Feasibility Study Data for the Modesto, CA Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Modesto, CA Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Modesto, CA: scale and ticket size, 763 loans

Modesto, CA holds rank 127 of 928 by loans, with 763 approvals for FY2017 to FY2026, $586.7 million gross. Ticket size in Modesto leans high, with $350,000 at the median, 1.68x the national median. The middle half of Modesto approvals runs from $150,000 up to $887,000. In Modesto, a request far outside $150,000 to $887,000 will draw questions. The Modesto study should answer them early in Modesto.

In Modesto, SBA 7(a) accounts for 611 loans, against 152 under SBA 504. 15.5% of the Modesto loans went to franchised businesses. Modesto named classes stand gas station and truck stop with 50, limited-service restaurant with 33 and automotive mechanical repair with 32. The Modesto total of 763 also contains 460 loans that no named class captures. In Modesto, only Stanislaus County, CA appears, holding 763 loans in Modesto.

Modesto lenders: the field in Modesto, CA

In Modesto, lender names come out of SBA's listing of loans each institution has or had in Modesto, per the holder field in Modesto, and they describe a book only. Modesto holders should be read that way. Modesto SBA 7(a) holders at the top: U.S. Bank, National Association with 79 loans worth $23.6 million; Wells Fargo Bank National Association with 51 loans worth $34.1 million; Celtic Bank Corporation with 42 loans worth $59.8 million. In Modesto, SBA 504 holders are led by Success Capital Expansion & Development Corporation with 86 loans worth $71.0 million; The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation with 24 loans worth $35.2 million; Greater Sacramento Certified Development Corporation with 8 loans worth $10.2 million. In Modesto, the top holder leads the rest. A Modesto borrower may still approach any lender in Modesto.

Among FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, Modesto cancellation after approval is 10.8%, a floor. A Modesto ceiling of 12.0% treats unfunded loans as cancelled. Among 311 Modesto loans disbursed FY2017 to FY2021, SBA shows 3.9% charged off so far in Modesto, a floor in Modesto, and withholds the five-year rate. FY2024, at 101 loans, tops the printed yearly counts for Modesto. Modesto membership follows a project's county, from the file to the July 2023 delineation, hence some loan whose county in Modesto has no match is left out of every area in Modesto. The 763 loans in Modesto, CA include those in no named class in Modesto.

Modesto: the tests a study cannot skip in Modesto, CA

In Modesto, demand is the opening test. Measure the trade area around the parcel itself in Modesto, never the metropolitan area in Modesto, and let a weak in Modesto first year pass in Modesto. The Modesto budget is next. Lenders fund a $350,000 median here, though every line should rest on bids, including a reserve for slow Modesto months. Coverage of the Modesto loan payment follows. Calculate coverage at the loan size plus a case with lower revenue, with interest and term stated for Modesto. Lenders in Modesto also rely on appraisals in Modesto, so the study's value logic needs sources that survive review in Modesto. In Modesto, 763 loans spread over many neighbourhoods, and a Modesto study must say which it targets in Modesto. With the median at 1.68x the national level, a smaller Modesto project may look unusual in Modesto. The study should explain its sizing for Modesto against $350,000.

SBA loans in the Modesto, CA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026763
Gross dollars approved$586.7 million
Median loan$350,000
Middle half of loans, from$150,000
Middle half of loans, to$887,000
SBA 7(a) loans611
SBA 504 loans152
Franchise share of loans15.5%
Rank among metro and micro areas by loans127 of 928
Median loan against the national median1.68x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)10.8%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)12.0%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)3.9%
Charged off within five years of approvalwithheld
Loans in that cohort311

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 Modesto, CA Metro Area, by fiscal year

0255075100125FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 87Loans, FY2018: 76Loans, FY2019: 62Loans, FY2020: 63Loans, FY2021: 67Loans, FY2022: 58Loans, FY2023: 80Loans, FY2024: 101Loans, FY2025: 100Loans, FY2026: 69
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY201787$58.3 million
FY201876$55.1 million
FY201962$47.2 million
FY202063$52.2 million
FY202167$72.1 million
FY202258$61.1 million
FY202380$65.0 million
FY2024101$59.2 million
FY2025100$61.7 million
FY202669$54.8 million

Loans by asset class

Asset classLoans
Not in any of the 39 asset classes460
Gas station and truck stop50
Limited-service restaurant33
Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck)32
Full-service restaurant32
Dental office22
Medical office (physicians)16
Assisted living (without nursing care)13
Hotel and motel12
Veterinary clinic12
Liquor store11
Beauty salon11
Car wash10
Fitness center9
Self storage7
Grocery store7
Nonresidential lessor (flex, office and retail investor buildings)5
Coffee shop and snack bar5

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)
LenderLoansDollars
Success Capital Expansion & Development Corporation86$71.0 million
The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation24$35.2 million
Greater Sacramento Certified Development Corporation8$10.2 million
Capital Access Group, Inc.7$7.5 million
Business Finance Capital5$7.7 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
U.S. Bank, National Association79$23.6 million
Wells Fargo Bank National Association51$34.1 million
Celtic Bank Corporation42$59.8 million
The Huntington National Bank26$10.9 million
BMO Bank National Association23$18.5 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

CountyLoans
Stanislaus County, CA763

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-33700.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Modesto, 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.

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