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 Missouri
188 pawn shops in 84 cities and towns across Missouri. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
Missouri has about 6,168,379 residents, so that's 3.0 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 4.9 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in Missouri.
- Pawn shops
- 188
- Cities & towns
- 84
- Pawn shops per 100k
- 3.0
- Loan stores
- 302
- List a phone
- 97.3%
- Have a website
- 75.5%
Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in Missouri
Missouri has 302 payday, installment and title loan stores but only 188 pawn shops.
Pawn shops
188
3.0 per 100k residents
Payday & loan stores
302
4.9 per 100k residents
13 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in Missouri: TitleMax (57), Security Finance (45), Sun Loan Company (34), Advance America (32), OneMain Financial (29).
Borrowing $500 for one month: payday vs pawn vs credit union
| Option | How it works | Cost for one month |
|---|---|---|
| Payday loan (~462% APR) | $75.00 fee every 2 weeks, renewed once | $150.00 |
| 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 Missouri
- 2.4%
- Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in Missouri
- 1.6%
- A $400 emergency equals
- 2.0 days of income
Payday: a typical fee of $75 on a $500 loan for 2 weeks, paid twice for a one-month loan (Missouri payday rules are not set in dollars or payday loans are not allowed). Pawn: an example rate of 20% a month; pawn fees and interest are set by Missouri 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.
Pawn loan vs payday loan: the key differences
| Pawn loan | Payday loan in MO | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Missouri | Pawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by Missouri; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law | Allowed, up to $500; typical APR ~462% |
Pawn shops by city in Missouri
Where pawn shops cluster in Missouri
Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 3.0 per 100k, median income $73,651.
| City | Pawn shops | Per 100k people | Median income | Poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin | 6 | 8.2 | $56,764 | 15.8% |
| Jefferson City | 5 | 7.1 | $73,102 | 9.7% |
| Springfield | 12 | 5.1 | $56,472 | 17.0% |
| Independence | 5 | 3.9 | $60,969 | 15.0% |
| Kansas City | 20 | 3.3 | $74,544 | 13.9% |
| Saint Charles | 4 | 2.8 | $97,683 | 5.2% |
| Saint Louis | 25 | 2.8 | $75,419 | 14.1% |
| Saint Joseph | 2 | 2.4 | $58,931 | 17.0% |
| Wentzville | 1 | 2.0 | $111,851 | 4.9% |
| Columbia | 3 | 1.9 | $66,332 | 19.8% |
| Blue Springs | 1 | 1.7 | $82,632 | 7.1% |
| Saint Peters | 1 | 1.3 | $94,921 | 4.5% |
Pawn shop chains in Missouri
23 of the 188 pawn shops in Missouri belong to a big chain; the rest are independent.
- Cash America Pawn 18
- First Cash Pawn 3
- Pawn Plus 1
- EZPAWN 1
Pawn shops in smaller towns of Missouri
Other cities and towns in Missouri with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.
- Alton 1
- Arnold 2
- Aurora 1
- Ava 2
- Boonville 1
- Bowling Green 1
- Branson 2
- Braymer 1
- Camdenton 1
- Cameron 2
- Cape Girardeau 2
- Carthage 1
- Caruthersville 1
- Cassville 2
- Cedar Hill 1
- Chillicothe 1
- Cole Camp 1
- De Soto 1
- Eagle Rock 1
- Farmington 1
- Fenton 1
- Festus 1
- Forsyth 1
- Fredericktown 1
- Granby 1
- Grandview 1
- Hannibal 1
- Harrisonville 2
- Hazelwood 2
- Houston 2
- Kennett 2
- Lake Ozark 1
- Lebanon 2
- Licking 1
- Malden 2
- Marshfield 3
- Maryville 2
- Mexico 1
- Moberly 1
- Monett 1
- Mountain View 4
- Neosho 2
- Nevada 1
- Nixa 2
- Odessa 1
- Otterville 1
- Ozark 2
- Park Hills 1
- Perryville 1
- Piedmont 1
- Polo 1
- Poplar Bluff 2
- Portageville 1
- Potosi 1
- Reeds Spring 1
- Republic 1
- Rogersville 1
- Rolla 1
- Saint Robert 1
- Salem 1
- Sedalia 3
- Seligman 1
- Sikeston 2
- Taylor 4
- Troy 1
- Van Buren 1
- Warrensburg 1
- Warrenton 1
- Washington 2
- Webb City 1
- West Plains 3
- Windsor 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.