Cleveland fuel stations: small footprint in the local book, small loans too

Gas stations and truck stops rank 14 of 39 within the Cleveland, OH Metro Area, and the 0.38x location quotient places them well under their nationwide weight in local lending. The 0.40x ratio of the median loan to the nationwide median points the same way: at $419,500, the typical Cleveland station loan is a fraction of the typical one elsewhere. Even so, the metro holds position 36 of 600 on the metro and micro list for the class. Across FY2017 to FY2026 there are 34 approvals, adding up to $26.8 million.

Spread, brand ties and the holder

Between $71,250 and $1.1 million sit the middle loans, a very wide span, so a small convenience conversion and a ground-up site can both sit inside it. Franchised stations make up 29.4% of loans. FY2020 brought 6 loans and $7.3 million, and FY2022 brought 5 loans and $2.8 million; no other year is shown. Cuyahoga County accounts for 23 of the loans. SBA gives The Huntington National Bank 7 loans valued at $2.1 million, a note on current holdings and nothing about appetite for fuel retail. Counts by program are not shown.

Reading the coding

The industry code reflects what the borrower says its business is. Truck stops and travel centers cannot be carved out of it; they share a code with stations lacking a store. EV charging has no line in the 2022 classification index, so a plan built around charging is invisible in these figures. Cleveland has no cancellation or charge-off floor on the page because a thin early group does not support one, and absence differs from zero.

Underwriting a Cleveland fuel site

A study should separate fuel margin from in-store sales, because the two behave differently and lenders look at both. Gallons per day at the site, tested against nearby traffic and competing pumps, drive the first; the store, the food service and any car wash drive the second. Environmental history matters more here than for most classes: tank age, prior releases and the cost of closure belong in the budget, and the appraisal must reflect them. With a low median relative to the nation, a request far above $419,500 needs proof of why the site supports it. Coverage of the debt payment should survive a drop in fuel margin.

SBA gas station and truck stop loans in the Cleveland, OH Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	34
Gross dollars approved	$26.8 million
Median loan	$419,500
Middle half of loans, from	$71,250
Middle half of loans, to	$1.1 million
SBA 7(a) loans	withheld
SBA 504 loans	withheld
Franchise share of loans	29.4%
Rank among metro and micro areas for gas station and truck stop loans	36 of 600
Rank of gas station and truck stop among the classes in this area	14 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	0.38x
Median loan against the national median for the class	0.40x

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 gas station and truck stop loans approved in the Cleveland, OH Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	withheld	withheld
FY2018	withheld	withheld
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	6	$7.3 million
FY2021	withheld	withheld
FY2022	5	$2.8 million
FY2023	withheld	withheld
FY2024	withheld	withheld
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	7	$2.1 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
Cuyahoga County, OH	23

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-17410-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 Cleveland, 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

Gas Station Feasibility Study in the Cleveland, OH Metro Area