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 South Carolina
168 pawn shops in 72 cities and towns across South Carolina. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
South Carolina has about 5,212,774 residents, so that's 3.2 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 7.6 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in South Carolina.
- Pawn shops
- 168
- Cities & towns
- 72
- Pawn shops per 100k
- 3.2
- Loan stores
- 398
- List a phone
- 97.6%
- Have a website
- 73.8%
Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in South Carolina
South Carolina has 398 payday, installment and title loan stores but only 168 pawn shops.
Pawn shops
168
3.2 per 100k residents
Payday & loan stores
398
7.6 per 100k residents
13 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in South Carolina: TitleMax (79), Security Finance (76), Advance America (46), OneMain Financial (45), 1st Franklin Financial (43).
Borrowing $500 for one month: payday vs pawn vs credit union
| Option | How it works | Cost for one month |
|---|---|---|
| Payday loan (~391% 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 South Carolina
- 2.6%
- Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in South Carolina
- 1.7%
- A $400 emergency equals
- 2.1 days of income
Payday: the SC maximum — $75 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 South 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. Income: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
Pawn loan vs payday loan: the key differences
| Pawn loan | Payday loan in SC | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 South Carolina | Pawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by South Carolina; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law | Allowed, up to $500; typical APR ~391% |
Pawn shops by city in South Carolina
- Columbia · 15
- Greenville · 10
- Charleston · 8
- Myrtle Beach · 8
- Anderson · 7
- Florence · 7
- Spartanburg · 7
- Sumter · 6
- Rock Hill · 5
- Greenwood · 4
- North Charleston · 4
- Conway · 3
- Goose Creek · 3
- Lexington · 3
- Summerville · 3
- Beaufort · 2
- Easley · 2
- Lancaster · 2
- Simpsonville · 2
- West Columbia · 2
- Aiken · 1
- Bluffton · 1
- Greer · 1
- Mount Pleasant · 1
Where pawn shops cluster in South Carolina
Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 3.2 per 100k, median income $69,406.
| City | Pawn shops | Per 100k people | Median income | Poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florence | 7 | 7.6 | $61,793 | 17.8% |
| Greenwood | 4 | 7.4 | $48,611 | 16.7% |
| Sumter | 6 | 7.2 | $55,908 | 14.9% |
| Anderson | 7 | 7.0 | $59,984 | 16.4% |
| Spartanburg | 7 | 5.9 | $55,526 | 20.3% |
| North Charleston | 4 | 5.3 | $61,687 | 14.2% |
| Goose Creek | 3 | 5.1 | $80,778 | 6.9% |
| Myrtle Beach | 8 | 4.6 | $66,179 | 12.0% |
| Columbia | 15 | 4.3 | $58,909 | 20.5% |
| Greenville | 10 | 4.3 | $63,701 | 14.9% |
| Rock Hill | 5 | 4.3 | $71,533 | 11.3% |
| Lancaster | 2 | 3.9 | $59,039 | 17.4% |
| Charleston | 8 | 3.8 | $84,177 | 13.7% |
| West Columbia | 2 | 3.8 | $63,086 | 13.0% |
| Conway | 3 | 3.7 | $61,633 | 16.2% |
Pawn shop chains in South Carolina
14 of the 168 pawn shops in South Carolina belong to a big chain; the rest are independent.
- First Cash Pawn 8
- Cash America Pawn 6
Pawn shops in smaller towns of South Carolina
Other cities and towns in South Carolina with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.
- Abbeville 1
- Andrews 1
- Barnwell 1
- Belton 1
- Bennettsville 1
- Boiling Springs 1
- Buffalo 1
- Camden 1
- Chesnee 1
- Clemson 1
- Clinton 1
- Cowpens 1
- Darlington 1
- Dillon 2
- Fountain Inn 1
- Gaffney 3
- Georgetown 1
- Hartsville 1
- Hemingway 1
- Honea Path 1
- Inman 2
- Irmo 1
- Kershaw 1
- Ladson 1
- Lake City 1
- Laurens 2
- Liberty 1
- Little River 3
- Longs 1
- Loris 1
- Lyman 1
- Manning 1
- Moncks Corner 3
- Newberry 1
- North Augusta 1
- North Myrtle Beach 1
- Orangeburg 2
- Pendleton 1
- Pickens 1
- Piedmont 2
- Port Royal 1
- Saluda 1
- Seneca 2
- Taylors 2
- Union 1
- Williamston 1
- Woodruff 1
- York 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.