Small business loans in St. Louis, MO
Short answer
The most active SBA lenders in St. Louis, MO since FY2024 are U.S. Bank (72 loans) and The Bank of Houston (19). The median loan was $255,000, and half fell between $75,000 and $553,700. For free help, see the Missouri Small Business Development Center. Source: SBA 7(a) loan data.
- SBA loans since FY2024
- 329
- approved since FY2024
- $203.14M
- median loan
- $255,000
- through SBA Express
- 27.1%
Lenders making SBA loans in St. Louis
No lender made more than 22% of the loans in St. Louis, and U.S. Bank made the most. The five largest lenders together made 41%.
| Lender | Loans | Share |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bank | 72 | 21.9% |
| The Bank of Houston | 19 | 5.8% |
| Midwest Regional Bank | 18 | 5.5% |
| Readycap Lending, LLCNon-bank lender | 13 | 4.0% |
| The Huntington National Bank | 13 | 4.0% |
Share is the percent of all St. Louis loans in that period. Each name links to that lender's page for Missouri where one exists.
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Local help near St. Louis
St. Louis borrowers can start with SBA's district offices for Missouri, an SBDC or SCORE.
30% of St. Louis 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 two district offices that cover Missouri. Each page points to state and federal resources and to lenders in its area. The Missouri Small Business Development Center gives free counseling across Missouri. The SBA St. Louis District Office (the 53 easternmost Missouri counties and the city of St. Louis) comes first below because its name matches St. Louis.
- SBA St. Louis District Office (the 53 easternmost Missouri counties and the city of St. Louis)SBA district office
- SBA Kansas City District Office (the 61 westernmost Missouri counties, with a Springfield office)SBA district office
- Missouri Small Business Development CenterSmall Business Development Center
- SCORE mentors in MissouriBusiness mentoring
Alongside SBA loans, Missouri runs a loan program. The Missouri page describes it, and the official page is linked here.
Loan counts and sizes in St. Louis
St. Louis ranks 1st by loans since FY2024 among the 6 Missouri cities with 100 or more SBA loans since FY2020. Nationally it is the 38th busiest of the 580 cities that reach 100 loans.
The 329 loans, 13.0% of the 2,540 in Missouri, were approved for $203.1 million in all. The medianThe middle figure. Half the loans were larger and half were smaller. loan was $255,000, 70% above the national median of $150,300. Half of the loans fell between $75,000 and $553,700. The St. Louis median is 16% above the Missouri median of $220,250.
| Measure | St. Louis | Missouri | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loans | 329 | 2,540 | 162,355 |
| Median loan | $255,000 | $220,250 | $150,300 |
| 25th percentile | $75,000 | $83,000 | $50,000 |
| 75th percentile | $553,700 | $600,000 | $500,000 |
| Via SBA Express | 27.1% | 25.0% | 35.8% |
| Lines of credit | 17.0% | 17.9% | 28.1% |
| Startups | 17.6% | 19.3% | 16.1% |
| Ownership changes | 15.5% | 14.9% | 10.4% |
| Median term | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years |
| Median spread | 2.75 | 2.75 | 2.75 |
| Charged off | 3.0% | 2.9% | 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.
74% of the loans were $500,000 or less, the size SBA Express covers. 27.1% of all loans went through SBA Express, below the national 35.8%. Lines of credit were 17.0% of loans, below the national 28.1%.
Labels show each size's share of all loans. The highlighted bar is the size band that contains the median.
By business age, 54.4% of loans went to businesses more than two years old and 12.2% to businesses two years old or younger. Startups received 17.6% and changes of ownership 15.5%. The national startup share is 16.1%.
Fiscal years run October to September. The last bar covers nine of its twelve months.
Volume rose 6% from FY2024 (120 loans) to FY2025 (127), the two latest full years. The busiest full year in the file was FY2025, with 127 loans. FY2026 already shows 82 loans through June 30.
Of the 301 loans St. Louis borrowers received in FY2020 to FY2022, 3.0% 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 3,764 jobs supported across the 329 loans since FY2024, about 11.4 per loan. SBA does not audit these estimates.
What businesses in St. Louis borrow for
Full-Service Restaurants was the largest borrower group in St. Louis, with 19 loans or 5.8% of the total.
