Buying a Business in Iowa
What SBA acquisition lending actually looks like in Iowa, from loan-level government data.
FY2025 Acquisition Loans
62
$42.4M approved
Median Loan
$337,500
FY2020 through FY2025
Loans Since FY2020
337
$246.7M in total approvals
Share of U.S. Activity
0.9%
Of change-of-ownership loans
Most Active Acquisition Lenders in Iowa
- 1. Lincoln Savings Bank26 loans
- 2. Northwest Bank24 loans
- 3. MidWestOne Bank16 loans
- 4. Live Oak Banking Company12 loans
- 5. Farmers State Bank10 loans
A lender being active in Iowa does not require a local branch; several top SBA lenders work nationally. Build a shortlist with Lender Match.
What Gets Bought in Iowa
- Full-Service Restaurants24 loans
- Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels18 loans
- Limited-Service Restaurants16 loans
- Offices of Chiropractors14 loans
- General Automotive Repair7 loans
Industry-specific pricing and diligence live in the Industry Buy Guides.
Method & Source
Computed from the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level dataset (FY2020 through FY2025), filtered to approvals flagged change of ownership with a Iowa project address. Approvals, not closings; excludes conventional and 504 financing. Free to cite with attribution.
Everything here is educational information, not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Figures are estimates or cited third-party data; verify anything that matters against primary sources and your own advisors before acting on it.