Bakersfield: gas station and truck stop

Bakersfield approved gas station and truck stop loans: 101 in FY2017 to FY2026, worth $180.6 million. Bakersfield ranks 9 of 600 for the class on 101 loans among metro areas; in Bakersfield, the class ranks 1 of 39. Bakersfield's location quotient reads 7.54x on 101 loans: a far heavier concentration. In Bakersfield, ranks and the 7.54x quotient, from 101 loans, distinguish the class; Bakersfield size is 1.35x the national median.

$1.4 million marks the median of 101 loans, well above the national figure (1.35x), and $810,000 to $2.5 million bounds Bakersfield's middle half. Of 101 loans in Bakersfield, 82 used 7(a) and 19 used 504. 55.4% is the franchise share of 101 loans; the rest are independents.

Bakersfield's 7(a) table, 27 loans at Commonwealth Business Bank, $24.3 million; 10 at Celtic Bank Corporation, $30.6 million; 8 at Open Bank, $17.9 million; 5 at East West Bank, $9.6 million; 5 at Customers Bank, $9.0 million. Bakersfield's 504 table, 11 loans at Cen Cal Business Finance Group, $14.7 million. Bakersfield: holders under 5 loans go unnamed. Bakersfield county counts, 101 loans: Kern County, CA 101.

The Bakersfield loans' fate

16.4% at minimum: Bakersfield's cancelled share through FY2024. Bakersfield's ceiling for undisbursed loans: withheld. Bakersfield charge-offs: too few, not zero. Bakersfield floors may rise with open loans. Bakersfield approvals ran from 10 loans and $11.5 million in FY2017 to 10 loans and $27.5 million in FY2026, peaking at 18 in FY2025 and dipping to 8 in FY2019. Bakersfield loans per year: FY2017 10, FY2019 8, FY2021 11, FY2022 14, FY2023 8, FY2024 12, FY2025 18, FY2026 10. Yearly dollars: FY2017 $11.5 million, FY2019 $11.7 million, FY2021 $18.4 million, FY2022 $25.3 million, FY2023 $7.9 million, FY2024 $28.3 million, FY2025 $38.3 million, FY2026 $27.5 million. Withheld Bakersfield years are not zero.

Bakersfield: the study's tests

For 101 loans in Bakersfield, canopy costs outside $810,000 to $2.5 million need cases. For 101 approvals in Bakersfield, appraisers ask about tank history. Bakersfield approvals ran from 8 in FY2019 to 18 in FY2025; for Bakersfield, plan for lean years. Bakersfield's quotient, 7.54x: count rivals by corridor. Across 101 loans, gallons and sales in Bakersfield carries $1.4 million. Bakersfield: facing lean fuel, debt service holds with $180.6 million approved.

Bakersfield's 101 loans omit electric vehicle charging. Bakersfield's 101 loans are placed by project county. Bakersfield follows the July 2023 delineation. Bakersfield drops unplaceable counties from $180.6 million. Treat 101 loans as a guide to Bakersfield, not a census.

SBA gas station and truck stop loans in the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	101
Gross dollars approved	$180.6 million
Median loan	$1.4 million
Middle half of loans, from	$810,000
Middle half of loans, to	$2.5 million
SBA 7(a) loans	82
SBA 504 loans	19
Franchise share of loans	55.4%
Rank among metro and micro areas for gas station and truck stop loans	9 of 600
Rank of gas station and truck stop among the classes in this area	1 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	7.54x
Median loan against the national median for the class	1.35x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	16.4%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	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 gas station and truck stop loans approved in the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	10	$11.5 million
FY2018	withheld	withheld
FY2019	8	$11.7 million
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	11	$18.4 million
FY2022	14	$25.3 million
FY2023	8	$7.9 million
FY2024	12	$28.3 million
FY2025	18	$38.3 million
FY2026	10	$27.5 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
Cen Cal Business Finance Group	11	$14.7 million

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
Commonwealth Business Bank	27	$24.3 million
Celtic Bank Corporation	10	$30.6 million
Open Bank	8	$17.9 million
East West Bank	5	$9.6 million
Customers Bank	5	$9.0 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
Kern County, CA	101

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.

The code is the borrower's industry. Truck stop or travel center cannot be split out. EV charging has no entry in the 2022 NAICS index.

Shared code: Truck stops and travel centers sit inside 457120 with gas stations that have no convenience store.

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-12540-C01.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a gas station and truck stop project in the Bakersfield-Delano, CA 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

Gas Station Feasibility Study in the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area