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50 state guides

Payday Loans by State

A payday loan can look like a quick fix for a short paycheck. These state guides explain what one really costs, how rollovers snowball, how to check that a lender is licensed where you live, and the alternatives worth trying first.

A payday loan is a small, short-term loan that is usually due on your next payday. The lender often takes a post-dated check or access to your bank account, and the cost is charged as a fee rather than ordinary interest. Converted to an annual percentage rate, that fee is usually very high.

The real risk is the cycle: if the full balance cannot be repaid on the due date, renewing or rolling the loan over adds another fee, and bank overdraft or NSF charges can pile on. Payday lending rules vary widely from state to state, and some states restrict or prohibit it, so check your state regulator before borrowing.

PeakStone Credit does not offer, arrange or broker payday loans or any other loans, and we never recommend taking one. We help people review their credit, budget and debts so they can find a way out of short-term borrowing. Choose your state below.

Looking for another guide? See credit builder loans by city and credit relief loans by city and debt consolidation loans by city and payday loan relief by city and payday loan consolidation by city, or start with a credit report review and our loan and credit evaluation.

By state

Payday loans by state

Pick your state for a full guide to payday loans there, with local city guides inside.

5 city guides

Alabama

Payday loans in Alabama are sold on speed and simplicity, and the sales pitch rarely mentions the fine print. This…

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5 city guides

Alaska

Payday loans in Alaska tend to show up in the same moment: a cold morning, a dead truck battery or…

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5 city guides

Arizona

Search for payday loans Arizona and the results all promise the same thing: cash now, repaid when your next deposit…

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5 city guides

Arkansas

Most people researching payday loans in Arkansas see only the front end: a short form, a fast answer, cash by…

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5 city guides

California

A payday loan sounds simple, but the words around it, like APR, rollover and ACH authorization, hide how expensive it…

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5 city guides

Colorado

Dear friend, you mentioned you might take out a payday loan to get through the month, and I wanted to…

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5 city guides

Connecticut

Payday loans in Connecticut come wrapped in vocabulary that makes an expensive product sound simple: a flat fee, a post-dated…

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5 city guides

Delaware

Payday loans in Delaware are sold on a few comfortable claims: the fee is small, the term is short, and…

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5 city guides

Florida

Payday loans Florida residents see advertised promise quick cash, but the real question is what happens next. This guide follows…

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5 city guides

Georgia

Rent is due on the first, daycare on Friday, and the grocery run cannot wait. When the household calendar and…

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5 city guides

Hawaii

Short on cash before payday on Oahu, Maui, Kauai or Hawaii Island? This road map treats payday loans in Hawaii…

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5 city guides

Idaho

Payday loans in Idaho are easiest to judge on paper, one line at a time. This guide runs the numbers…

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5 city guides

Illinois

Payday loans Illinois residents see advertised promise fast cash, but the fee math and the short repayment window deserve a…

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5 city guides

Indiana

Payday loans Indiana families turn to usually start with one bad week: a transmission, a furnace, a short paycheck. This…

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5 city guides

Iowa

Payday loans Iowa residents see advertised promise speed, and speed is real. So is the price. This guide puts every…

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5 city guides

Kansas

So the truck needs a new alternator, payday is ten days off, and your phone keeps showing ads for online…

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5 city guides

Kentucky

Overtime one week, a cut shift the next, and rent due either way. For hourly and shift workers, payday loans…

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5 city guides

Louisiana

Louisiana's calendar has its own money rhythm: Carnival in late winter, tax time, summer power bills, back-to-school in August, then…

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5 city guides

Maine

Let's start with one number: a hypothetical $45 fee on a $300 loan due in two weeks works out to…

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5 city guides

Maryland

The myth: a payday loan is a quick, cheap bridge to Friday. The reality is usually neither quick nor cheap.…

