SBA Loan Statistics for Retail Businesses
Average SBA 7(a) loan statistics for brick-and-mortar retail — median approvals, rates, acquisition share, and Two Markets multiples.
Data as of 2025-09-30 · Based on 1,977 SBA 7(a) loans across 6 NAICS codes
Industry Debt Benchmark
Median SBA 7(a) gross approval for Retail (FY 2025)
Avg Interest Rate (FY 2025)
9.66%
Acquisitions
12%
Loans (Selected FY)
1,010
+4% vs FY 2024
Loan Purpose Mix
How SBA 7(a) loans in your industry break down by business purpose · FY 2025
12% of SBA loans in your sector fund ownership changes — a signal of consolidation and reinvestment activity.
Typical Loan Size
Interest Rate Trend
All-years avg: 10.79% (FY 2024–2025)
Acquisition Activity in Your Sector
The share and size of Change of Ownership SBA loans signals how active acquisition financing is in your industry.
Acquisition Share
12%
Median Loan
$875,000
Median Rate
9.44%
Median Term
120 mo
8% of acquisition loans involved a franchise brand (e.g. Super 8, Urban Air, One Hour Air).
FY 2025 · 117 Change of Ownership loans · Loan approval ≠ purchase price
Two Markets for Retail
Public markets reward scale and liquidity. SMB lending reflects the capital available to businesses your size.
Wall Street
EV / EBITDA
—
EBITDA Margin
—
Main Street
SMB Multiple
—
Median SBA Loan
$824,341
1,010 SBA loans (latest FY)
The spread between these markets is the illiquidity and size discount built into SMB economics.
Important context
SBA loan approvals reflect financing amounts, not business enterprise value. Not all exits or acquisitions use SBA debt — buyers typically combine equity, seller notes, and conventional bank financing.
Data is aggregated and anonymized from SBA FOIA disclosures and Damodaran industry datasets. Public company multiples reflect listed firms and are not direct comparables for most SMB transactions.
See our valuation methodology for how XIT blends FCFF, FCFE, and EV/EBITDA — and why SBA loan sizes are financing context, not a formal appraisal.
What owners should know
Brick-and-mortar retail deals depend on inventory, lease terms, and local foot traffic — factors public retail comps rarely capture. SBA 7(a) FOIA data shows median approvals, rate environment, and acquisition activity for retail NAICS codes. Use these live aggregates alongside public EV/EBITDA to ground buyer and seller conversations in financing reality.