A salon market that matches the nation

The Gateway City is about as average as a beauty market gets. A location quotient of 1.00x says salons hold exactly the national share of local lending, the class is seventh, 7 of 39, and the metro is 33 of 546 nationally. What stands out is size: a median of $182,000 is 1.82x the national class median, and central loans range from $67,000 to $322,500. The metro booked 61 loans and $17.9 million across FY2017 to FY2026, so salon owners here borrow noticeably more than a typical counterpart elsewhere.

Program use is 54 on 7(a) against 7 on 504, and franchise flags cover 19.7%, which leaves independent suites and booth-rental shops as the norm. Salons here cross the Mississippi: the metro includes Illinois counties, though the named rows are Missouri's.

Who holds the paper in St. Louis

U.S. Bank, National Association appears with 8 loans totalling $392,800, a very small average, while Midwest Regional Bank appears with 6 loans at $1.7 million. Neither is a verdict: each simply reflects who SBA currently lists for the St. Louis salon loans. St. Louis County, MO tops the counties with 35 loans, then St. Louis city, MO with 9, Franklin County, MO with 6 and St. Charles County, MO with 5.

For FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, 13.7% is the cancellation floor and 13.7% is the ceiling counting undisbursed loans, so the two measures coincide. The charge-off rate is withheld on a thin cohort and is not zero. Printed years: FY2017 8 loans and $1.3 million; FY2019 5 and $1.4 million; FY2020 5 and $805,100; FY2021 5 and $1.2 million; FY2023 10 and $1.7 million; FY2024 9 and $5.6 million; FY2025 5 and $1.2 million; FY2026 5 and $2.9 million. FY2018 and FY2022 are not shown. A loan counts for the metro once the 2023 delineation places its project county inside it.

What a St. Louis salon study must prove

Salon demand rests on household density, income and the local competition, so a study maps each within reach of the site. It must cost build-out and chairs against the $182,000 median, test service pricing and stylist retention, and show earnings covering debt service coverage. If a franchise brand is involved, royalties join the model. Appraisal treats the business and its lease together. Loan Analytics puts Daniel Smith, MAI, behind the report; approval is a lender matter.

SBA beauty salon loans in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	61
Gross dollars approved	$17.9 million
Median loan	$182,000
Middle half of loans, from	$67,000
Middle half of loans, to	$322,500
SBA 7(a) loans	54
SBA 504 loans	7
Franchise share of loans	19.7%
Rank among metro and micro areas for beauty salon loans	33 of 546
Rank of beauty salon among the classes in this area	7 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	1.00x
Median loan against the national median for the class	1.82x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	13.7%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	13.7%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	withheld

Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.

SBA beauty salon loans approved in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	8	$1.3 million
FY2018	withheld	withheld
FY2019	5	$1.4 million
FY2020	5	$805,100
FY2021	5	$1.2 million
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	10	$1.7 million
FY2024	9	$5.6 million
FY2025	5	$1.2 million
FY2026	5	$2.9 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
U.S. Bank, National Association	8	$392,800
Midwest Regional Bank	6	$1.7 million

Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.

Where the loans are, by county

County	Loans
St. Louis County, MO	35
St. Louis city, MO	9
Franklin County, MO	6
St. Charles County, MO	5

Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.

Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.

A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MA-41180-C38.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a beauty salon project in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area