What is the maximum SBA 504 loan amount?

Two limits work together

People ask for "the" 504 limit as if it were one number. There are really two rules, and the smaller of the two controls. The first, in 13 CFR 120.930(a), is a percentage rule: a 504 loan generally may not exceed 40 percent of total Project cost plus 100 percent of eligible administrative costs. The second, in 120.931, is a dollar cap on how large the 504 loan can be. A Project must fit inside both.

The percentage rule is why a 504 loan is called a partial financing. The loan covers a slice of the Project, usually a second-lien slice behind a bank's first-lien loan, and the Borrower puts in its own money on top. Section 120.801(c) describes the usual permanent structure: a Borrower contribution of at least 10 percent, a loan from the Certified Development Company (CDC) Debenture proceeds for up to 40 percent, and a Third Party Loan for the balance.

The dollar caps in 120.931

Paragraph (a) sets the ordinary cap: an outstanding balance of $5,000,000 for each Borrower and its affiliates, when the proceeds are not directed to a Project in paragraph (c). Paragraph (b) gives the same $5,000,000 figure when one or more of the public policy goals listed in 120.862(b) applies to the Project. Those goals include things like revitalizing a business district, expanding exports, aiding rural development and expanding businesses owned by women, veterans or minority groups.

Paragraph (c) is the higher tier. It allows $5,500,000 for each Project for three kinds of Project. One is a small manufacturer in NAICS codes 31 through 33 with all production facilities located in the United States. Another is a Project that reduces the Borrower's energy consumption by at least 10 percent (or the operating company's, if the Borrower is an Eligible Passive Company). The third is plant, equipment and process upgrades of renewable energy sources, such as small-scale production of energy for a building's or a community's consumption, or renewable fuel producers including biodiesel and ethanol producers.

Note the different wording. The $5,000,000 figures are expressed as an outstanding balance for each Borrower and its affiliates, which looks at what is owed across the whole affiliated group. The $5,500,000 figure is expressed per Project. Read plainly, a Borrower with an existing 504 balance has less room under the $5,000,000 cap. How a particular existing balance interacts with a new Project is a question for the CDC, because 120.931 does not walk through that case.

Worked examples

Take a $10,000,000 Project with $200,000 of eligible administrative costs financed. Forty percent of the Project cost is $4,000,000. Add the $200,000 and the plain reading of the rules gives $4,200,000, which is under the $5,000,000 cap, so the cap does not bind. Use the calculator above with those figures to see the same result.

Now take a $14,000,000 Project for a small manufacturer with all production in the United States. Forty percent is $5,600,000, which is more than $5,500,000, so the higher cap controls and the largest 504 loan is $5,500,000. If the same $14,000,000 Project belonged to a business that does not fit paragraph (c), the largest loan would be $5,000,000. The difference is exactly the $500,000 gap between the two caps.

A third example shows where the cap does not matter. A $6,000,000 Project gets 40 percent, or $2,400,000, far under any cap. The dollar cap only starts to bind when the 40 percent figure exceeds it, which for the standard cap means a Project cost above $12,500,000 before administrative costs, and above $13,750,000 for the $5,500,000 cap.

More than 40 percent, and the federal share

Section 120.930(a) adds two further details. For good cause shown, SBA may authorize an increase in the percentage of Project costs covered, up to 50 percent. And no more than 50 percent of eligible Project costs can come from Federal sources, whether received directly or indirectly through an intermediary. This page's calculator uses the 40 percent default; it does not model a good cause increase, because that is a discretionary SBA decision.

The same section sets a floor: a 504 loan must not be less than $25,000. And when the Project is complete, the Debenture amount is reduced by the amount by which an unused contingency reserve exceeds 2 percent of the anticipated Debenture.

What the cap does not limit

The cap is on the 504 loan, not on the size of the Project. A $30,000,000 Project can still be financed; the 504 loan is simply one piece of it, alongside the Borrower's contribution and the Third Party Loan. The regulation does not say a Project cannot be larger than any figure on this page.

It also does not say what the 504 loan will cost or what the rate will be. Those come from the Debenture sale and the CDC, covered by other sections. For the fee side, see our SBA 504 fees page, and for how the first-lien and second-lien pieces fit, see 504 collateral and lien position.

Sources

• 13 CFR § 120.931, 504 Lending limits. Read November 2, 2026.
• 13 CFR § 120.930, Amount. Read November 2, 2026.
• 13 CFR § 120.801, How a 504 Project is financed. Read November 2, 2026.
• 13 CFR § 120.862, Other economic development objectives. Read November 2, 2026.

Text read: Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 13, Part 120, in the eCFR, current as of October 29, 2026. Dollar figures and percentages on this page are the ones printed in those sections as of that date; SBA can amend the rule and publishes loan-program procedures (such as SOP 50 10) that add detail this page does not cover. Confirm current terms with a Certified Development Company, an SBA-approved lender or at sba.gov. This page summarizes the regulation and does not replace it.