The five largest industries made up 17% of all St. Louis loans. Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services stands out: its 11 loans are 3.3% of St. Louis loans, against 0.9% nationally, 3.6 times its national share.
| Industry | Loans | Share | U.S. share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-Service Restaurants | 19 | 5.8% | 4.6% |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services | 11 | 3.3% | 0.9% |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers | 10 | 3.0% | 2.1% |
| Other Personal Care Services | 8 | 2.4% | 1.2% |
| Beauty Salons | 7 | 2.1% | 1.5% |
Share is the percent of all St. Louis loans in that period. Industry is the NAICS code on each loan. A name links to the Missouri page for that industry where one exists.
A typical loan payment in St. Louis
The median St. Louis loan was $255,000 with a median term of 10 years.
The median variable-rate loan in St. Louis was priced at Prime plus 2.75 percentage points at approval. At today's Prime that spread works out to 9.75%. On $255,000 over 10 years, principal and interest would come to about $3,335 a month. That is arithmetic on past loans, not a rate a lender is offering.
| Loan | Amount | Monthly payment |
|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile loan | $75,000 | $981 |
| Median loan | $255,000 | $3,335 |
| 75th percentile loan | $553,700 | $7,241 |
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 $255,000 is Prime plus 4.5 percentage points, or 11.50% today. The median variable-rate loan here was priced 1.8 points under that ceiling. Source: 13 CFR § 120.214(d)(3); SOP 50 10 8.1, App. 18, Para. A.2 (p. 395).
St. Louis loans approved since FY2024 had a median starting rate of 10% 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 $250,000 loan and SBA Express payment calculator.
SBA 504 loans near St. Louis
St. Louis has 18 SBA 504 loans since FY2024, with $14.2 million in SBA and CDC dollars.
The median 504 loan in St. Louis was $551,500 in SBA and CDC dollars, 11% of the $5,000,000 program maximum. The bank's share of each project is separate and is not counted in these figures.
St. Charles County Economic Development Council is the Certified Development CompanyA nonprofit that SBA certifies and regulates to arrange 504 loans together with a bank. (CDC) named on the most loans since FY2020, with 28. Rural Missouri, Inc. follows with 15. The five CDCs listed are named on 65 loans between them.
| Certified Development Company | 504 loans |
|---|---|
| St. Charles County Economic Development Council | 28 |
| Rural Missouri, Inc. | 15 |
| St. Louis Local Development Company | 11 |
| STL Partnership CDC | 6 |
| Small Business Growth Corporation | 5 |
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.
Missouri cities near St. Louis
St. Louis made up 13.0% of Missouri's SBA loans since FY2024.
St. Louis is one of 6 Missouri cities with 100 or more SBA loans since FY2020. The Missouri page covers all 2,540 loans in Missouri. The closest come first, ranked by county and ZIP code on their loans.
Common questions about SBA loans in St. Louis
Which lenders make the most SBA loans in St. Louis?
U.S. Bank leads with 72 loans in St. Louis since FY2024. The Bank of Houston (19) and Midwest Regional Bank (18) follow. Only lenders with five or more St. Louis loans are counted.
Which industries get SBA loans in St. Louis?
Full-Service Restaurants leads with 19 loans in St. Louis since FY2024. Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (11) and Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (10) 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.
Sources
- SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level data, as of June 30, 2026
- SBA, 504 loans
- SBA, resource partners: SBDCs and SCORE
- SBA Kansas City District Office (the 61 westernmost Missouri counties, with a Springfield office)
- SBA St. Louis District Office (the 53 easternmost Missouri counties and the city of St. Louis)
- Missouri Small Business Development Center
- SCORE, Missouri
- SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. C, Ch. 1, Para. D.1 (p. 241); 13 CFR § 120.931
- SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. C, Ch. 1, Para. B (p. 221)
- sba.gov/loans/504-loans; SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. A, Ch. 3, Para. A (p. 51)
- SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. B, Ch. 2, Para. B.1 (p. 126)
- 13 CFR § 120.214(d)(3); SOP 50 10 8.1, App. 18, Para. A.2 (p. 395)
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Cite this page: Small business loans in St. Louis, MO. SBA Express Loans, Janover Capital LLC (data as of June 30, 2026). https://www.sbaexpress.loans/missouri-small-business-loans/st-louis/
Ask lending partners about a loan in St. Louis
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.