The same $300 advance can cost you $31 in one state and $90 in another — and be illegal in 13 more. That spread is entirely a matter of state law, not lender generosity. So we computed it: for every jurisdiction this site covers, the table below shows what a typical $300 advance costs under that state’s published rules — the fee, the total repayment, and the annualized APR — with the statute and regulator behind each number one click away.
How We Computed the Numbers
Three rules, applied identically to all 38 states:
- The fee comes from the state formula. Where law says “$17.50 per $100,” a $300 advance carries $52.50. Where the regime is percentage-based with fixed add-ons (Florida’s 10% + $5 verification fee), we computed both parts.
- The total is principal plus that fee — nothing else. No late fees, no rollovers, no optional products. The clean, single-cycle cost.
- The APR annualizes the fee over the state’s typical term. A flat fee looks small in dollars and enormous annualized; we show both, because the APR is how you compare across products and the dollar figure is what actually leaves your account.
Where a state caps rates at ~36% APR (the Fairness-in-Lending group), a classic two-week $300 advance is not legally offerable at legacy payday pricing — those rows say so, and the real product there is a short installment structure. Texas licenses brokers (CABs) rather than capping lenders directly, so its figure is the typical broker example.
What a $300 Advance Costs in Every State We Cover
| State | Max loan | Fee on $300 | Total repaid | Approx. APR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $500 | $52.50 | $352.50 | ~456% |
| Alaska | $500 | $50 | $350 | ~435% |
| California | $300 (Max Check Amount) | $45 | $345 | ~460% |
| Colorado | $500 | $8.88 | $308.88 | Max 36% |
| Delaware | $1,000 | $45 | $345 | ~391% - ~520% |
| Florida | $500 | $35 | $335 | ~304% |
| Hawaii | N/A | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Idaho | $1,000 | $60 | $360 | ~521% |
| Illinois | N/A | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Indiana | $550 | $44 | $344 | ~382% |
| Iowa | $500 | $35 | $335 | ~304% |
| Kansas | $500 | $45 | $345 | ~391% |
| Kentucky | $500 | $46 | $346 | ~400% |
| Louisiana | $350 | $60.25 | $360.25 | ~523% |
| Maine | N/A | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Michigan | $600 | $42 | $342 | ~365% |
| Minnesota | $350 | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Mississippi | $500 | $60 | $360 | ~521% |
| Missouri | $500 | $45 | $345 | ~443% |
| Montana | N/A | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Nebraska | $500 | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Nevada | 25% of gross monthly income | $45 | $345 | ~652% |
| New Hampshire | N/A | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| New Mexico | $10,000 | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| North Dakota | $500 | $60 | $360 | ~521% |
| Ohio | $1,000 | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Oklahoma | $500 | $45 | $345 | ~391% |
| Oregon | $500 | $39.17 | $339.17 | ~154% |
| Rhode Island | $500 | $45 | $345 | ~391% |
| South Carolina | $550 | $45 | $345 | ~391% |
| South Dakota | $500 | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Tennessee | $500 | $45 | $345 | ~459% |
| Texas | No Cap | $60 | $360 | ~400% - ~600% |
| Utah | No Cap | $45 | $345 | ~521% - ~652% |
| Virginia | $2,500 | APR-capped structure | installment schedule | Max 36% |
| Washington | $700 or 30% of gross monthly income | $45 | $345 | ~391% |
| Wisconsin | $1,500 or 35% of gross monthly income | $60 | $360 | ~516% - ~574% |
| Wyoming | No Cap | $60 | $360 | ~521% |
Three Things the Table Makes Obvious
The regulation is the price. Nothing else explains a 3x spread on an identical loan. If you live near a state border — and tens of millions of Americans do — the same emergency costs less on one side of it. We don’t recommend crossing state lines to borrow (your state’s consumer protections travel with residency, not geography), but the table explains why the payday industry concentrates where caps are loose.
The dollar fee is smaller than the APR suggests — and that’s the trap in reverse. $52.50 for three weeks of breathing room sounds trivial until you notice it’s ~456% annualized. Both numbers are honest descriptions of the same loan; the APR tells you why rolling it over monthly is catastrophic ($52.50 repeated twelve times is $630 a year for the same $300), while the flat fee tells you what one clean cycle costs.
The 36%-cap states changed the product, not just the price. In Colorado, Ohio and their siblings, the loan you’re offered at a payday-store URL is now a short installment loan — lower APR, smaller relative fees, stricter affordability checks. If your state is in that group, expect a payment schedule, not a single debit.
What To Do With This Table
- Know your row before you borrow. Open your state’s page for the full legal detail — statute, regulator, rollover rules, rescission rights — and the same cost math at the state’s minimum loan size.
- Compare structures, not lenders. If your state’s row looks expensive, the answer isn’t a cheaper storefront — it’s a different product: credit-union alternatives, or an installment loan spread over months.
- Check our work. Every figure traces to a published statute or regulator page, all linked from each state row and summarized in our rates and fees table. If you spot a discrepancy with your regulator’s current publication, our contact page goes straight to the editors — we correct and re-date.
Methodology & Sources
Computed from state statutes and regulator publications as of September 2026: Alabama State Banking Department (Ala. Code § 5-18A-1), California DFPI (Cal. Fin. Code § 23000), Texas OCCC (Tex. Fin. Code Ch. 393), Ohio Division of Financial Institutions (R.C. § 1321.35), and equivalents for every row — each linked on its state page. APR examples annualize short-term fees over the state’s typical term; they describe the cost of time, not a yearly bill. Figures reviewed by Marcus Bell.