Lenders do not share one DSCR number. They split senior coverage from total coverage, and they publish both an average-borrower figure and a floor they will not go below.
Banks have long treated a senior DSCR around 1.2 as the floor and about 1.3 as a comfortable average. They have treated a total DSCR around 1.1 as the floor. Mezzanine funds have asked for more coverage because they sit behind the bank.
The 2026 Pepperdine Private Capital Markets survey, which interviews senior lenders, asset-based lenders, and mezzanine funds, puts current medians here:
- Banks: average-borrower senior DSCR 1.50, approval threshold 1.25. Average-borrower total DSCR 1.30, approval threshold 1.20.
- Asset-based lenders: they care less about coverage than about collateral. Their reported senior threshold is 1.20 and their total threshold is 1.10.
- Mezzanine funds: average-borrower senior DSCR 2.00 with a 1.20 floor. Average-borrower total DSCR 1.62 with a 1.15 floor.
SBA Standard 7(a) loans above the small-loan cutoff require operating cash flow of at least 1.15 times future business debt service, and 1.00 times on a global (business plus guarantor) basis. SOP 50 10 8 states that test as OCF divided by debt service. 7(a) Small Loans at or under $350,000 use a 1.10 floor as of the March 2026 small-loan guidance.
Commercial real estate lenders often quote 1.20 to 1.35 for stabilized properties, and more for hotels and other volatile assets. That is a property test, not an operating-company test. Do not mix the two.
A buyer financing an acquisition will underwrite pro forma DSCR after new debt, not the historical ratio on your current capital structure. Build the model both ways.