Loan amounts · State law
How much do you need?
The same payday amount has 51 different legal price tags. Pick a size and see what the state fee schedules make it cost — where it is legal, where it is capped below that size, and where it is not permitted at all.
Pick an amount
Every payday size from $100 to $1,000
Each page below applies every state's statutory fee schedule to one loan size. Totals are exact where the state fixes the fee by law; where pricing is set by contract, the table says so instead of inventing a number.
25 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $15–$30
25 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $25–$43.5
25 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $35–$60.25
23 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $45–$80
23 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $55–$100
9 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $76–$120
8 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $95–$140
7 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $160
7 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $180
7 of 51 jurisdictions allow it
statutory fee $200
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How the math works
Every state that permits storefront payday lending publishes its fee schedule in statute: a flat rate per $100 (Mississippi: $20), a tiered ladder that gets cheaper per dollar as you borrow more (Michigan: $15 on the first $100 down to $11 on the fifth and sixth), or a 36% APR ceiling that prices classic payday fees out of the market. For the 18 states with an explicit schedule we compute the exact fee for each amount; the formulas were checked against each state's official worked example and match to the cent.
Where pricing is contract-based — Texas's CSO model, or states with no fee cap — no total is invented: the table shows the statutory rule and, at $300, the state's official typical example. APR is deliberately left off these tables because the same fee is a different APR at a 14-day and a 31-day term; every state page carries the official APR example for its standard loan.
Figures are legal ceilings, not offers. Dataset refreshed September 2026; each state page links its governing statute so you can check us against it.
Before you borrow
Cheaper than borrowing
Whatever the amount, three options that usually cost less:
Credit union PAL
Federal credit unions offer Payday Alternative Loans of $200–$2,000 at a federal 28% APR ceiling — a fraction of storefront pricing, with terms up to 12 months.
A payment plan
Utilities, hospitals, landlords and many creditors grant payment plans or hardship extensions, usually free. A due date you can actually meet beats any loan.
Nonprofit credit counseling
Agencies affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling review budgets and negotiate with creditors at little or no cost.
Questions people ask about loan amounts
How much can a payday loan legally cost?
It depends on the state, because each legislature sets its own fee schedule. Where the fee is fixed by statute, the published rates run roughly $10–$22.50 per $100 borrowed — plus small flat documentation or database fees in a few states. Each amount page below turns those schedules into an exact total for a specific loan size.
Which amount should I compare first?
$300. It is the most common payday loan size, and every state record in our dataset carries an official $300 worked example — so it is the one amount you can compare across all 51 jurisdictions like for like.
Why does the same amount cost different amounts in different states?
There is no national payday price. Each state caps what a lender may charge — a flat fee per $100, a tiered schedule, or a 36% APR ceiling that prices classic payday fees out entirely — and 13 states prohibit the product altogether. The same $300 loan ranges from $35 to $60 in fees between states where it is legal.
Are these lender offers?
No. Every figure is the legal fee ceiling from the state statute — the most a compliant lender may charge, not a promotion. Where payday lending is legal and an offer looks right, you can compare it against the partner network through our application form.
LendMap USA is an information platform, not a lender: amounts and costs here are legal ceilings computed from state statutes, not offers of credit.