A published charge-off rate of 0.00%, and what it does not mean

Las Cruces, NM is Doña Ana County, NM alone, with 209 loans and $93.6 million from FY2017 to FY2026, ranking 307 of 928. Its charge-off figures are the notable part. Of 87 loans funded under earlier approvals, the charge-off tally reads 0.00% so far and 0.00% at five years after approval; each is a floor taken from a cohort small enough that a single failure would move them, and loans still open can add to them. Of approvals through FY2024, at least 8.9% ended in cancellation, and SBA releases no ceiling for Las Cruces.

Typical borrowing is $175,000, or 0.84x the country's, with loans from $40,000 to $500,000 covering the middle half. Franchise brands account for 9.6%. The programme split is 175 under 7(a) and 34 under 504, a real estate share that is not trivial, and two institutions share the 504 loans: Enchantment Land Certified Development Company with 17 worth $9.5 million and Capital Certified Development Corporation with 8 worth $5.1 million. Doña Ana County holds all 209 loans, so the record is entirely local.

Classes

Hotel and motel tops a short list at 9 loans, rehabilitation and therapy clinic has 8 and full-service restaurant 7, while 158 loans belong to no tracked class. The clinic placing is notable; the data gives the count and nothing more.

The holders below are SBA's present or past holders, which says where loans sit and not how any bank behaves. Wells Fargo Bank National Association holds 35 7(a) loans worth $2.5 million and U.S. Bank, National Association holds 28 with $2.7 million. Bank of the Southwest holds 11 worth $5.9 million, PNC Bank, National Association 8 worth $5.9 million and Northeast Bank (ME) 8 worth $1.2 million. Dollars per loan at Bank of the Southwest are several times those at Wells Fargo here.

Reading the record as a study would

A zero charge-off rate on a base this small is not evidence of safety, and a study should say so. It should check demand in Doña Ana County for the use proposed, keep cost in step with loans below the national level, and run coverage conservatively. Approvals ranged from 15 loans in FY2026 to 36 in FY2025. Counties come from the 2023 delineation. This page offers neutral context and no promise of approval.

SBA loans in the Las Cruces, NM Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	209
Gross dollars approved	$93.6 million
Median loan	$175,000
Middle half of loans, from	$40,000
Middle half of loans, to	$500,000
SBA 7(a) loans	175
SBA 504 loans	34
Franchise share of loans	9.6%
Rank among metro and micro areas by loans	307 of 928
Median loan against the national median	0.84x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	8.9%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	withheld
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	0.00%
Charged off within five years of approval	0.00%
Loans in that cohort	87

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 loans approved in the Las Cruces, NM Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	27	$10.2 million
FY2018	16	$9.7 million
FY2019	20	$10.0 million
FY2020	16	$5.8 million
FY2021	18	$7.4 million
FY2022	17	$8.4 million
FY2023	24	$14.7 million
FY2024	20	$6.0 million
FY2025	36	$12.9 million
FY2026	15	$8.6 million

Loans by asset class

Asset class	Loans
Not in any of the 39 asset classes	158
Hotel and motel	9
Rehabilitation and therapy clinic	8
Full-service restaurant	7

Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
Enchantment Land Certified Development Company	17	$9.5 million
Capital Certified Development Corporation	8	$5.1 million

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
Wells Fargo Bank National Association	35	$2.5 million
U.S. Bank, National Association	28	$2.7 million
Bank of the Southwest	11	$5.9 million
PNC Bank, National Association	8	$5.9 million
Northeast Bank (ME)	8	$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
Doña Ana County, NM	209

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.

All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.

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 MT-29740.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Las Cruces, NM 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

Feasibility Study Data for the Las Cruces, NM Metro Area