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 New Jersey
72 pawn shops in 55 cities and towns across New Jersey. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
New Jersey has about 9,267,014 residents, so that's 0.8 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 0.6 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in New Jersey.
- Pawn shops
- 72
- Cities & towns
- 55
- Pawn shops per 100k
- 0.8
- Loan stores
- 52
- List a phone
- 98.6%
- Have a website
- 90.3%
Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in New Jersey
New Jersey has 72 pawn shops and 52 payday, installment and title loan stores.
Pawn shops
72
0.8 per 100k residents
Payday & loan stores
52
0.6 per 100k residents
4 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in New Jersey: OneMain Financial (29), loanDepot (9), Mariner Finance (9), Oportun (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 New Jersey) | $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 New Jersey
- 1.6%
- Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in New Jersey
- 1.1%
- A $400 emergency equals
- 1.3 days of income
Payday: a typical fee of $75 on a $500 loan for 2 weeks, paid twice for a one-month loan (New Jersey 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 New Jersey 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 NJ | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 New Jersey | Pawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by New Jersey; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law | Storefront payday loans are not allowed in New Jersey |
Pawn shops by city in New Jersey
Where pawn shops cluster in New Jersey
Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 0.8 per 100k, median income $109,319.
| City | Pawn shops | Per 100k people | Median income | Poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vineland | 3 | 4.8 | $74,593 | 14.0% |
| Perth Amboy | 2 | 3.4 | $60,464 | 19.2% |
| Cherry Hill | 2 | 2.6 | $128,331 | 7.4% |
| Toms River | 3 | 2.3 | $84,496 | 7.1% |
| Clifton | 2 | 2.3 | $96,981 | 7.5% |
| Bloomfield | 1 | 1.9 | $98,805 | 8.8% |
| Edison | 2 | 1.9 | $130,965 | 5.4% |
| New Brunswick | 1 | 1.8 | $60,248 | 31.6% |
| Union | 1 | 1.8 | $118,106 | 6.2% |
| Irvington | 1 | 1.7 | $59,232 | 18.1% |
| Union City | 1 | 1.5 | $65,369 | 21.3% |
| Passaic | 1 | 1.4 | $56,780 | 23.0% |
| Jersey City | 4 | 1.4 | $98,626 | 15.7% |
| Plainfield | 1 | 1.3 | $79,940 | 16.2% |
| Paterson | 2 | 1.3 | $54,823 | 23.7% |
Pawn shops in smaller towns of New Jersey
Other cities and towns in New Jersey with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.
- Atlantic City 2
- Beachwood 1
- Berlin 1
- Clementon 1
- East Brunswick 1
- East Hanover 1
- Forked River 1
- Glassboro 1
- Gloucester City 1
- Hackettstown 1
- Hammonton 1
- Kenilworth 1
- Keyport 2
- Lawrence Township 1
- Long Branch 1
- Matawan 1
- Middlesex 1
- Millstone Township 2
- Moorestown 1
- Oakhurst 1
- Paramus 1
- Pleasantville 2
- Riverton 1
- Saddle Brook 1
- Scotch Plains 1
- Shrewsbury 1
- Somerdale 1
- Somerville 1
- South Amboy 1
- Utica 1
- Villas 1
- West Berlin 1
- West Orange 1
- Westville 1
- Wharton 1
- Woodbury 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.