Sizing the U.S Microfinance Market

March 2, 2011

FIELD (the microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination) has just released Key Data on the Scale of Microlending in the U.S., a report based on data collected during the 2009 Microenterprise Census.

The bottom line: microfinance remains a nascent market in the U.S., with a few large organizations dominating and several hundred smaller serving about 20% of the market.

Here are some specifics:

• California has the most microlenders (40), followed by New York (23) and Nebraska (12)
• About half those institutions that responded made loans greater than $35,000
• 45% track applicants' credit scores
• 25% report borrowers credit performance
• The average loan is for $11,000
• 64% reported earning some income

Copies of the report can be downloaded from the FIELD Website.

50 million American households are considered "unbanked" - they have no relationships with federally insured financial institutions