If you’re thinking about taking out a $20,000 loan for something like home improvements or to pay some medical bills, the good news is that you have plenty of options.
Most banks, credit unions, and online lenders offer $20,000 personal loans. In fact, if you can show that you’ve got good credit and the ability to repay the loan, many lenders are willing to approve a $35,000 personal loan — and some will even sign off on an amount of money up to $100,000.
But if you’re looking at taking out a sizable personal loan, you’ll want to compare rates and terms from multiple lenders to find the best loan for you. The personal loan companies in the table below compete for your business through Credible. You can request rates from all of these partner lenders by filling out just one form (instead of one form for each) and without a hard credit check.
| Lender | Rates | Loan Amounts | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fixed: 9.95% - 35.99% APR | $2,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, emergency expense, life event, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Must be a resident in the U.S. with a valid Social Security number |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 29.99% APR | $2,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Credit card refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or a Permanent Resident Alien • Can't be a resident of IA, VT, or WV |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 29.99% APR | $10,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, home improvement, wedding, travel, medical expenses, and other purposes Residency • Must be a resident in the U.S. with a valid Social Security number |
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 | Fixed: 6.95% - 35.89% APR | $1,000 up to $40,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, paying off credit cards, home improvement, pool loans, vacations, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Resident Alien with a valid Social Security number and physical address, currently residing in the U.S. |
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 | Fixed: 5.34% - 16.99% APR | $5,000 up to $100,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 7 years Loan uses • Credit card refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Borrower must reside in the U.S. |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 28.99% APR | $3,500 up to $40,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 6 years Loan uses • Credit card refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Resident Alien with a valid Social Security number and physical address, currently residing in the U.S. • Borrower cannot reside in MD |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 24.99% APR | $5,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation and credit card consolidation only Residency • Borrower can't reside in DC, DE, IA, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MS, NC, NE, NV, OH, OK, VA, VT, WA, WI, or WV |
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 | Fixed: 6.95% - 35.99% APR | $2,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, home improvement, vehicles, small business, new baby expenses, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. resident with a bank account and Social Security number |
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 | Fixed: 7.99% - 35.89% APR | $1,000 up to $50,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, credit card refinancing, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Borrower can't be a resident of CT, CO, IA, MA, MD, VT, or WV |
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 | Fixed: 8.89% - 35.99% APR | $1,000 up to $50,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Payoff credit cards, consolidate debt, take a course or bootcamp, relocate, make a large purchase, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident with a verifiable Social Security number |
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If you’re going to take out a $20,000 loan, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a steady source of income that allows you to make your monthly payments comfortably until your loan is paid off.
A personal loan, which is typically an unsecured installment loan, can a big help paying for major purchases, tackling unexpected expenses, or consolidating high-interest credit card debt.
We’ve put together this quick primer on how to get a $20,000 loan, and provided all of the basics on shopping and applying for a loan.
Where to get a $20,000 loan
The total amount you can borrow will depend on your income, credit history, and credit score. Your credit score is also the biggest factor in determining what your actual rate will be. Since every lender has its own method of evaluating borrowers, it pays to shop around. Here are some of your options when it comes to personal loan lenders.
Banks
Some banks like Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One don’t offer personal loans. But other big banks like Citizens, Citibank and Wells Fargo do. Most even offer an annual percentage rate (APR) discount if you set up automatic payments.
Credit unions
Credit unions can also be a good choice, since they’re nonprofit and might provide lower rates to members who already have a checking account or savings account with them. Many “all-access” credit unions have relaxed policies on membership.
Online lenders
Getting a loan online is convenient — the websites of online lenders are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Plus, online lenders can offer more competitive rates and sometimes even get you your loan amount more quickly (some the next business day).
Interest rates for borrowers with better credit can be significantly lower than those with poor credit. In addition to getting a low interest rate, there’s another good reason to check rates with multiple lenders: You might be approved by some lenders and turned down by others.
But just because you’re turned down by one lender doesn’t mean you can’t get a loan. You might even be approved for a $20,000 loan with bad credit, but expect to pay a higher interest rate.
What to consider before applying for a $20,000 loan
Before taking out a personal loan, make sure you do your homework and find a lender who’s offering the loan terms and rates that are best for you. Here’s what you should consider.
Terms
When evaluating your loan options, you’ll often have a choice of repayment terms, which is the length of time you’ll have to pay your loan back. Typical repayment terms for personal loans are two to seven years.
The shorter the repayment term, the lower the interest rate offered by most lenders. But since you’ll be making fewer payments, your monthly loan payment will usually be larger if you choose a loan with a short repayment term. Picking the loan with the shortest repayment term and largest monthly payment you can afford can save you hundreds or even thousands in interest.
The table below shows how selecting a loan with a shorter repayment term can save you money if you’re willing to make a bigger monthly loan payment. All of the loans are offered by the same lender, but you can get a lower interest rate and overall repayment costs with a shorter term loan.
Savings by accelerating repayment on a $20,000 personal loan
| Repayment term | Interest rate | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 7% | $618 | $2,232 |
| 4 years | 8% | $488 | $3,436 |
| 5 years | 9% | $415 | $4,910 |
| 7 years | 10% | $332 | $7,890 |
Choosing a shorter loan term can result in a lower interest rate and reduce overall repayment costs. Interest rates are hypothetical for purposes of illustration only.
Interest rates
Most personal loans are offered with fixed interest rates. But if you’re offered a variable rate personal loan, just remember that your monthly payment can go up (or down) with your interest rate.
The table below shows how much you can save by shopping around for a better interest rate. All of the hypothetical loans in this table have the same loan repayment term, but the lenders are offering different loan rates.
Cost to repay $20,000 personal loan
| Interest rate | Monthly payment | Total interest | Total repaid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.0% | $396 | $3,761 | $23,761 |
| 7.5% | $401 | $4,046 | $24,406 |
| 8.0% | $406 | $4,332 | $24,332 |
| 8.5% | $410 | $4,620 | $24,620 |
| 9.0% | $415 | $4,910 | $24,910 |
| 9.5% | $420 | $5,202 | $25,202 |
| 10.0% | $425 | $5,496 | $25,496 |
You can use our personal loan calculator to get an idea of what your monthly payment and total cost (including total interest) will be with a personal loan at the rate and terms available to you.
If you don’t like the interest rates you see when shopping for a personal loan, you might consider a secured loan, such as a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or cash-out mortgage refinance. One drawback of a secured loan is that you need collateral (in this case your home) — unlike personal loans which are unsecured loans. This is used as a guarantee that you’ll pay the loan back.
Getting your loan
Once you’ve found a loan with an interest rate, repayment term, and monthly payment you can live with, you can expect to be asked to provide documentation that verifies your identity and income. Often you can provide those documents in electronic form online.
If you can afford to wait before applying for a loan, you might be able to get a better interest rate by boosting your credit score:
- Check your credit report: Obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the credit bureaus and check them for errors.
- Pay down debt: If you’re carrying high balances on your credit cards, paying them down can also boost your score.
Once you’re happy with your credit score, just remember to do your due diligence and research to find the best personal loan lender for you.