Using a large sample of 24,825 firm-year observations of French non-listed SMEs from 2003 to 2016, we investigate the drivers of SMEs’ bank leverage choices. To do so, we use a quantile regression modeling in distinguishing between different quantiles of the bank leverage distribution. Furthermore, we apply this approach for three different sub-periods in order to investigate the impact of the global financial crisis. The analysis leads to several interesting findings. In particular, they reveal that drivers of the bank leverage level vary in function of the bank leverage distribution and of time. These results contribute to clarify the mixed results of previous research in this field. They also show indicate that the pecking order theory is suitable to French SMEs for which the performance is the most important determinant of the banking leverage.