Child Care Center Feasibility Study in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about child care center lending in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

422 child care center loans in Chicago

Approved dollars of $328.7 million back 422 child care center loans in the Chicago area, FY2017 through FY2026. A middle-of-the-road loan is $377,000; the middle half covers $150,000 to $910,700. Compared with the national median for child care center, Chicago, IL stands at 0.83x, which is below it.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ranks 2 of 493 for child care center

Counting Chicago-Naperville-Elgin by program, 7(a) has 330 loans and 504 has 92, so 7(a) leads. The 330 7(a) loans around Chicago have room for working capital; the 92 504 loans stay with fixed assets. The franchise share, 20.1%, shows how much of the Chicago class is branded. The class holds 3 of 39 among Chicago industries, and Chicago, IL holds 2 of 493 among areas for child care center. 1.35x is the Chicago, IL quotient: the class is tilting Chicago lending toward the class more than the nation does, which cuts in both directions. The leading counties lead: Cook County, IL (256), DuPage County, IL (37) and Will County, IL (35) loans. Chicago, IL is not a one-state market: IL, IN all fall inside it.

Floors and holders for child care center in Chicago

By year, FY2025 tops the series with 61 loans and $45.9 million, while FY2019 trails with 28 and $29.7 million. In Chicago, IL, 7(a) loans sit mostly with The Huntington National Bank (49 loans, $21.0 million); Byline Bank (27 loans, $27.3 million); U.S. Bank, National Association (26 loans, $15.8 million). A child care center borrower in Chicago should see that Byline Bank leads on dollars and The Huntington National Bank on loans. The Huntington National Bank shows 49 loans just as SBA names it holder; the $21.0 million says nothing about lending standards. For 504, SomerCor 504, Inc., 47 loans, $32.0 million and Small Business Growth Corporation, 36 loans, $34.8 million lead the Chicago list. Cancellation after approval is 15.1% at minimum and 18.6% at most, for Chicago approvals of FY2017 to FY2024. The $328.7 million Chicago-Naperville-Elgin record carries no charge-off rate, as the matching cohort is small, and the blank is not zero.

The Chicago study: demand, cost, coverage, appraisal at $910,700

Revenue around Chicago rests on the waiting list a new center can expect, the local share of working parents and the staffing ratios that licensing sets, built from the ground up, not from 422 past loans. A sound Chicago budget lists safety upgrades, a payroll that starts before enrollment fills and classroom furnishings, then tests each line against Chicago comparables. Coverage in Chicago is tested at $377,000, $150,000 and $910,700 alike, because the file spans that range. The appraiser probes Chicago, IL collateral too, namely the licensed building, enrollment goodwill and the land; a Chicago study anticipates each. 422 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin loans show what was financed, not what will be, so the study judges the next project on its own facts.

Limits behind 422 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin loans

By project county, Chicago claims 422 loans. Cook County, IL and the other counties of Chicago are matched by name to the July 2023 delineation. SBA's code does not divide Chicago centers from in-home care; the 422 loans here blend both. Rates in Chicago name their own cohort years here in Chicago, IL, so cancellation and charge-off differ in (median $377,000) span.

SBA child care center loans in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026422
Gross dollars approved$328.7 million
Median loan$377,000
Middle half of loans, from$150,000
Middle half of loans, to$910,700
SBA 7(a) loans330
SBA 504 loans92
Franchise share of loans20.1%
Rank among metro and micro areas for child care center loans2 of 493
Rank of child care center among the classes in this area3 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)1.35x
Median loan against the national median for the class0.83x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)15.1%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)18.6%
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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area, by fiscal year

020406080FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 34Loans, FY2018: 43Loans, FY2019: 28Loans, FY2020: 33Loans, FY2021: 34Loans, FY2022: 39Loans, FY2023: 49Loans, FY2024: 57Loans, FY2025: 61Loans, FY2026: 44
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY201734$36.9 million
FY201843$24.0 million
FY201928$29.7 million
FY202033$29.7 million
FY202134$21.4 million
FY202239$32.3 million
FY202349$35.8 million
FY202457$33.6 million
FY202561$45.9 million
FY202644$39.5 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
SomerCor 504, Inc.47$32.0 million
Small Business Growth Corporation36$34.8 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
The Huntington National Bank49$21.0 million
Byline Bank27$27.3 million
U.S. Bank, National Association26$15.8 million
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association22$6.5 million
Live Oak Banking Company15$27.8 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

CountyLoans
Cook County, IL256
DuPage County, IL37
Will County, IL35
Lake County, IL28
Kane County, IL26
Lake County, IN17
McHenry County, IL14

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-16980-C36.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a child care center project in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN 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.

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