Branson: lodging dominates a micropolitan record

SBA approved $61.9 million across 49 hotel and motel loans in Branson for FY2017 to FY2026. Branson has two ranks to read: 1 of 39 among its own classes and 33 of 807 for hotel and motel against other areas. Concentration is the story in Branson, where a 10.95x location quotient lifts hotel and motel well past its national weight. Taney County, MO carries 49 of the loans.

A Branson loan at the midpoint is $1.1 million, and the middle half spans $500,000 to $1.9 million. Branson's median stands at 0.52x the national class median, which makes the loans smaller than is typical for the class. Counting programs, Branson has 39 7(a) loans and 10 504 loans. 24.5% of the loans in Branson belong to franchised units.

A lone name on the holder list

OakStar Bank is the one institution listed, with a high average. Under 7(a), SBA lists 5 loans for $8.0 million at OakStar Bank. Holder counts for Branson come from SBA bookkeeping, an inventory, not a review.

Branson carries no printed cancellation or charge-off figure, because Loan Analytics withholds both; assume nothing from their absence. By year: 13 loans worth $10.3 million in FY2017 and 6 loans worth $10.6 million in FY2023. Other years are withheld in Branson, and none is zero. Because one code covers every hotel and motel, the figures blend limited-service with full-service properties. For Branson, membership follows project counties, leaving unplaceable projects out.

The Branson test list

With lodging this large in the local record, the study should separate leisure travel from groups and business stays and show what a weak season does to rate and occupancy. It should show how many months of the year carry the debt, list any brand standards and property improvement plans, and include booking-platform fees in the average rate. Stress cases should include a travel downturn and a shoulder season with few guests. Valuation must separate real estate, furnishings and business value, and note that special-purpose use narrows the pool of buyers if the property fails. A request at the $1.1 million median and another at the $1.9 million upper edge deserve separate debt service runs.

SBA hotel and motel loans in the Branson, MO Micro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	49
Gross dollars approved	$61.9 million
Median loan	$1.1 million
Middle half of loans, from	$500,000
Middle half of loans, to	$1.9 million
SBA 7(a) loans	39
SBA 504 loans	10
Franchise share of loans	24.5%
Rank among metro and micro areas for hotel and motel loans	33 of 807
Rank of hotel and motel among the classes in this area	1 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	10.95x
Median loan against the national median for the class	0.52x

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 hotel and motel loans approved in the Branson, MO Micro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	13	$10.3 million
FY2018	withheld	withheld
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	withheld	withheld
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	6	$10.6 million
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
OakStar Bank	5	$8.0 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
Taney County, MO	49

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.

One code for hotels and motels; limited service and full service cannot be separated.

Shared code: Hotels and motels share 721110.

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-14700-C07.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a hotel and motel project in the Branson, MO Micro 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

Hotel Feasibility Study in the Branson, MO Micro Area