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 Utah
87 pawn shops in 32 cities and towns across Utah. Pick a city for the full list with addresses and phone numbers, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
Utah has about 3,329,628 residents, so that's 2.6 pawn shops per 100,000 people (U.S.: 2.7). For comparison, there are 3.0 payday, installment and title loan stores per 100,000 people in Utah.
- Pawn shops
- 87
- Cities & towns
- 32
- Pawn shops per 100k
- 2.6
- Loan stores
- 101
- List a phone
- 98.9%
- Have a website
- 87.4%
Pawn shops vs payday loan stores in Utah
Utah has 101 payday, installment and title loan stores but only 87 pawn shops.
Pawn shops
87
2.6 per 100k residents
Payday & loan stores
101
3.0 per 100k residents
11 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in Utah: Check City (31), Security Finance (19), Check 'n Go (14), Dollar Loan Center (13), TitleMax (13).
Borrowing $500 for one month: payday vs pawn vs credit union
| Option | How it works | Cost for one month |
|---|---|---|
| Payday loan (~652%+ 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 Utah
- 1.9%
- Pawn cost, share of monthly household income in Utah
- 1.3%
- A $400 emergency equals
- 1.5 days of income
Payday: a typical fee of $75 on a $500 loan for 2 weeks, paid twice for a one-month loan (Utah 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 Utah 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 UT | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Utah | Pawnbrokers are licensed and regulated by Utah; fees, terms and holding periods are set by state law | Allowed, up to No state limit; typical APR ~652%+ |
Pawn shops by city in Utah
Where pawn shops cluster in Utah
Cities ranked by pawn shops per 100,000 residents, with local median household income and poverty rate. Statewide: 2.6 per 100k, median income $95,410.
| City | Pawn shops | Per 100k people | Median income | Poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar City | 4 | 7.4 | $69,015 | 13.9% |
| Saint George | 7 | 6.9 | $77,563 | 11.1% |
| Tooele | 3 | 5.2 | $102,313 | 4.2% |
| West Valley City | 5 | 3.7 | $86,063 | 12.4% |
| Salt Lake City | 18 | 3.6 | $87,866 | 10.3% |
| Provo | 4 | 3.5 | $63,902 | 23.5% |
| Clearfield | 2 | 2.8 | $92,634 | 9.0% |
| Ogden | 6 | 2.7 | $85,835 | 8.0% |
| Logan | 2 | 2.6 | $65,506 | 19.3% |
| West Jordan | 3 | 2.4 | $104,895 | 6.1% |
| Orem | 2 | 2.1 | $80,913 | 10.3% |
| American Fork | 1 | 1.8 | $120,262 | 5.6% |
| Herriman | 1 | 1.4 | $117,800 | 6.4% |
| Layton | 1 | 1.2 | $99,761 | 7.0% |
Pawn shop chains in Utah
20 of the 87 pawn shops in Utah belong to a big chain; the rest are independent.
- EZPAWN 11
- Cash America Pawn 7
- First Cash Pawn 1
- Pawn Plus 1
Pawn shops in smaller towns of Utah
Other cities and towns in Utah with pawn shops, and the number of shops in each.
- Beaver 1
- Bountiful 3
- Centerfield 1
- Ephraim 1
- Fort Duchesne 1
- Hurricane 2
- Kanab 1
- Lindon 1
- Midvale 3
- Moab 1
- Price 4
- Richfield 1
- Roosevelt 1
- Roy 3
- Salina 1
- Spanish Fork 1
- Vernal 1
- Wendover 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.