How Pittsburgh ranks for child care center

Pittsburgh, PA stands 37 of 493 among metro and micro areas, recording 62 SBA approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 worth $47.1 million. Counting child care center loans, Pittsburgh stands at 0.86x of the national share: Pittsburgh weights the class lightly. Inside Pittsburgh, the class ranks 7 of 39, a core business. All of Pittsburgh's loans sit in PA.

Pittsburgh loans center on $290,800, the median, and the middle half ranges $62,500 to $959,000. The local median is 0.64x the national class median, so Pittsburgh tickets run lighter. Of Pittsburgh's loans, 55 are 7(a) and 7 are 504, shaping each request. Pittsburgh 504 loans fund real property and major equipment. Franchised units account for 21.0% of loans in Pittsburgh, a brand gauge. For Pittsburgh borrowers, that is context only.

Child care center lenders in Pittsburgh

Under 7(a) in Pittsburgh, the holders on record, by loans, are 18 loans worth $9.2 million at The Huntington National Bank; 5 loans worth $1.2 million at First Commonwealth Bank; and 5 loans worth $1.2 million at PNC Bank, National Association. The 504 table for Pittsburgh is empty. Every Pittsburgh row is an SBA record. Pittsburgh lenders hold or held these loans. The Pittsburgh table describes files, not practices. Nothing in Pittsburgh shows what a lender will ask. Pittsburgh place by place: Allegheny County, PA holds 40 loans, then Butler County, PA at 9 and Westmoreland County, PA at 5.

Pittsburgh's published years show 6 loans and $5.0 million in FY2018, 5 loans and $5.5 million in FY2019, 5 loans and $2.8 million in FY2020, 5 loans and $3.6 million in FY2022, 6 loans and $3.6 million in FY2023, 8 loans and $2.6 million in FY2024, 9 loans and $6.5 million in FY2025 and 12 loans and $11.1 million in FY2026. FY2017 and FY2021 are not published for Pittsburgh, as counts are thin, and Pittsburgh's blanks mean unpublished, never zero. Pittsburgh has no published cancellation floor. Thin Pittsburgh cohorts leave no floor to print. For Pittsburgh, no charge-off floor is printed. In Pittsburgh, a thin cohort means unpublished. The Pittsburgh totals follow the 2023 federal definition, with Pittsburgh loans placed by project county, so Pittsburgh drops loans with unmatched counties. For Pittsburgh, the source cannot separate child care run from a residence from centers, so the figures here mix the two kinds together.

Pittsburgh: testing a child care center project

From this child care center record in Pittsburgh, PA, a study moves to a single parcel. For Pittsburgh, we would first examine subsidy income against private tuition. Pittsburgh reviewers will check how a center differs from home care. Pittsburgh analysis should establish outdoor play and safety build-out cost. A Pittsburgh study begins by testing staffing ratios set by rule. In Pittsburgh, underwriters will ask the study to address tuition levels against household incomes. Pittsburgh work runs demand, cost, coverage, value. Pittsburgh lenders get evidence, not a promise.

SBA child care center loans in the Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	62
Gross dollars approved	$47.1 million
Median loan	$290,800
Middle half of loans, from	$62,500
Middle half of loans, to	$959,000
SBA 7(a) loans	55
SBA 504 loans	7
Franchise share of loans	21.0%
Rank among metro and micro areas for child care center loans	37 of 493
Rank of child care center among the classes in this area	7 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	0.86x
Median loan against the national median for the class	0.64x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	withheld
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 Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	withheld	withheld
FY2018	6	$5.0 million
FY2019	5	$5.5 million
FY2020	5	$2.8 million
FY2021	withheld	withheld
FY2022	5	$3.6 million
FY2023	6	$3.6 million
FY2024	8	$2.6 million
FY2025	9	$6.5 million
FY2026	12	$11.1 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
The Huntington National Bank	18	$9.2 million
First Commonwealth Bank	5	$1.2 million
PNC Bank, National Association	5	$1.2 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
Allegheny County, PA	40
Butler County, PA	9
Westmoreland County, PA	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.

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-38300-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 Pittsburgh, PA 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 Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area