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Small business loans in Oakland, CA

Short answer

The most active SBA lenders in Oakland, CA since FY2024 are U.S. Bank (32 loans) and Readycap Lending, LLC (13). The median loan was $175,000, and half fell between $50,000 and $500,000. For free help, see the California SBDC. Source: SBA 7(a) loan data.

SBA loans since FY2024
150
approved since FY2024
$67.9M
median loan
$175,000
through SBA Express
36.7%

Lenders making SBA loans in Oakland

No lender made more than 21% of the loans in Oakland, and U.S. Bank made the most. The five largest lenders together made 48%.

Lenders with five or more SBA loans in Oakland, CA, FY2024 to June 2026
LenderLoansShare
U.S. Bank3221.3%
Readycap Lending, LLCNon-bank lender138.7%
Wells Fargo Bank106.7%
JPMorgan Chase Bank96.0%
Bank of Hope85.3%

Share is the percent of all Oakland loans in that period. Each name links to that lender's page for California where one exists.

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Local help near Oakland

Oakland borrowers can start with SBA's district offices for California, an SBDC or SCORE.

25% of Oakland borrowers since FY2024 were startups or businesses two years old or younger. SBDCs provide counseling and training, and SCORE mentors give advice at no cost, according to SBA.

SBA runs six district offices that cover California. Each page points to state and federal resources and to lenders in its area. The California SBDC gives free counseling across California.

Alongside SBA loans, California runs three loan programs. The California page describes each, and the official pages are linked here.

Loan counts and sizes in Oakland

Oakland ranks 13th by loans since FY2024 among the 92 California cities with 100 or more SBA loans since FY2020. Nationally it is the 114th busiest of the 580 cities that reach 100 loans.

The 150 loans, 0.8% of the 19,508 in California, were approved for $67.9 million in all. The medianThe middle figure. Half the loans were larger and half were smaller. loan was $175,000, 16% above the national median of $150,300. Half of the loans fell between $50,000 and $500,000. The Oakland median is 12% below the California median of $200,000.

Oakland, CA compared with California and the nation, loans from FY2024 to June 2026
MeasureOaklandCaliforniaU.S.
Loans15019,508162,355
Median loan$175,000$200,000$150,300
25th percentile$50,000$65,000$50,000
75th percentile$500,000$500,000$500,000
Via SBA Express36.7%29.0%35.8%
Lines of credit23.3%18.8%28.1%
Startups5.3%8.9%16.1%
Ownership changes10.7%8.6%10.4%
Median term10 years10 years10 years
Median spread2.882.752.75
Charged offFewer than 53.5%3.6%

A quarter of loans were smaller than the 25th percentile loan and a quarter were larger than the 75th. Median spread is in percentage points over Prime. Charged off is the share of FY2020 to FY2022 loans a lender wrote off as a loss. It is shown only for groups of 30 loans or more. Fewer than 5 marks a share that would stand for 1 to 4 loans, which we do not publish. U.S. covers every loan in the file.

77% of the loans were $500,000 or less, the size SBA Express covers. 36.7% of all loans went through SBA Express, close to the national 35.8%. Lines of credit were 23.3% of loans, below the national 28.1%.

SBA loans in Oakland, CA by size, FY2024 to June 2026
  • $50,000 or less (31%)47
  • $50,001 to $150,000 (19%)28
  • $150,001 to $350,000 (22%)33
  • $350,001 to $500,000 (5%)8
  • $500,001 to $1,000,000 (11%)16
  • $1,000,001 to $2,000,000 (6%)9
  • Over $2,000,000 (6%)9

Labels show each size's share of all loans. The highlighted bar is the size band that contains the median.

By business age, 64.0% of loans went to businesses more than two years old and 20.0% to businesses two years old or younger. Startups received 5.3% and changes of ownership 10.7%. The national startup share is 16.1%.

SBA loans in Oakland, CA by fiscal year
  • FY202044
  • FY202136
  • FY202231
  • FY202350
  • FY202451
  • FY202568
  • FY2026 (through June 30)31

Fiscal years run October to September. The last bar covers nine of its twelve months.

Volume rose 33% from FY2024 (51 loans) to FY2025 (68), the two latest full years. The busiest full year in the file was FY2025, with 68 loans. FY2026 already shows 31 loans through June 30.

Of the 111 loans Oakland borrowers received in FY2020 to FY2022, fewer than 5 were charged offThe lender wrote the loan off as a loss because it was not being repaid. by June 30, 2026, against 3.6% nationally. Lenders reported 1,758 jobs supported across the 150 loans since FY2024, about 11.7 per loan. SBA does not audit these estimates.

