Feasibility Study Data for the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
A coastal single county with large tickets
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara is Santa Barbara County alone, with 759 SBA approvals for FY2017 to FY2026 and $549.0 million gross, rank 128 of 928. Santa Maria loans center on $327,500. Santa Maria sits at 1.57x of the national figure. Santa Maria: half of loans span $125,000 to $824,000. The program split is 624 loans under 7(a) and 135 under 504, and franchises account for only 7.0% of loans, so independents carry most of the credit.
Santa Maria's named classes put full-service restaurant first at 42 loans, followed by dental office and limited-service restaurant at 33 each, hotel and motel at 29 and medical office at 18; another 511 loans sit outside the named classes. Dental and medical offices together show a professional-practice presence that a study must treat on its own terms: chair or room count, payer mix and dependence on one owner. Count rose from 67 loans and $46.7 million in FY2017 to 88 loans and $63.5 million in FY2026, with a low of 55 loans in FY2022 and a high of 107 loans and $73.4 million in FY2025.
Banks and development companies
American Riviera Bank holds 69 loans and $28.8 million under 7(a), U.S. Bank, National Association 66 loans and $50.6 million, and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 31 loans and $9.9 million. For 504, Cen Cal Business Finance Group holds 39 loans and $34.4 million and California Statewide Certified Development Corporation 30 loans and $21.3 million. Santa Maria holders are in SBA's records. Santa Maria: each name holds or held loans. Santa Maria counts describe volume, not lender practice, and Santa Maria counts state no requirement.
Santa Maria floors, and the study to order
Santa Maria cancellations after approval reached at least 12.6%. Santa Maria approvals span FY2017 to FY2024. Santa Maria reaches 13.8% when undisbursed loans count. Santa Maria charge-offs reached at least 3.9% across 309 funded loans. Santa Maria saw 2.3% of that within five years. Every Santa Maria rate here is a floor, as open Santa Maria loans may move it. Santa Maria places projects by county name. Santa Maria loses loans lacking a placeable county. Santa Maria's members follow the July 2023 delineation. Santa Maria counts all approvals, named or not. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara work should settle site demand and the high cost of construction or purchase that these ticket sizes imply, then test debt service in a lean year and rely on Santa Barbara County comparables for value. Loan Analytics prepares Santa Maria studies. Daniel Smith, MAI, signs each Santa Maria study.
SBA loans in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 759 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $549.0 million |
| Median loan | $327,500 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $125,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $824,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 624 |
| SBA 504 loans | 135 |
| Franchise share of loans | 7.0% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 128 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.57x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 12.6% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 13.8% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 3.9% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | 2.3% |
| Loans in that cohort | 309 |
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 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 67 | $46.7 million |
| FY2018 | 78 | $51.0 million |
| FY2019 | 64 | $39.1 million |
| FY2020 | 64 | $50.0 million |
| FY2021 | 83 | $86.2 million |
| FY2022 | 55 | $42.9 million |
| FY2023 | 60 | $40.8 million |
| FY2024 | 93 | $55.5 million |
| FY2025 | 107 | $73.4 million |
| FY2026 | 88 | $63.5 million |
Loans by asset class
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 511 |
| Full-service restaurant | 42 |
| Dental office | 33 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 33 |
| Hotel and motel | 29 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 18 |
| Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) | 14 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 13 |
| Grocery store | 12 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 9 |
| Fitness center | 9 |
| Caterers (includes banquet halls with catering staff) | 6 |
| Liquor store | 6 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Cen Cal Business Finance Group | 39 | $34.4 million |
| California Statewide Certified Development Corporation | 30 | $21.3 million |
| CDC Small Business Finance Corp. | 25 | $27.9 million |
| The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation | 20 | $34.4 million |
| Advantage Certified Development Corporation | 8 | $9.5 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| American Riviera Bank | 69 | $28.8 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 66 | $50.6 million |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 31 | $9.9 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 29 | $9.4 million |
| BayFirst National Bank | 27 | $5.3 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 |
|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 759 |
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-42200.
Related feasibility study pages
- California feasibility study consultant
- Feasibility Study Data by Metro Area
- Feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and 504 loans
- Feasibility Study Data for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Fresno, CA Metro Area
Feasibility study data by asset class in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, 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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