North Dakota | 63 | $15,837,800 | 1 | 1.59% | $3,704,000 | 23.39% |
| Hawaii | 63 | $13,408,600 | 1 | 1.59% | $3,226,400 | 24.06% |
| South Dakota | 48 | $15,490,400 | 1 | 2.08% | $5,000,000 | 32.28% |
| Maine | 130 | $22,049,000 | 0 | 0.00% | $0 | 0.00% |
| Delaware | 85 | $19,507,800 | 0 | 0.00% | $0 | 0.00% |
| West Virginia | 80 | $15,006,100 | 0 | 0.00% | $0 | 0.00% |
| New Mexico | 74 | $17,707,400 | 0 | 0.00% | $0 | 0.00% |
| District of Columbia | 40 | $14,727,300 | 0 | 0.00% | $0 | 0.00% |
| Wyoming | 25 | $6,032,500 | 0 | 0.00% | $0 | 0.00% |
State × industry cells with any ≥ $3M approval
Compact view of cells with at least one GrossApproval ≥ $3M (display capped; full matrix in the CSV download). Small cells are noisy — treat single-digit counts as sparse.
| State | Industry | Approvals | ≥ $3M | Count share | ≥ $3M $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | Daycare | 426 | 60 | 14.08% | $258,860,200 |
| Georgia | Daycare | 194 | 17 | 8.76% | $69,696,800 |
| California | Daycare | 308 | 16 | 5.19% | $67,690,100 |
| Florida | Daycare | 328 | 14 | 4.27% | $56,773,300 |
| Virginia | Daycare | 82 | 13 | 15.85% | $49,478,900 |
| California | HVAC / plumbing | 497 | 12 | 2.41% | $45,513,300 |
| Florida | HVAC / plumbing | 413 | 12 | 2.91% | $47,365,600 |
| Colorado | Daycare | 85 | 10 | 11.76% | $43,072,400 |
| North Carolina | Daycare | 98 | 10 | 10.20% | $46,777,500 |
| New York | Daycare | 178 | 9 | 5.06% | $33,821,200 |
| New Jersey | Daycare | 173 | 8 | 4.62% | $32,395,000 |
| Florida | Landscaping | 304 | 7 | 2.30% | $27,959,200 |
| Ohio | Daycare | 209 | 7 | 3.35% | $31,307,300 |
| Pennsylvania | Daycare | 180 | 7 | 3.89% | $27,471,300 |
| Pennsylvania | HVAC / plumbing | 203 | 7 | 3.45% | $28,143,100 |
| Tennessee | Daycare | 36 | 7 | 19.44% | $31,386,100 |
| Texas | HVAC / plumbing | 322 | 7 | 2.17% | $30,572,000 |
| Washington | Daycare | 78 | 7 | 8.97% | $27,497,300 |
| Colorado | HVAC / plumbing | 147 | 6 | 4.08% | $25,302,600 |
| Illinois | Daycare | 160 | 6 | 3.75% | $23,528,100 |
| Massachusetts | Daycare | 102 | 6 | 5.88% | $25,083,000 |
| Oregon | HVAC / plumbing | 70 | 6 | 8.57% | $23,997,900 |
| South Carolina | Daycare | 49 | 6 | 12.24% | $25,487,000 |
| Michigan | Daycare | 102 | 5 | 4.90% | $21,867,000 |
| New Jersey | HVAC / plumbing | 139 | 5 | 3.60% | $21,853,200 |
| Arizona | HVAC / plumbing | 122 | 4 | 3.28% | $16,776,000 |
| Illinois | HVAC / plumbing | 148 | 4 | 2.70% | $15,100,000 |
| New York | HVAC / plumbing | 268 | 4 | 1.49% | $17,469,000 |
| Ohio | HVAC / plumbing | 280 | 4 | 1.43% | $16,337,400 |
| Oklahoma | Daycare | 48 | 4 | 8.33% | $19,480,700 |
| Texas | Landscaping | 238 | 4 | 1.68% | $13,845,400 |
| Washington | HVAC / plumbing | 132 | 4 | 3.03% | $15,714,000 |
| Arkansas | Daycare | 26 | 3 | 11.54% | $12,016,000 |
| Illinois | Landscaping | 138 | 3 | 2.17% | $10,496,000 |
| Indiana | Daycare | 34 | 3 | 8.82% | $14,442,700 |
| Kentucky | HVAC / plumbing | 54 | 3 | 5.56% | $13,815,000 |
| Massachusetts | HVAC / plumbing | 151 | 3 | 1.99% | $12,296,100 |
| Missouri | Daycare | 75 | 3 | 4.00% | $13,700,000 |
| New York | Cleaning | 144 | 3 | 2.08% | $10,180,000 |
| Virginia | HVAC / plumbing | 53 | 3 | 5.66% | $11,970,000 |
| Washington | Landscaping | 104 | 3 | 2.88% | $11,545,000 |
| Alaska | HVAC / plumbing | 11 | 2 | 18.18% | $9,700,000 |
| Arizona | Landscaping | 63 | 2 | 3.17% | $6,700,700 |
| California | Landscaping | 186 | 2 | 1.08% | $6,376,000 |
| Colorado | Landscaping | 115 | 2 | 1.74% | $7,027,600 |
| Georgia | Landscaping | 98 | 2 | 2.04% | $7,969,500 |
| Louisiana | Landscaping | 31 | 2 | 6.45% | $7,830,300 |
| Massachusetts | Landscaping | 233 | 2 | 0.86% | $6,725,500 |
| Michigan | HVAC / plumbing | 190 | 2 | 1.05% | $8,585,000 |
| Michigan | Landscaping | 241 | 2 | 0.83% | $6,880,200 |
| Minnesota | Cleaning | 68 | 2 | 2.94% | $7,722,100 |
| Minnesota | Daycare | 66 | 2 | 3.03% | $7,284,800 |
| Montana | HVAC / plumbing | 17 | 2 | 11.76% | $8,829,000 |
