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Pawn Shops vs Payday Loans in Texas

1,260 pawn shops in 272 cities and towns across Texas. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.

Texas has about 29,639,686 residents, so that's 4.3 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 5.8 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in Texas.

Pawn shops
1,260
Cities & towns
272
Pawn shops per 100k
4.3
Loan stores
1,720
List a phone
95.9%
Have a website
88.2%

Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in Texas

Texas has 1,720 payday, installment and title loan stores but only 1,260 pawn shops.

Pawn shops

1,260

4.3 per 100k residents

Payday & loan stores

1,720

5.8 per 100k residents

18 store chains

Biggest loan store chains in Texas: TitleMax (242), ACE Cash Express (237), Security Finance (229), Western Shamrock Finance (137), Cash Store (128).

Borrowing $500 for one month: payday vs pawn vs credit union

OptionHow it worksCost for one month
Payday loan (~662%+ 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 Texas
2.2%
Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in Texas
1.5%
A $400 emergency equals
1.8 days of income

Payday: a typical fee of $75 on a $500 loan for 2 weeks, paid twice for a one-month loan (Texas 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 Texas 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 loanPayday loan in TX
What you needAn item of value (jewelry, gold, electronics, tools, firearms) and an IDA bank account, proof of income and an ID
Credit checkNoneUsually none
How much you getA fraction of the item's resale valueBased on your income, up to the state limit
If you can't repayThe shop keeps the item; no collections and no credit damageFees pile up with renewals; the debt can go to collections
Bank account accessNoneLender can debit your account or cash your check
Rules in TexasPawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by Texas; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law Allowed, up to No limit (CSO Model); typical APR ~662%+

Pawn shops by city in Texas

Where pawn shops cluster in Texas

Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 4.3 per 100k, median income $81,963.

City Pawn shops Per 100k people Median income Poverty rate
Pasadena 18 12.4 $62,665 19.7%
Sherman 6 11.2 $62,961 11.2%
Laredo 25 9.4 $61,613 21.1%
Victoria 8 9.3 $72,421 16.1%
Temple 8 8.6 $66,993 16.1%
Brownsville 18 8.5 $50,701 25.2%
Longview 9 8.3 $67,525 16.0%
Killeen 13 8.0 $60,656 16.9%
Corpus Christi 25 7.8 $68,495 17.6%
Alvin 4 7.7 $77,015 8.9%
Mcallen 11 7.7 $61,483 20.2%
Waco 12 7.4 $49,853 23.4%
Harlingen 7 7.3 $58,296 22.7%
Eagle Pass 4 7.0 $52,295 22.8%
Weslaco 5 6.7 $54,817 24.2%

Pawn shop chains in Texas

638 of the 1,260 pawn shops in Texas belong to a big chain; the rest are independent.

Pawn shops in smaller towns of Texas

Other cities and towns in Texas with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.

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.