County directory · Minnesota
CDFI lenders in St. Louis County, MN
1 certified CDFI names St. Louis County or a town in it as part of their service area on their own website. 4 more are headquartered here. 2 more say they serve all of Minnesota. Sources: lender websites (29 Oct 2026–4 Nov 2026), the CDFI Fund list (21 Oct 2026).
- Name this county
- 1
- Based here
- 4
- Serve all of MN
- 2
A lender naming St. Louis County on its website is a good sign, not an offer. Lenders based elsewhere may lend here too. Search your exact ZIP code in the finder to include lenders based nearby. Towns in this county: Alborn, Angora, Aurora, Babbitt, Biwabik, Brimson, Britt, Brookston, Buhl, Canyon, Chisholm, Cook….
Lenders compared for St. Louis County
5 with local records| Lender | Local records | Loan sizes | Head office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Minnesota Power Employees Credit Union Credit union, Duluth MN | headquarters here; 3 offices here; 20 home loans here, 2025 | ask | 40 mi |
| 2. Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, Inc. Loan fund, Duluth MN | headquarters here; 82 SBA loans here, FY2020–FY2026 | $1,000–$750,000 | 40 mi |
| 3. NorthRidge Community Credit Union Credit union, Hoyt Lakes MN | headquarters here; 5 offices here | ask | 19 mi |
| 4. Northland Foundation Loan fund, Duluth MN | headquarters here; 4 SBA loans here, FY2020–FY2026 | $10,000–$500,000 | 40 mi |
| 5. Neighborhood Housing Services of Duluth, Inc. Loan fund, Duluth MN | website names Duluth; headquarters here | ask | 38 mi |
4 of these 5 lenders have received CDFI Fund awards, together $30.6M in fiscal years 1997–2024 (CDFI Fund award database; each lender page lists its awards). An award funds the lender, not a particular borrower.
Order: how many kinds of local record we hold (its website names the county or a town in it, headquarters, a branch, SBA loans or HMDA home loans for borrowers here), then the number of those records, then the head office's distance from the county centre. Loan sizes are the range the lender's website states. It is not a rating and nobody pays for a place. SBA loans: SBA 7(a)/504 data (FY2020–FY2026, 3 or more shown); home loans: HMDA 2025 originations (3 or more shown); branches: FDIC/NCUA; distances are straight lines from the average position of the county's ZIP codes.
Where these lenders have offices
5 lenders5 head offices and 6 branches or offices of 5 lenders on this page, within 80 miles of the centre of St. Louis County. Lenders with no office nearby may still lend here; many work by phone and online.
Head officeBranch or officeApproximate (ZIP code area)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, © OpenMapTiles, tiles OpenFreeMap. Head-office points: U.S. Census Bureau geocoder.
Loan types confirmed on these lenders' websites
- Small-business loans (3 lenders)
- Commercial real estate loans (2 lenders)
- SBA-backed loans (7(a)/504/Community Advantage) (2 lenders)
- Home repair / improvement loans (1 lender)
- Auto / vehicle loans (1 lender)
- Small-dollar / emergency loans (1 lender)
- Home mortgages (1 lender)
- Microloans (1 lender)
Banks and credit unions with a branch in this county
2 certified CDFIs have at least one office in St. Louis County (NCUA branch data as of 30 Jun 2026). A branch shows presence, not a stated service area; credit unions also require membership.
- NorthRidge Community Credit UnionCredit union · Hoyt Lakes, MN5 offices in St. Louis County · based hereOfficial list only
- Minnesota Power Employees Credit UnionCredit union · Duluth, MNAuto / vehicle loans, Small-dollar / emergency loans, Home mortgages, Small-business loans3 offices in St. Louis County · based hereVerified
CDFI mortgage lenders active here
Certified CDFIs reported 22 originated home loans for properties in St. Louis County in 2025 under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: 0.5% of the 4,134 home loans that all HMDA lenders reported here.
Plus 2 more certified CDFIs with fewer than 3 loans here each (not listed).