| North Carolina | HVAC / plumbing | 95 | 2 | 2.11% | $7,650,000 |
| Nebraska | Landscaping | 27 | 2 | 7.41% | $7,379,800 |
| Nevada | HVAC / plumbing | 58 | 2 | 3.45% | $6,708,000 |
| Ohio | Landscaping | 420 | 2 | 0.48% | $8,013,500 |
| Oklahoma | HVAC / plumbing | 39 | 2 | 5.13% | $7,512,000 |
| Utah | Daycare | 41 | 2 | 4.88% | $7,350,000 |
| Utah | HVAC / plumbing | 72 | 2 | 2.78% | $6,578,000 |
| Utah | Landscaping | 97 | 2 | 2.06% | $7,295,600 |
| Utah | Salon / barber / nail | 86 | 2 | 2.33% | $9,400,000 |
| Wisconsin | Daycare | 92 | 2 | 2.17% | $6,228,500 |
| Wisconsin | HVAC / plumbing | 99 | 2 | 2.02% | $8,405,000 |
| Alaska | Cleaning | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | $5,000,000 |
| Alabama | Cleaning | 22 | 1 | 4.55% | $3,200,000 |
| Alabama | Daycare | 15 | 1 | 6.67% | $3,338,900 |
| Arizona | Daycare | 52 | 1 | 1.92% | $4,465,000 |
| California | Salon / barber / nail | 457 | 1 | 0.22% | $4,200,000 |
| Colorado | Cleaning | 48 | 1 | 2.08% | $3,508,000 |
| Connecticut | Daycare | 57 | 1 | 1.75% | $4,700,000 |
| Connecticut | HVAC / plumbing | 66 | 1 | 1.52% | $3,000,000 |
| Georgia | HVAC / plumbing | 78 | 1 | 1.28% | $4,476,000 |
| Hawaii | HVAC / plumbing | 23 | 1 | 4.35% | $3,226,400 |
| Iowa | Daycare | 21 | 1 | 4.76% | $4,000,000 |
| Idaho | Daycare | 25 | 1 | 4.00% | $3,500,000 |
| Idaho | Landscaping | 53 | 1 | 1.89% | $5,000,000 |
| Illinois | Cleaning | 91 | 1 | 1.10% | $4,164,000 |
| Illinois | Salon / barber / nail | 194 | 1 | 0.52% | $4,839,800 |
| Indiana | HVAC / plumbing | 103 | 1 | 0.97% | $4,725,000 |
Your next step: compare business acquisition financing
Downloads
- national_by_industry.csv — industry totals and ≥ $3M shares
- state_all_industries.csv — state totals
- state_industry.csv — full state × industry matrix
- size_bands_overall.csv — histogram bands
- size_bands_by_industry.csv — bands by industry
Suggested citation: StartBusinessByState.com — SBA 7(a) Approvals Above $3M by State. https://startbusinessbystate.com/sba-3-million-loan-size-band-by-state/. Please credit and link to this page when using our compilation or analysis, and retain the original-source credits and applicable reuse terms.
FAQ
Is this a count of SBA deals that will need a Quality of Earnings report after Oct 1?
No. FOIA does not identify acquisitions. GrossApproval is not purchase price. Cite this as size-band exposure / proxy context only.
What amount field did you use?
GrossApproval from the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level file (as of June 30, 2026).
Which industries and years?
FY2021–FY2025 complete fiscal years; NAICS 561720, 561730, 238220, 624410, 812111–812113, 722330 — the same site service set used in our other SBA studies.
How is this different from your rate-hike and jobs/lenders pages?
Rate-hike impact models variable-rate payment shock. Jobs & lenders covers JobsSupported and lender concentration. SBA loan statistics covers volume and seasoned charge-offs. This page is only the Oct 1 SOP × $3M approved-amount size band.
Is this legal or lending advice?
No. It is observed FOIA tabulation plus citations to public lender explainers. Confirm SOP requirements with counsel and your lender.
Methods and limitations
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level file as of 2026-06-30. Universe: non-cancelled 7(a) approvals in FY2021–FY2025 for the NAICS list above; geography = ProjectState (50 + DC). Threshold: GrossApproval ≥ 3,000,000. Cancelled loans excluded. FY2026 partial year excluded.
Limitations: no purpose/acquisition field; approved amount ≠ purchase price; franchise and business-age fields are not used as acquisition proxies here; NAICS are as recorded on the loan file; small state×industry cells are sparse.
Industry startup guides: cleaning, landscaping, HVAC, food truck, salon. Industry statistics companions: cleaning stats, landscaping stats, HVAC stats, food-truck stats, salon stats.
Not legal, tax, or credit advice. Size-band exposure only.