Compare legal limits, fees and the true cost of small loans in your state before you talk to any lender. Compare legal limits, fees and the true cost of small loans in your state.
Pawn Shops vs Payday Loans in Iowa
57 pawn shops in 28 cities and towns across Iowa. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
Iowa has about 3,196,394 residents, so that's 1.8 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 1.1 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in Iowa.
- Pawn shops
- 57
- Cities & towns
- 28
- Pawn shops per 100k
- 1.8
- Loan stores
- 34
- List a phone
- 100.0%
- Have a website
- 80.7%
Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in Iowa
Iowa has 57 pawn shops and 34 payday, installment and title loan stores.
Pawn shops
57
1.8 per 100k residents
Payday & loan stores
34
1.1 per 100k residents
4 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in Iowa: OneMain Financial (13), Advance America (11), Check Into Cash (9), Check 'n Go (1).
Borrowing $500 for one month: payday vs pawn vs credit union
| Option | How it works | Cost for one month |
|---|---|---|
| Payday loan (~337% APR) | $55.00 fee every 2 weeks, renewed once | $110.00 |
| Pawn loan (example: 20% a month) | You leave an item worth more than the loan; repay to get it back | $100.00 |
| Credit union PAL (28% APR + $20 fee) | Repaid in installments; membership required | $31.67 |
- Payday cost, share of monthly household income in Iowa
- 1.7%
- Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in Iowa
- 1.6%
- A $400 emergency equals
- 1.9 days of income
Payday: the IA maximum — $55 on a $500 loan for 2 weeks, paid twice for a one-month loan. Pawn: an example rate of 20% a month; pawn fees and interest are set by Iowa law and vary by shop — ask for the total in writing. PAL: payday alternative loan from a federal credit union, capped at 28% APR plus an application fee of up to $20. Income: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
Pawn loan vs payday loan: the key differences
| Pawn loan | Payday loan in IA | |
|---|---|---|
| What you need | An item of value (jewelry, gold, electronics, tools, firearms) and an ID | A bank account, proof of income and an ID |
| Credit check | None | Usually none |
| How much you get | A fraction of the item's resale value | Based on your income, up to the state limit |
| If you can't repay | The shop keeps the item; no collections and no credit damage | Fees pile up with renewals; the debt can go to collections |
| Bank account access | None | Lender can debit your account or cash your check |
| Rules in Iowa | Pawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by Iowa; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law | Allowed, up to $500; typical APR ~337% |
Pawn shops by city in Iowa
Where pawn shops cluster in Iowa
Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 1.8 per 100k, median income $76,204.
| City | Pawn shops | Per 100k people | Median income | Poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davenport | 5 | 4.8 | $65,432 | 15.6% |
| Council Bluffs | 3 | 4.1 | $67,976 | 11.7% |
| Dubuque | 3 | 4.0 | $73,989 | 10.7% |
| Des Moines | 8 | 3.6 | $66,421 | 14.5% |
| Sioux City | 3 | 3.4 | $67,398 | 14.5% |
| Waterloo | 2 | 2.9 | $58,350 | 15.7% |
| Cedar Rapids | 4 | 2.8 | $72,941 | 11.4% |
| West Des Moines | 1 | 1.4 | $84,953 | 7.3% |
| Ames | 1 | 1.4 | $61,665 | 23.6% |
| Iowa City | 1 | 1.2 | $60,993 | 25.6% |
Pawn shop chains in Iowa
11 of the 57 pawn shops in Iowa belong to a big chain; the rest are independent.
- EZPAWN 11
Pawn shops in smaller towns of Iowa
Other cities and towns in Iowa with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.
- Burlington 3
- Cedar Falls 1
- Clinton 2
- Creston 3
- Fort Dodge 1
- Fort Madison 1
- Indianola 1
- Keokuk 1
- Marion 1
- Mason City 2
- Milford 1
- Muscatine 2
- Norwalk 1
- Oskaloosa 1
- Ottumwa 2
- Shenandoah 1
- Tipton 1
- West Burlington 1
Pawn shop listings: © Overture Maps Foundation (CDLA-Permissive 2.0), including Foursquare OS Places and © OpenStreetMap contributors; filtered and de-duplicated by us. Population, income and poverty: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. Call ahead to confirm hours and what a shop buys or lends on.