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 North Carolina
375 pawn shops in 143 cities and towns across North Carolina. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
North Carolina has about 10,584,400 residents, so that's 3.5 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 2.2 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in North Carolina.
- Pawn shops
- 375
- Cities & towns
- 143
- Pawn shops per 100k
- 3.5
- Loan stores
- 231
- List a phone
- 94.9%
- Have a website
- 77.6%
Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in North Carolina
North Carolina has 375 pawn shops and 231 payday, installment and title loan stores.
Pawn shops
375
3.5 per 100k residents
Payday & loan stores
231
2.2 per 100k residents
5 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in North Carolina: OneMain Financial (88), Lendmark Financial Services (65), Mariner Finance (39), ACE Cash Express (34), loanDepot (5).
Borrowing $500 for one month: payday vs pawn vs credit union
| Option | How it works | Cost for one month |
|---|---|---|
| Payday loan (not legal in North Carolina) | $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 North Carolina
- 2.4%
- Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in North Carolina
- 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 (North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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 NC | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 North Carolina | Pawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by North Carolina; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law | Storefront payday loans are not allowed in North Carolina |
Pawn shops by city in North Carolina
- Winston Salem · 21
- Charlotte · 20
- Greensboro · 20
- Wilmington · 13
- Fayetteville · 12
- Raleigh · 11
- Durham · 10
- High Point · 9
- Gastonia · 8
- Asheville · 7
- Burlington · 7
- Concord · 7
- Greenville · 6
- Hendersonville · 6
- Hickory · 6
- Jacksonville · 6
- Asheboro · 5
- Rocky Mount · 5
- Salisbury · 5
- Sanford · 5
- Garner · 4
- Kannapolis · 4
- Monroe · 4
- New Bern · 4
- Shelby · 4
- Kernersville · 3
- Goldsboro · 2
- Mooresville · 2
- Morganton · 2
- Wilson · 2
- Clayton · 1
- Matthews · 1
- Statesville · 1
- Wake Forest · 1
Where pawn shops cluster in North Carolina
Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 3.5 per 100k, median income $74,061.
| City | Pawn shops | Per 100k people | Median income | Poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asheboro | 5 | 8.5 | $57,394 | 15.9% |
| Hendersonville | 6 | 8.3 | $64,403 | 13.6% |
| Burlington | 7 | 8.1 | $59,216 | 15.9% |
| Winston Salem | 21 | 7.6 | $60,415 | 16.9% |
| Shelby | 4 | 7.5 | $54,492 | 17.2% |
| Hickory | 6 | 7.3 | $63,629 | 14.0% |
| Garner | 4 | 7.2 | $86,426 | 8.2% |
| Rocky Mount | 5 | 7.2 | $54,251 | 18.5% |
| High Point | 9 | 7.2 | $60,277 | 14.7% |
| Gastonia | 8 | 7.1 | $64,978 | 14.4% |
| Kannapolis | 4 | 7.0 | $64,910 | 13.9% |
| Sanford | 5 | 6.6 | $66,323 | 13.8% |
| Wilmington | 13 | 6.1 | $74,239 | 12.6% |
| Jacksonville | 6 | 6.1 | $61,019 | 13.0% |
| Greensboro | 20 | 6.0 | $64,254 | 17.3% |
Pawn shop chains in North Carolina
28 of the 375 pawn shops in North Carolina belong to a big chain; the rest are independent.
- Cash America Pawn 16
- First Cash Pawn 8
- USA Pawn 2
- Pawn Plus 2
Pawn shops in smaller towns of North Carolina
Other cities and towns in North Carolina with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.
- Ahoskie 1
- Albemarle 2
- Angier 1
- Arden 1
- Ayden 1
- Belmont 1
- Benson 1
- Black Mountain 1
- Bladenboro 1
- Boonville 1
- Bridgeton 1
- Bryson City 1
- Burnsville 1
- Canton 1
- Chadbourn 1
- Cherokee 2
- Cherryville 1
- China Grove 1
- Clemmons 1
- Clinton 1
- Conover 2
- Deep Gap 1
- Denver 2
- Dunn 1
- Eden 2
- Elizabeth City 2
- Elizabethtown 1
- Elkin 1
- Etowah 1
- Farmville 1
- Forest City 3
- Franklin 2
- Gibsonville 1
- Granite Falls 1
- Hampstead 1
- Havelock 3
- Haw River 1
- Henderson 1
- Hildebran 1
- Hope Mills 3
- Kill Devil Hills 1
- King 1
- Kings Mountain 1
- Kinston 1
- Knightdale 1
- Landis 1
- Lansing 1
- Laurinburg 3
- Leland 1
- Lenoir 2
- Lillington 1
- Lincolnton 1
- Locust 2
- Lumberton 5
- Madison 1
- Marion 1
- Midland 1
- Millers Creek 1
- Mocksville 1
- Morehead City 1
- Mount Airy 1
- Mount Holly 1
- Mount Olive 1
- Mount Pleasant 1
- Moyock 1
- Murphy 1
- Newton 1
- North Wilkesboro 3
- Norwood 1
- Ocean Isle Beach 1
- Pembroke 1
- Pinetops 1
- Ramseur 2
- Randleman 2
- Red Springs 1
- Reidsville 3
- Richlands 1
- Roanoke Rapids 4
- Rockingham 3
- Roxboro 1
- Selma 2
- Shallotte 1
- Smithfield 1
- Sneads Ferry 1
- Southern Pines 1
- Southport 1
- Spindale 1
- Spring Lake 3
- Spruce Pine 1
- Swansboro 1
- Sylva 1
- Tabor City 1
- Tarboro 2
- Thomasville 3
- Troutman 1
- Troy 1
- Valdese 1
- Wadesboro 1
- Walkertown 1
- Wallace 2
- Walnut Cove 1
- Washington 2
- Waynesville 1
- Weaverville 1
- West Jefferson 1
- Whiteville 2
- Williamston 1
- Winterville 2
- Yadkinville 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.