Payday Lending by the Numbers: Which States are Dominating in 2023?

Published: February 16, 2023
By the Pachyy Editorial Team
The Pachyy Editorial Team comprises a diverse and experienced team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts whose aim is to provide you with useful insights, guidance and commentary on all matters related to your personal finances.

There are over 20,000 payday lenders across 32 states in the US, but the size of the industry can vary significantly from state to state. To shed light on this, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list on the number of payday lenders across each state in 2023.

States with the Most Payday Lenders?

California has the highest number of payday lenders in the United States, with over 2,000 locations. Texas follows in second place with 1,675, and Ohio comes in third with 1,374. Below is a ranking of the states by the number of payday lenders in 2023:

  1. California – 2,451
  2. Texas – 1,675
  3. Ohio – 1,374
  4. Tennessee – 1,344
  5. Missouri – 1,257
  6. Alabama – 1,177
  7. Florida – 1,164
  8. Mississippi – 1,100
  9. Louisiana – 1,009
  10. South Carolina – 902
  11. Virginia – 743
  12. Illinois – 727
  13. Washington – 713
  14. Kentucky – 707
  15. Michigan – 650
  16. Oregon – 453
  17. Wisconsin – 439
  18. Utah – 427
  19. Iowa – 412
  20. Oklahoma – 397
  21. Nevada – 256
  22. Idaho – 196
  23. Indiana – 117
  24. Kansas – 100
  25. Delaware – 82
  26. Wyoming – 77
  27. North Dakota – 76
  28. Minnesota – 55
  29. Hawaii – 26
  30. Alaska – 22
  31. Maine – 6
  32. Rhode Island – 5

States With the Most Payday Lenders per Person

Mississippi has the highest number of payday lenders per capita, with 37.41 lenders per 100,000 people, followed by Alabama with 23.20 and Louisiana with 21.98. Below is a complete list of the number of payday lenders per 100,000 people in each US state:

  1. Mississippi – 37.41
  2. Alabama – 23.20
  3. Louisiana – 21.98
  4. Missouri – 20.35
  5. Tennessee – 19.06
  6. South Carolina – 17.07
  7. Kentucky – 15.67
  8. Wyoming – 13.24
  9. Iowa – 12.87
  10. Utah – 12.63
  11. Ohio – 11.69
  12. Oregon – 10.68
  13. Idaho – 10.11
  14. Oklahoma – 9.88
  15. North Dakota – 9.75
  16. Washington – 9.16
  17. Virginia – 8.56
  18. Nevada – 8.06
  19. Delaware – 8.05
  20. Wisconsin – 7.45
  21. Michigan – 6.48
  22. California – 6.28
  23. Illinois – 5.78
  24. Texas – 5.58
  25. Florida – 5.23
  26. Kansas – 3.40
  27. Alaska – 3.00
  28. Hawaii – 1.81
  29. Indiana – 1.71
  30. Minnesota – 0.96
  31. Rhode Island – 0.46
  32. Maine – 0.43