A lender headquartered far away can appear here: HMDA counts the county of the property, not of the lender. Banks and credit unions below the HMDA reporting thresholds and most loan funds do not report, so other CDFIs may also lend here.
Source: FFIEC Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for 2025, snapshot frozen 2 Jun 2026, loan-level records read through the CFPB HMDA Data Browser API on 3 Nov 2026. Originated loans only; applications that were denied, withdrawn or not accepted are not counted. HMDA publishes each loan amount as the middle of a $10,000 band, so totals and medians are approximate. Counts under 3 are not shown. How we match lenders.
Small business and SBA lending in St. Louis County
Official statisticsMedian household income in St. Louis County is $70,069, 21% below the Minnesota figure of $89,062 (ACS 2020–2024).
Businesses here took 59.0 SBA-backed loans per 1,000 employer businesses over FY2020–FY2026: about as many as the median Minnesota county (58.9), rank 43 of 87.
| Measure | St. Louis County | Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses with paid employees (CBP 2023) | 5,360 (3.5% of the state) | 154,455 |
| …of which under 20 employees | 84% | 84% |
| Businesses without employees (Nonemployer Statistics 2023) | 12,853 | 453,181 |
| Median household income (ACS 2020–2024) | $70,069 (21% below the state) | $89,062 |
| SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals, all lenders, FY2020–FY2026 | 316 (268 7(a), 48 504) | 11,542 |
| …per 1,000 businesses with employees | 59.0 (rank 43 of 87 Minnesota counties) | 58.9 (median county) |
| Median SBA 7(a) loan, all lenders | $150,000 | $175,650 |
| …with a certified CDFI as lender, CDC or third-party lender | 86 (27%) | 376 (3%) |
| Variable-rate 7(a): median rate over prime at approval, FY2024–26 | 2.25 pts (67 loans; 3% at the SBA maximum) | 2 pts (4% at the maximum) |
Approvals by fiscal year: FY2020 71 · FY2021 85 · FY2022 30 · FY2023 28 · FY2024 35 · FY2025 36 · FY2026 31.
For comparison, not an offer. SBA figures count approvals by every SBA lender for borrowers whose ZIP code lies in the county, not only CDFIs; approval is not disbursement. Rate over prime = the SBA's recorded initial rate minus the prime rate on the approval day; SBA caps it at 3 to 6.5 points depending on loan size (current prime rate and caps: methodology).
Sources: Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 and American Community Survey 2020–2024 (table B19013); SBA 7(a) & 504 FOIA data as of 30 Sep 2026; prime rate: FRED DPRIME; SBA maximums: SBA 7(a) terms. Downloaded 15 Nov 2026. How we compute these.
SBA loans made here by CDFIs
SBA data as of 30 Sep 2026Certified CDFIs were the lender, the CDC or the third-party lender on 86 SBA approvals (82 7(a) loans and 4 504 projects) for borrowers in St. Louis County in fiscal years 2020–2026, from 2 CDFIs. The 7(a) loans total $8.1M approved.
CDFIs with 3 or more: Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, Inc. (82), Northland Foundation (4).
Counted by the county of the borrower's ZIP code. Approval is not disbursement. These are only the SBA loans of certified CDFIs; most SBA lenders here are not CDFIs, and CDFIs also lend outside SBA programs.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) & 504 FOIA loan data, files as of 30 Sep 2026, downloaded 3 Nov 2026. Our counts, cancelled approvals left out. How we match lenders.
CDFI lending recorded here (FY2022)
CDFI Fund data, released Dec 202472 loans and investments totaling $8.9M (median $21,111) were reported to the CDFI Fund for borrowers and projects in St. Louis County in fiscal year 2022, by 10 reporting CDFIs. More than half of these records come from a single reporting CDFI.
| Purpose (CDFI Fund category) | Count | Total | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home improvement | 37 | $768,475 | $17,546 |
| Non-real estate business | 12 | $1.6M | $112,500 |
| Home purchase | 9 | $161,970 | $11,320 |
| None of the listed purposes | 6 | $5M | $502,294 |
| Non-real estate microenterprise | 4 | $70,000 | $20,000 |
| Other purposes | 4 | $1.2M |
Of 48 individual borrowers whose income was reported, 73% had family income at or below 80% of the area median.
