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 Louisiana
149 pawn shops in 54 cities and towns across Louisiana. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
Louisiana has about 4,620,578 residents, so that's 3.2 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 5.0 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in Louisiana.
- Pawn shops
- 149
- Cities & towns
- 54
- Pawn shops per 100k
- 3.2
- Loan stores
- 232
- List a phone
- 99.3%
- Have a website
- 82.6%
Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in Louisiana
Louisiana has 232 payday, installment and title loan stores but only 149 pawn shops.
Pawn shops
149
3.2 per 100k residents
Payday & loan stores
232
5.0 per 100k residents
10 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in Louisiana: Security Finance (55), ACE Cash Express (41), 1st Franklin Financial (37), OneMain Financial (28), Advance America (25).
Borrowing $350 for one month: payday vs pawn vs credit union
| Option | How it works | Cost for one month |
|---|---|---|
| Payday loan (~780% APR) | $68.62 fee every 2 weeks, renewed once | $137.24 |
| Pawn loan (example: 20% a month) | You leave an item worth more than the loan; repay to get it back | $70.00 |
| Credit union PAL (28% APR + $20 fee) | Repaid in installments; membership required | $28.17 |
- Payday cost, share of monthly household income in Louisiana
- 2.6%
- Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in Louisiana
- 1.3%
- A $400 emergency equals
- 2.3 days of income
Payday: the LA maximum — $68.62 on a $350 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 Louisiana 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 LA | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Louisiana | Pawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by Louisiana; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law | Allowed, up to $350; typical APR ~780% |
Pawn shops by city in Louisiana
Where pawn shops cluster in Louisiana
Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 3.2 per 100k, median income $62,722.
| City | Pawn shops | Per 100k people | Median income | Poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Monroe | 6 | 10.5 | $62,249 | 16.4% |
| Bossier City | 6 | 7.9 | $63,590 | 17.3% |
| New Iberia | 4 | 7.0 | $57,053 | 22.4% |
| Gretna | 4 | 6.8 | $56,802 | 20.9% |
| Hammond | 3 | 5.5 | $50,733 | 26.4% |
| Slidell | 5 | 5.3 | $74,788 | 14.3% |
| Lafayette | 8 | 5.1 | $67,856 | 18.5% |
| Metairie | 7 | 5.1 | $74,399 | 12.8% |
| Houma | 4 | 4.9 | $66,407 | 17.4% |
| Shreveport | 10 | 4.8 | $54,071 | 22.4% |
| Covington | 3 | 4.7 | $80,022 | 10.3% |
| Kenner | 3 | 4.5 | $63,076 | 14.3% |
| Lake Charles | 5 | 3.7 | $70,381 | 19.0% |
| Baton Rouge | 14 | 3.6 | $63,143 | 20.2% |
| Marrero | 2 | 3.6 | $55,866 | 19.3% |
Pawn shop chains in Louisiana
27 of the 149 pawn shops in Louisiana belong to a big chain; the rest are independent.
- Cash America Pawn 25
- EZPAWN 1
- USA Pawn 1
Pawn shops in smaller towns of Louisiana
Other cities and towns in Louisiana with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.
- Abbeville 1
- Baker 2
- Bastrop 1
- Bogalusa 4
- Chalmette 2
- Coushatta 1
- Crowley 1
- Deridder 1
- Eunice 1
- Gonzales 2
- Harvey 4
- Jennings 1
- Jonesboro 1
- Kentwood 1
- La Place 2
- Leesville 2
- Mandeville 1
- Many 1
- Marksville 1
- Minden 2
- Morgan City 1
- Natchitoches 1
- Oak Grove 1
- Oakdale 1
- Opelousas 2
- Pineville 1
- Ponchatoula 1
- Robert 1
- Ruston 1
- Sulphur 3
- Vidalia 1
- Ville Platte 2
- Walker 1
- Winnfield 1
- Zachary 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.