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5 city guides

Massachusetts

Your first real paycheck in Massachusetts can disappear fast: rent, a transit pass, student loans, maybe a security deposit. When…

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5 city guides

Michigan

The most expensive payday loan mistakes usually happen in the first ten minutes: borrowing without checking the math, clicking through…

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5 city guides

Minnesota

Here is the blunt truth about payday loans in Minnesota: they are fast, they are easy, and they are built…

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5 city guides

Mississippi

Shopping for payday loans in Mississippi? Then shop the way you would for a car: line every option up side…

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5 city guides

Missouri

The pitch for payday loans in Missouri rarely changes: a few hundred dollars today, one fee, done by your next…

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5 city guides

Montana

Payday loans Montana storefronts and websites advertise share one selling point: speed. What the ads leave out is in the…

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5 city guides

Nebraska

The furnace in a hypothetical Grand Island duplex quits on a Tuesday in January, and the repair estimate lands four…

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5 city guides

Nevada

A fixed income is predictable right up until something breaks. For many retirees, the trouble with payday loans in Nevada…

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5 city guides

New Hampshire

Payday loans New Hampshire residents see advertised are built to look simple: a small advance, one flat fee, due when…

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5 city guides

New Jersey

Payday loans New Jersey residents run across online can be confusing, because the words used to sell them are rarely…

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5 city guides

New Mexico

Dear friend, you told me the truck needs a repair, rent is due before payday and a storefront down the…

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5 city guides

New York

Most confusion about payday loans in New York starts with vocabulary. Words like rollover, lead generator and ACH authorization sound…

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5 city guides

North Carolina

Three hypothetical North Carolinians hit the same wall in the same week: a bill due before the paycheck lands. One…

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5 city guides

North Dakota

Start with one question: is the money needed before your next paycheck, or is the problem bigger than one paycheck?…

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5 city guides

Ohio

Rent is due on the first, daycare on Friday, and the grocery list does not shrink just because payday is…

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5 city guides

Oklahoma

Every money emergency has stages: the shock, the scramble, the decision, and the long road back. This guide follows one…

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5 city guides

Pennsylvania

A $400 furnace repair, eleven days before payday. That is the starting line for the hypothetical household we follow on…

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5 city guides

Puerto Rico

Do this first: write down the exact amount you are short and the date your next check lands. Everything else…

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5 city guides

Rhode Island

Getting out of the payday cycle is possible, and rebuilding afterward is where the real progress happens. This guide to…

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5 city guides

South Carolina

Every choice in a cash crunch has a cost column and a benefit column. This guide lays out payday loans…

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5 city guides

South Dakota

Somebody down the road asks you about payday loans South Dakota lenders advertise, and you want to give them a…

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5 city guides

Tennessee

Your hours got cut this week, the light bill is due Friday, and a sign down the street says cash…

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5 city guides

Texas

Texas cash crunches tend to follow the calendar: an August electric bill after weeks of triple-digit heat, school supplies, a…

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5 city guides

Utah

Let's start with a number most budgets know too well: the gap between the day the bills land and the…

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5 city guides

Vermont

Most people assume payday loans in Vermont are a small, simple bridge to the next paycheck. That belief deserves a…

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5 city guides

Virginia

First paycheck, first apartment, first surprise car repair: that sequence is where payday loans Virginia lenders advertise start to look…

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5 city guides

Washington

Most of the damage done by payday loans Washington residents take out comes from a handful of predictable mistakes, not…

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City guide

Washington, DC

Most of what people believe about payday loans comes from the storefront sign or the website banner, and very little…

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5 city guides

West Virginia

Here is the number that matters: a hypothetical $45 fee on a $300 loan due in two weeks equals an…

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5 city guides

Wisconsin

Payday loans Wisconsin residents see advertised promise quick cash, but the smart move is the one a careful shopper makes…

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5 city guides

Wyoming

In a state where paychecks can rise and fall with the price of oil, gas and coal, the gap between…

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