Akron child care: very small loans

Child care centers in Akron borrow little. The 40 loans total $19.2 million across FY2017 to FY2026, yet the median is $100,000, only 0.22x of the national median. Look at the spread: $46,250 at the low end of the middle half, $631,375 at the top of it, $100,000 in between, and 0.22x when that median meets the national one. Locally the class is fifth, 5 of 39; its location quotient is 0.97x; nationally the metro stands 50 of 493.

Franchise flags cover 20.0% of loans. Counts by program, 7(a) against 504, are held back here for want of loans. Because home-based care shares the code, small providers cannot be told from centers, and a few of the smallest loans in Summit County could belong to home providers.

One holder and two counties

Only one holder reaches the listing threshold: The Huntington National Bank, 23 loans and $4.2 million. That a lender appears says what SBA reports about its loans in this cell and nothing about what it requires of borrowers. Summit County, OH has 31 loans and Portage County, OH 9, so nearly the whole record sits in one county and its neighbor, and a center elsewhere in the metro would have little local precedent.

For Akron child care there is no cancellation rate to quote and no charge-off rate either; SBA holds both back, and neither stands for zero. Years that print are FY2017 with 7 loans and $1.6 million and FY2024 with 5 and $5.3 million. FY2019 appears as an empty year, and the other years are held back. County matching by name decides whether a loan lands in the Akron metro; where the name fails to match the 2023 delineation, the loan is left out.

What an Akron child care study has to test

Young children within reach, licensed capacity already open and the enrollment ramp after opening are what the demand work measures. Conversion or building, outdoor space and licensing are costed against the $100,000 midpoint, with staff ratios setting payroll, and tuition must cover the debt at stable enrollment. Operating center and real estate receive separate values. Daniel Smith, MAI, stands behind the findings Loan Analytics delivers, though no finding forecasts a lender's decision.

SBA child care center loans in the Akron, OH Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	40
Gross dollars approved	$19.2 million
Median loan	$100,000
Middle half of loans, from	$46,250
Middle half of loans, to	$631,375
SBA 7(a) loans	withheld
SBA 504 loans	withheld
Franchise share of loans	20.0%
Rank among metro and micro areas for child care center loans	50 of 493
Rank of child care center among the classes in this area	5 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	0.97x
Median loan against the national median for the class	0.22x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	not reported: fewer than 30 loans in the cohort
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 child care center loans approved in the Akron, OH Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	7	$1.6 million
FY2018	withheld	withheld
FY2019	0	$0
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	withheld	withheld
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	withheld	withheld
FY2024	5	$5.3 million
FY2025	withheld	withheld
FY2026	withheld	withheld

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
The Huntington National Bank	23	$4.2 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
Summit County, OH	31
Portage County, OH	9

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.

Family child care homes cannot be separated from centers.

Shared code: 624410 also holds in-home child care.

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-10420-C36.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a child care center project in the Akron, OH 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

Child Care Center Feasibility Study in the Akron, OH Metro Area