SBA 504 Gas Station Feasibility Study in Wisconsin

What SBA's own loan files show about SBA 504 lending to gas station and truck stop projects in Wisconsin, and what a feasibility study for an SBA 504 loan there has to test.

Scale, size and standing of Wisconsin gas station loans under SBA 504

Across FY2017 and FY2026, SBA authorized 46 loans in the 504 program to gas station projects in Wisconsin, worth $31.0 million in gross dollars. Among the states, Wisconsin ranks 4 by count in this SBA 504 gas station group, and within Wisconsin gas station holds spot 7 of 39. The median gas station loan in Wisconsin is $352,500; against the national midpoint for gas station loans under SBA 504, 0.41x is the ratio, so Wisconsin projects use smaller amounts than their peers elsewhere. Half of all Wisconsin loans run from $246,250 to $895,750. The franchise share of Wisconsin loans is 76.1%. At $352,500, what sets Wisconsin's SBA 504 gas station cell apart from each parent is the median loan: gas station across both programs in Wisconsin, and gas station (SBA 504) lending nationally.

For Wisconsin gas station: lenders and local spread

By county, Milwaukee with 13, Fond Du Lac with 3, Saint Croix with 3 and Washington with 3 lead the gas station approvals in Wisconsin. Year by year in Wisconsin, approvals peaked at 9 loans, worth $6.2 million, in FY2020, while FY2026 shows 0 loans and $0; the series began in FY2017 at 7.

Wisconsin gas station: how to read the outcome floors

A minimum of 14.0% for cancellations, with the ceiling at 14.0%, covers FY2017 to FY2024 Wisconsin gas station approvals, and open loans change no figure. 30 gas station loans in Wisconsin went through disbursement during FY2017 to FY2021, and 0.00% are charged off to date, with 0.00% within five years; both are floors. Every Wisconsin gas station rate above is a minimum, since open gas station loans among the 46 can yet change. Bear this in mind when reading Wisconsin's 46 loans: In the Wisconsin loan data, a truck stop appears like every other gas outlet, since the code follows the borrower's industry; electric vehicle charging is no category of its own.

The tests a gas station (SBA 504) study in Wisconsin must answer

Because the 46 Wisconsin approvals are 504 financings, each combining a Wisconsin certified development company and a separate senior gas station lender, each is organised around owned Wisconsin real estate and long-lived gas station equipment, and the study must show an owned gas station project that can carry two layers of debt. A Wisconsin gas station feasibility study must separate gallons income from inside sales, then check both against corridor volumes. Site-condition history belongs in the Wisconsin cost test, plus tank and canopy costs. Stress the Wisconsin gas station numbers at the $352,500 median and at $895,750: coverage that survives only in the good year is not persuasive. An appraiser of a Wisconsin gas station will consider gallon throughput and margin separately against inside sales, and our projection must show both.

What Wisconsin lenders approved before is history, 46 loans' worth; a gas station study from Daniel Smith, MAI, for Wisconsin is where the project matters get answered, and these Wisconsin figures promise no approval.

SBA 504 gas station and truck stop loans in Wisconsin

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY202646
Gross dollars approved$31.0 million
Median loan$352,500
Middle half of loans, from$246,250
Middle half of loans, to$895,750
Franchise share of loans76.1%
Rank among states for SBA 504 gas station and truck stop loans, by number of loans4
Rank of gas station and truck stop among classes in Wisconsin7 of 39
Median loan against the national SBA 504 median for the class0.41x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) 14.0%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)14.0%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) 0.00%
Charged off within five years of approval0.00%
Loans in that cohort30

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 504 gas station and truck stop loans approved in Wisconsin, by fiscal year

0246810FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 7Loans, FY2018: 8Loans, FY2019: 1Loans, FY2020: 9Loans, FY2021: 7Loans, FY2022: 4Loans, FY2023: 3Loans, FY2024: 4Loans, FY2025: 3Loans, FY2026: 0
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY20177$2.0 million
FY20188$3.7 million
FY20191$188,000
FY20209$6.2 million
FY20217$7.4 million
FY20224$1.6 million
FY20233$4.1 million
FY20244$3.6 million
FY20253$2.3 million
FY20260$0

Where the loans are, by county

CountyLoans
MILWAUKEE13
FOND DU LAC3
SAINT CROIX3
WASHINGTON3
WAUKESHA3
BROWN2
DANE2
JEFFERSON2
KENOSHA2
OZAUKEE2

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.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; Loan Analytics loan-outcome cell SAP-WI-C01-504.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a gas station and truck stop project in Wisconsin, 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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