CDFI banks and credit unions also reported 560 consumer loans in St. Louis County totaling $3.2M (Consumer Loan Report, tract totals, so no median); they counted 25% of them as serving low-income borrowers.
Loans and investments reported in other years: FY2018 195 · FY2019 251 · FY2020 392 · FY2021 412.
Only CDFIs that hold an active CDFI Fund award (CDFI Program, Native American CDFI Assistance or the CDFI Rapid Response Program) report these transactions, so this is not all lending by the certified CDFIs on this page. The Fund masks which CDFI made each loan, so we cannot say which lender listed here made them.
Source: CDFI Fund, CDFI/NACA/CDFI RRP Program Award Recipient Data Release, Transaction Level Report and Consumer Loan Report public files for fiscal year 2022 (released Dec 2024; downloaded 3 Nov 2026). Amounts are original loan or investment amounts as reported. Place = the 2010 census tract of each record. How we count.
Lenders whose website names St. Louis County or a town in it
Headquartered in St. Louis County
The official list gives a headquarters address here. Check each lender's page for where it lends.
- Minnesota Power Employees Credit UnionCredit union · Duluth, MNAuto / vehicle loans, Small-dollar / emergency loans, Home mortgages, Small-business loansVerified
- Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, Inc.Loan fund · Duluth, MNCommercial real estate loans, Microloans, SBA-backed loans (7(a)/504/Community Advantage), Small-business loansVerified
- Northland FoundationLoan fund · Duluth, MNCommercial real estate loans, SBA-backed loans (7(a)/504/Community Advantage), Small-business loansVerified
- NorthRidge Community Credit UnionCredit union · Hoyt Lakes, MNOfficial list only
Say they serve all of Minnesota
- Dakota Business LendingLoan fund · Fargo, NDSBA-backed loans (7(a)/504/Community Advantage), Small-business loansVerified
- Midwest Minnesota Community Development CorporationLoan fund · Detroit Lakes, MNHome repair / improvement loans, Home mortgages, Small-business loansVerified
Free help before you apply
These offices give free or low-cost advice: a Small Business Development Center or SCORE mentor can help with the business plan, cash-flow projections and paperwork most business lenders ask for, and a HUD-approved housing counselor can help with a homebuyer course, a budget or a missed mortgage payment. Some counseling agencies also lend; using their advice does not commit you to their loans. Call ahead to check hours and what they cover.
Business advice
- Northeast Minnesota SBDCSmall Business Development Center · 202 W Superior Street, Suite 810, Duluth, MN 55802218-348-2830
- Women's Business Alliance NorthWomen's Business Center · 202 W. Superior St., Ste. 311, Duluth, MN 55802218-623-5741
Housing counseling
- Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, Inc.HUD-approved housing counselor · 702 S 3rd Ave, Virginia, MN 55792
- Community Action DuluthHUD-approved housing counselor · 2424 W 5th St, Duluth, MN 55806218-726-1665
- Lutheran Social Service of MinnesotaHUD-approved housing counselor · 424 W Superior St Ste 600, Duluth, MN 55802218-529-2227
- One Roof Community HousingHUD-approved housing counselor · 12 E 4th St, Duluth, MN 55805218-727-5372
Sources: SBA local assistance listings, read 6 Nov 2026; HUD's list of approved housing counseling agencies (open-data version last updated 9 Apr 2025). For the current list and the services each agency offers, use the CFPB's housing counselor search (it uses HUD's list) or call HUD at 800-569-4287. Offices are placed by ZIP code, so distances are approximate.
City pages in St. Louis County
Other Minnesota counties
Source: CDFI Atlas, cdfiatlas.com/states/mn/counties/st-louis-county/. © 2026 CDFI Atlas. Quoting with a link is welcome; republishing the pages or the compiled data is not (terms of use).