How Much of a Personal Loan Can I Get? 

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Personal loans are generally available in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $100,000. The exact amount you’ll be able to borrow depends on your credit score, salary, and overall financial situation.

What Affects the Amount You Can Borrow? 

Lenders can set their own minimums and maximum loan amounts when determining how much you can borrow, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll qualify for the highest amount possible.

A lender will decide the loan amount based on:

• Your credit score and history
• Your income and employment status
• Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI), which represents how much you owe compared to how much you earn.
• Most lenders prefer a DTI that’s lower than 35% to 36%.

Beyond your credit score and financial details, the purpose of your loan and the different types of personal loans can also dictate how much you’re able to borrow.

Good To Know

Here’s an example: home improvement loans would generally be for several thousand dollars or more, since renovation projects are typically quite expensive. So what you use a personal loan for can correlate to the size of the loan you’re looking at.

How Credit Score Affects Loan Amount 

Your credit score affects both how large of a loan you’re able to take out and the interest rate you qualify for. FICO credit scores range from 350-850 and are based on five different categories:

• Your payment history (35%)
• The amounts you owe (30%)
• Your credit history length (15%)
• New credit you’ve been approved for (10%)
• The types of credit you have (10%)

A good credit score is between 670-739 — the higher your score, the less of a risk you are to lenders. This means that higher credit scores can access larger loan amounts, while lower scores may have more limited borrowing power or require higher interest rates.

Minimum credit scores vary by lender, so if you have a low credit score, you may need to shop around to find a personal loan you can qualify for.

How To Estimate Your Loan Eligibility

Lenders offer personal loan calculators that can estimate the maximum amount you can borrow based on your monthly income and the loan term you’d like. Here are some ways you can do that for yourself.

Use a Personal Loan Calculator

Your bank or financial institution might offer one — for example, Wells Fargo’s personal loan calculator. It asks how much you’re looking to borrow as well as your preferred loan term and credit score to determine how much you may be eligible to borrow.

Look At Your Monthly Debt

Your monthly debts will also come into play in estimating your loan amount eligibility, since this will show the lender how much money you have left over after paying your bills.

Get Prequalified

Some lenders allow you to become prequalified for a personal loan. This usually involves sharing some basic information, such as your yearly income, house or rent payments and savings account balances. As part of the process, the lender may initiate a soft inquiry to check your credit and prequalify you for the loan. Being prequalified is not a guarantee that you’ll be approved for a loan, however.

Lenders might also send out preapprovals for personal loans, which also are not guaranteed. Getting preapproved means you meet the lenders’ approval criteria. However, if your income or credit history have changed, you may not be approved for a loan.

Personal Loan Limits by Lender Type 

Different lender types offer different sizes of personal loans, with major banks and online lenders generally offering the highest amounts.

Tips to Increase the Amount You Can Borrow

You can do these things right now to help the amount you need approved on your loan.

Improve Your Credit Score

If your credit score is below 670, take the following steps to improve your credit score and increase your odds of getting approved for a larger personal loan:

• Review your credit report for any errors and reach out to the credit bureaus to dispute any incorrect information.
• Pay off your debt on time, every month, which will reduce your debt-to-income ratio.
• Avoid closing any accounts, especially old ones, as this can change the length of your credit history.
• Consider asking a friend or family member with good credit to add you as an authorized user on one of their accounts. Their on-time payment history can positively impact your credit.

Apply With a Cosigner

Some lenders allow you to apply for a personal loan with a cosigner, which can improve your chances if they have a better credit score than you. Just note that a cosigner is agreeing to pay for the loan if you cannot, so they are on the hook financially if you fall through.

Choose a Secured Loan Option

Look for a secured personal loan, which requires collateral up front in exchange for borrowing funds. Since you’re providing collateral, it’s less of a risk, and the lender may be willing to extend you a larger loan.

What To Watch Out for With Bigger Loans 

Just because you can qualify to get a large personal loan doesn’t mean you necessarily should. When borrowing money, you should only take out the amount you need, especially because you’ll pay interest on your loan, and the more you borrow, the more interest you’ll pay for the privilege.

Not only that, but larger loans translate into higher monthly payments, even if you secure a longer loan term. Make sure you only borrow what you can comfortably afford to pay off each month.

Estimated Loan Amounts Based on Salary 

Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting for this article.

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