Only 5.7% of small businesses across the U.S. got approved for funding in the initial round of loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to a recent report analyzing state numbers from business.org. Using the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) data, the organization divided the total number of small businesses in each state by the total number of PPP loans funded in each state. (It should be noted, the data does not reflect the actual number of PPP loan applications by state, or the actual dollar amounts awarded to each state.) Unfortunately, many states with larger populations of small businesses were left with a low percentage of loan approvals when the initial PPP funding of $349 billion was exhausted in just 14 days. The top 10 most financed states all have fewer than 500,000 small businesses, whereas many of the least financed states have millions of small businesses. Bottom 10 States For PPP Funding: Rank State Total number of small businesses Total loans funded Percentage of small businesses funded 51 California 4,000,000 112,967 2.80% 50 Nevada 270,079 8,674 3.20% 49 Arizona 571,495 19,280 3.40% 48 Florida 2,500,000 88,997 3.60% 47 New York 2,200,000 81,075 3.70% 46 New Jersey 884,049 33,519 3.80% 45 Washington DC 76,083 3,253 4.30% 44 North Carolina 913,398 39,520 4.30% 43 Maryland 594,124 26,068 4.40% 42 Georgia 1,100,000 48,332 4.40% For instance, of New York’s 2,200,ooo total small businesses, just 81,075 received loans, or 3.7 %. California received the lowest percentage of funding at just 2.8% ...