In fiscal year 2025, lenders approved 1,906 SBA 7(a) loans worth $1.2 billion to businesses in North Carolina. Here is where that money went, which institutions approved it, and how big a loan a business like yours actually gets — straight from the SBA's own published records.
The median approval was $271,000, $104,150 above the national median of $166,850. That number matters more than the headline total: it is the size of deal lenders in this state are comfortable writing, and asking for something far outside it is the quiet reason many files stall.
| Loan size | 7(a) loans | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $50K | 201 | 10.5% |
| $50K-$150K | 362 | 19.0% |
| $150K-$350K | 491 | 25.8% |
| $350K-$1M | 528 | 27.7% |
| $1M+ | 324 | 17.0% |
37.4% of North Carolina approvals went to new businesses (startups or under two years old), against 29.8% nationally.
Ranked by number of FY2025 approvals to North Carolina businesses. The single most active 7(a) lender in the state was Northeast Bank with 242 approvals at a median of $150,000 — which tells you exactly the size of deal it wants.
| Lender | Loans in North Carolina | Median size | Total approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast Bank | 242 | $150,000 | $39.6 million |
| The Huntington National Bank | 161 | $250,000 | $77.5 million |
| Live Oak Banking Company | 124 | $500,000 | $134.9 million |
| Newtek Bank, National Association | 119 | $250,000 | $63.1 million |
| Readycap Lending, LLC | 80 | $80,250 | $18.7 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 73 | $20,000 | $19.5 million |
| BayFirst National Bank | 48 | $150,000 | $7.3 million |
| TD Bank, National Association | 47 | $75,000 | $13.0 million |
| Celtic Bank Corporation | 45 | $150,000 | $21.0 million |
| Pinnacle Bank | 44 | $601,000 | $53.2 million |
| Bank of America, National Association | 43 | $350,000 | $26.0 million |
| United Midwest Savings Bank National Association | 42 | $150,000 | $12.8 million |
Lenders are listed because the SBA publishes them. Inclusion is not a recommendation, an endorsement, or a statement that any of them will approve your file — and Goldspur Capital is not affiliated with any lender named.
The median initial rate recorded at approval was 10.25%, with most loans between 8.5% and 12.5%, and 89.5% written on a variable rate. Historic rates at approval across the year — not a quote, and not what you would be offered today.
| Industry | Loans | Median loan |
|---|---|---|
| Full-Service Restaurants | 91 | $491,000 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants | 70 | $462,500 |
| Residential Remodelers | 48 | $175,000 |
| Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels | 46 | $2,914,200 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers | 45 | $500,000 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars | 41 | $420,600 |
| New Single-Family Housing Construction (except For-Sale Builders) | 40 | $250,000 |
| Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors | 37 | $334,000 |
| Child Care Services | 35 | $487,800 |
| General Automotive Repair | 30 | $350,000 |
| County | Loans | Median loan |
|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg | 359 | $300,000 |
| Wake | 314 | $253,650 |
| Guilford | 94 | $251,350 |
| New Hanover | 76 | $350,000 |
| Union | 75 | $225,000 |
| Forsyth | 64 | $261,000 |
| Durham | 64 | $309,200 |
| Buncombe | 57 | $300,000 |
504 money buys property and heavy equipment, at a long fixed rate, through a Certified Development Company partnered with a bank. North Carolina saw 84 504 approvals worth $129.5 million in FY2025, median $972,000. The most active CDCs:
| CDC | 504 loans | Median size | Total approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Expansion Funding Corporation | 57 | $862,000 | $83.0 million |
| Carolina Business Capital, Inc. | 17 | $1,540,000 | $33.1 million |
| 504 Capital Corporation | 7 | $634,000 | $6.1 million |
| Fiscal year | 7(a) loans approved | Total approved | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 1,303 | $874.5 million | $305,000 |
| FY2024 | 1,603 | $969.6 million | $250,000 |
| FY2025 | 1,906 | $1.2 billion | $271,000 |
| FY2026 (partial) | 1,028 | $657.3 million | $275,000 |
Three practical readings. First, size your ask to the state's median band — a request that sits where lenders are already active is a materially easier file than one that does not. Second, a decline is a matching problem far more often than a credit problem: the tables above show institutions with completely different appetites operating in the same state in the same year. Third, if your industry is not in the list above, it does not mean no, it means fewer lenders — and that is exactly the situation where going through a partner who knows which desk to call is worth more than another application.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan data (data.sba.gov), files as of 30 June 2026, read on 1 September 2026. Figures cover loan APPROVALS, not disbursements, and the files contain no declined applications — so no approval rate can be calculated from them. Fiscal year 2026 is partial (1 October 2025 to 30 June 2026). Aggregated by Goldspur Capital; borrower-level records are not published. State figures are aggregated on the project state of each loan. Program guidelines shown are our lending partners' published minimums as of September 2026 and can change. They are qualification floors, not an offer.
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