Subway is the largest franchise borrower in the SBA 7(a) program by resolved loans approved FY2010–FY2019, with 1,211 loans and a 7.6% default rate, followed by Anytime Fitness (601) and Jimmy John's (562), according to U.S. Small Business Administration data. The ten largest brands account for 18.8% of the 26,660 loans across all 415 tracked brands.
Most SBA default figures published online use loans approved since 2020 — loans that have had six years or less to fail — so those rates are floors, not outcomes. Every rate on this site is computed from the matured FY2010–FY2019 cohort: loans that have been paid in full or charged off, so the result is settled. Loans approved since 2020 are shown as counts so early charge-offs are visible without being mistaken for a rate.
Which 100 franchises borrowed most through the SBA?
Resolved loan count is a proxy for how much SBA lending a brand attracted in the decade. It is also a proxy for how well-tested the brand's default rate is: the more loans behind the rate, the less one default moves it. Loans since 2020 are shown alongside as counts.
Brands ranked by resolved SBA 7(a) loans approved FY2010–FY2019, statuses as of June 30, 2026.
Source: U.S. SBA 7(a) FOIA loan data. Loans approved FY2010–FY2019, statuses as of June 30, 2026. Download this table (CSV).
How to read this
Minimum loans. A rate on a handful of loans is noise: at 20 loans one default moves the rate by 5 percentage points. Ranked tables therefore require 50 resolved loans and distribution statistics require 20.
SBA-borrower skew. SBA 7(a) borrowers are typically less capitalized than all-cash buyers, so these rates can overstate risk for well-funded operators and understate nothing.
Not unit closures. A charge-off is a lending outcome recorded by a federal agency, not a count of closed stores. Some failed units never had SBA loans; some charged-off borrowers kept operating.
Cohort seasoning. Every rate uses loans approved FY2010–FY2019 that have since been paid in full or charged off. Loans approved since 2020 are shown as counts only, because most are still outstanding and a rate on them would be a floor.
Full definitions, benchmarks, name normalization, and limitations: methodology. Rate = loans charged off ÷ SBA 7(a) loans approved FY2010–FY2019 and since resolved (paid in full or charged off).
Source
Source:U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loan program charge-off data, FY2010–FY2019. Franchise data is matched on the SBA's franchise code / brand name. "Failure rate" here means the share of approved loans (resolved: paid in full or charged off) that were charged off; it is not a measure of unit closures. Last updated September 30, 2026.
Cite this page
Franchise Failure Rates (2026). Largest SBA 7(a) franchise borrowers, FY2010–FY2019 cohort: top 100 brands by resolved loans. Derived from U.S. SBA FOIA data, loan statuses as of June 30, 2026.
Author: Franchise Failure Rates · First published August 17, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026 · Citation format
Frequently asked
Which franchise has the most SBA loans?
Subway, with 1,211 resolved SBA 7(a) loans approved FY2010–FY2019, of which 92 were charged off (7.6%).
Does a large loan count make the default rate more reliable?
Yes. At 68 loans — the count of the 100th-ranked brand — a single default moves the rate by under 1.5 percentage points; at 20 loans it moves five.
How concentrated is franchise SBA lending?
The ten largest brands hold 18.8% of the 26,660 resolved loans across 415 tracked brands; the top 100 hold 64.7%.
Which of the largest borrowers has the highest default rate?
Among the ten largest, Anytime Fitness at 12.6%; the lowest is The UPS Store at 0.7%.
How this site is funded. Franchise Failure Rates takes no money from franchisors, franchise brokers, or franchise consultants. We do not sell leads, claimed listings, or franchisor reports. Revenue comes from reports and data sold to prospective franchisees, their attorneys, and lenders.