What businesses in Oakland borrow for

Full-Service Restaurants was the largest borrower group in Oakland, with 11 loans or 7.3% of the total.

The three largest industries made up 17% of all Oakland loans.

Industries with the most SBA loans in Oakland, CA, FY2024 to June 2026
IndustryLoansShareU.S. share
Full-Service Restaurants117.3%4.6%
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers74.7%0.9%
Limited-Service Restaurants74.7%3.3%

Share is the percent of all Oakland loans in that period. Industry is the NAICS code on each loan. A name links to the California page for that industry where one exists.

A typical loan payment in Oakland

The median Oakland loan was $175,000 with a median term of 10 years.

The median variable-rate loan in Oakland was priced at Prime plus 2.88 percentage points at approval. At today's Prime that spread works out to 9.88%. On $175,000 over 10 years, principal and interest would come to about $2,301 a month. That is arithmetic on past loans, not a rate a lender is offering.

Payment at today's rate on three Oakland loan sizes over 10 years
LoanAmountMonthly payment
25th percentile loan$50,000$657
Median loan$175,000$2,301
75th percentile loan$500,000$6,574

Principal and interest only. Fees, a different term or a fixed rate change the payment. This is an illustration from SBA's file, not an offer.

SBA's rate ceiling for this loan size

SBA's maximum for a loan of $175,000 is Prime plus 6.0 percentage points, or 13.00% today. The median variable-rate loan here was priced 3.1 points under that ceiling. Source: 13 CFR § 120.214(d)(2); SOP 50 10 8.1, App. 18, Para. A.2 (p. 395).

Oakland loans approved since FY2024 had a median starting rate of 10.5% at approval, against 10.25% nationally. Prime changed during those years, so use the spread above, not that rate, as the guide to today's cost.

Run your own numbers: payments on a $175,000 loan and SBA Express payment calculator.

SBA 504 loans near Oakland

Oakland has 26 SBA 504 loans since FY2024, with $26.0 million in SBA and CDC dollars.

The median 504 loan in Oakland was $719,500 in SBA and CDC dollars, 14% of the $5,000,000 program maximum. The bank's share of each project is separate and is not counted in these figures.

Mortgage Capital Development Corporation is the one Certified Development CompanyA nonprofit that SBA certifies and regulates to arrange 504 loans together with a bank. (CDC) named on five or more loans, 18 since FY2024.

CDCs named on five or more 504 loans in Oakland, FY2024 to June 2026
Certified Development Company504 loans
Mortgage Capital Development Corporation18

How a 504 loan is split

A standard 504 project is 50% third party lender, 40% CDC debenture, 10% borrower. 504 money pays for major fixed assets such as land, buildings and long-term machinery and equipment, not working capitalMoney for day-to-day costs such as payroll, rent and inventory. Full definition or inventory. Source: SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. C, Ch. 1, Para. B (p. 221). SBA keeps a list of Certified Development Companies.

California cities near Oakland

Oakland made up 0.8% of California's SBA loans since FY2024.

Oakland is one of 92 California cities with 100 or more SBA loans since FY2020. The California page covers all 19,508 loans in California. The closest come first, ranked by county and ZIP code on their loans.

Common questions about SBA loans in Oakland

Which lenders make the most SBA loans in Oakland?

U.S. Bank leads with 32 loans in Oakland since FY2024. Readycap Lending, LLC (13) and Wells Fargo Bank (10) follow. Only lenders with five or more Oakland loans are counted.

Which industries get SBA loans in Oakland?

Full-Service Restaurants leads with 11 loans in Oakland since FY2024. Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (7) and Limited-Service Restaurants (7) follow.

How to read this

Counts come from SBA's 7(a) loan-level data release, as of June 30, 2026. The file lists loans SBA approved. It does not list declined applications, so it cannot show approval odds. We do not publish any figure built on fewer than 5 loans. Location is the borrower's address in the file, and city names are as SBA recorded them. Recent means FY2024 through June 30, 2026. Charge-off rates use FY2020 to FY2022 loans, the only years old enough to have had time to go bad. Jobs supported are lender-reported estimates. How we build these pages.

Ask lending partners about a loan in Oakland

Tell us what you need and we refer your request to lending partners.

Janover Capital LLC is not a lender and is not the SBA. The lender makes the credit decision. A lender or marketplace may pay us a referral fee if we connect you, at no cost to you. Advertiser disclosure.

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