SBA loans by state
SBA loans in Kentucky: 483 approvals in FY 2026, median $186,900
15% of variable loans were priced at the SBA maximum. 504 lending was light, 18 approvals.
Independent site, not a lender and not affiliated with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Loans are applied for only with an SBA lender.
Your loan against approvals in your state
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Kentucky: 7(a) loans approved last year
483
| Your rate vs. last year’s loans of this size, all states | about the median for this size |
| Kentucky: median rate at approval, $50,001 to $250,000 | 9.50% |
| Kentucky: median 7(a) loan last year | $186,900 |
| Payment over 10 years, SBA fee added to the loan | $2,527/mo |
Last year’s loans: the 7(a) loans SBA approved from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026 (fiscal year 2026), in SBA’s public loan file of September 30, 2026. Rates at approval were set when prime was 6.75% or 7.00%; today: prime rate 7.00% on November 2, 2026. Your rate is compared on its margin over prime, so the change in prime since last year does not count against you.
Kentucky, FY 2026: 483 SBA 7(a) approvals for $267.9 million (30th of the 50 states and DC, SBA file of September 30, 2026). 15% of variable loans were priced at the SBA maximum. 504 lending was light, 18 approvals. No lender dominated: the busiest made 12% of loans. 25% of loans had a fixed rate, against 13% nationally. Mid-size loans had a median rate of 9.50%, below the national 9.75%. The state stood out for loans to offices of all other miscellaneous health practitioners. Loans were small: the median was $186,900, against $220,000 nationally. A few large loans pushed the average to $554,718. 38% of loans went through SBA Express. Few approvals were cancelled, 11%. Home-state lenders made 30% of the loans, against 26% nationwide. Today’s cap on a $187,000 variable loan: 13.00%.
Fee notices read and loan file counted by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
| Lender | FY 2026 loans | Median loan | Median variable rate | Lender’s home state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bank | 57 | $50,000 | 10.74% | Ohio |
| Newtek Bank | 46 | $175,000 | 9.75% | Florida |
| Stock Yards Bank & Trust | 42 | $249,100 | 7.20% | Kentucky (in-state) |
| Community Trust Bank | 41 | $100,000 | 6.88% | Kentucky (in-state) |
| Republic Bank & Trust | 38 | $295,400 | 8.25% | Kentucky (in-state) |
Among the most loans at the legal maximum
15% of Kentucky’s variable loans sat exactly at SBA’s cap, 8th highest among the 50 states and DC. Of the five busiest lenders, Newtek Bank priced 57% of its Kentucky variable loans at the cap. Ask any lender quoting the cap what a lower margin would require.
Hardly any 504 loans
Only 18 504 debentures went to Kentucky projects against 483 7(a) loans, a ratio 7th lowest among the 50 states and DC. The CDC most present was Alloy Development Co., Inc.. For a building, the 504 route is still open and worth pricing against a 7(a) real estate loan.
No dominant lender
The busiest lender, U.S. Bank, made only 12% of Kentucky’s approvals; 72 lenders shared the rest. With that many lenders active, a second and third quote are easy to get.
A fixed-rate market
Kentucky lenders wrote 25% of their SBA loans at a fixed rate, 8th highest among the 50 states and DC, at a median of 7.75%. The fixed cap, prime plus 5 to 8 points, is set in the Federal Register notice of August 1, 2022.
| Loan size | Loans | Median variable rate, FY 2026 | SBA maximum today |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 or less | 115 | 10.99% | 13.50% |
| $50,001 to $250,000 | 167 | 9.50% | 13.00% |
| $250,001 to $350,000 | 44 | 9.62% | 11.50% |
| over $350,000 | 157 | 9.00% | 10.00% |
Mid-size loans priced below average
On loans of $50,001 to $250,000, the median variable rate in Kentucky was 9.50%, against 9.75% nationally. A Kentucky quote above the national median for that size has room to come down.
More common here than nationally: offices of all other miscellaneous health practitioners
11 Kentucky loans went to offices of all other miscellaneous health practitioners, 2.3 times the national share for that trade. The most frequent trades overall were fitness and recreational sports centers, full-service restaurants and residential remodelers. A practice or agency is bought for its client base, so these loans are mostly changes of ownership under SBA’s rules for buying a business, with few hard assets behind them.
Smaller loans, higher allowed margins
Half of Kentucky’s approvals were for $186,900 or less, 17th smallest of the 50 states and DC ($220,000 nationally). SBA guarantees 75% of a loan that size and the fee is $4,205, but the variable rate may go up to prime plus 6.0 points, 13.00% today.
A few very large loans
The average Kentucky loan, $554,718, was 3.0 times the median, a wider gap than in most states: a small number of multi-million-dollar loans, mostly real estate, sit on top of many small ones.
Counties with the most approvals: Jefferson (146), Fayette (53) and Kenton (25). Trades: fitness and recreational sports centers (22), full-service restaurants (20), residential remodelers (16), snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars (15) and plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors (14).
All states compared.