Assisted Living Feasibility Study in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania assisted living: a big state with a thin SBA footprint

Pennsylvania shows 39 assisted living loans without nursing care from FY2017 to FY2026, with $41.4 million approved. The state ranks 16 of 50 for the class, but the class ranks only 21 of 39 within Pennsylvania, and the location quotient of 0.44x means the state's share is well under half the national share. That is a low reading, so SBA credit is a modest part of assisted living lending here. The median loan of $680,000 is 0.89x the national figure for assisted living, with half of loans in a band from $150,000 and $1.5 million.

What this class does and does not cover

Of the assisted living forms, only the version without on-site nursing carries an industry code of its own. Memory care has none, while assisted living with nursing sits within other classes. The data does not show the size or type of building behind a loan. Borrowers planning a memory care or nursing-supported community should not use these figures as a direct benchmark. This is the single most important caution on this page.

Program counts: 38 SBA 7(a), a single SBA 504, and franchising is absent (0.00%). Live Oak Banking Company alone reaches the lender threshold, holding 6 loans worth $14.8 million, a large share of the dollars. Loan Analytics leaves the cancellation and charge-off rates blank here, as each cohort sits under the 30-loan line. We give no figure for either, and no reader should treat either as nil.

What a Pennsylvania study must test

Allegheny County has 7 loans, Beaver 5 and Fayette 4, so the experience is concentrated in a few counties, with only 2 in Philadelphia and 3 in Montgomery. A study should test demand through the older population within a short drive, private-pay affordability, competing licensed beds and the state's licensing requirements. Cost must include life-safety systems, staffing and the pre-opening period before residents arrive. Debt service coverage depends on occupancy ramp-up, so the study should model a slow fill. The appraisal must value a purpose-built senior property on its income. Volume has been uneven, with 8 loans and $8.6 million in FY2025 after 1 loan in FY2022.