California's licensed payday lenders made 5,772,939 loans totaling $1.63 billion to 878,317 customers in 2025, at an average annual percentage rate of 362%. The average loan was $251 and lasted 16 days. Seven in ten loans (70.39%) were a repeat loan to someone who had borrowed before, and almost half of those repeat loans (48.60%) were taken out the same day the previous loan was paid off.
These figures come from the annual report that California's financial regulator compiles from data filed by licensed payday lenders. They are among the few official numbers anywhere on how much payday loans cost and how often people reborrow.
What changed
Lending was nearly flat in 2025: the number of loans fell 1.59% and the dollar amount 1.42% from 2024, and customers fell 1.24%. The long-term change is much larger. In 2016 lenders made 11,502,397 loans to 1,796,515 customers, so the number of loans has fallen by about half, and the number of licensed locations has dropped from 1,854 to 578. Lending fell sharply in 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic, and partly recovered from 2022. More than half of all loans (54.54%) are now made online.
The cost of the product has barely moved. The average APR has stayed between 353% and 377% every year since 2016, because California law sets the fee as a share of the check. Returned checks have risen as a share of loans, from 6.72% in 2016 to 10.56% in 2025.
California payday lending by year
| Year | Payday loans | Amount lent | Customers | Loans per customer | Average loan | Average APR | Licensed locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5,772,939 | $1.63B | 878,317 | 6.57 | $251 | 362% | 578 |
| 2024 | 5,866,215 | $1.65B | 889,363 | 6.60 | $252 | 364% | 600 |
| 2023 | 5,664,584 | $1.59B | 885,573 | 6.40 | $250 | 367% | 631 |
| 2022 | 5,359,132 | $1.51B | 900,334 | 5.95 | $251 | 364% | 719 |
| 2021 | 4,526,338 | $1.26B | 790,143 | 5.73 | $245 | 353% | 834 |
| 2020 | 6,084,434 | $1.68B | 1,128,211 | 5.39 | $247 | 361% | 1,121 |
| 2019 | 10,181,247 | $2.82B | 1,612,593 | 6.31 | $250 | 369% | 1,551 |
| 2018 | 10,233,292 | $2.82B | 1,622,021 | 6.31 | $250 | 376% | 1,645 |
| 2017 | 10,734,226 | $2.94B | 1,688,719 | 6.36 | $250 | 377% | 1,705 |
| 2016 | 11,502,397 | $3.14B | 1,796,515 | 6.40 | $251 | 372% | 1,854 |
Loans per customer is our calculation. Repeat customers are counted once a year. Prior-year figures are as revised in the 2025 report because of late filings.
Repeat borrowing and fees in 2025
| 2025 measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Loans that were a repeat loan by the same borrower | 70.39% of loans; 81.16% of dollars |
| Repeat loans taken the same day the previous loan was repaid | 48.60% |
| Repeat loans taken 1 to 7 days later | 29.58% |
| Customers who took one loan | 23.05% |
| Customers who took 10 or more loans | 26.83% |
| Fees charged on 2025 loans | about $241 million |
| Share of fees from customers with 7 or more loans | 75.41% ($181.9 million) |
| Loans made online | 54.54% of loans; 533,746 customers |
| Checks returned unpaid | 609,368 (10.56% of loans) |
| Checks charged off | 133,404 (2.31% of loans), $34.9 million |
| Customers with average annual income of $30,000 or less | 27% |
Why it matters
A 362% APR is how a 15% fee looks when it is charged on a loan of about two weeks. For one loan, the dollar cost is modest: about $45 on a $300 check. The cost grows when people reborrow. Three-quarters of the fees lenders collected in 2025 came from customers who took out seven or more loans during the year, and about a quarter of customers took 10 or more.
What you can do
- Under California law, a payday loan check can be no more than $300, the fee no more than 15% of the check, and the term no more than 31 days. Lenders must be licensed by the DFPI. You can look up a lender and file a complaint at dfpi.ca.gov.
- Before borrowing, ask about cheaper alternatives: a payday alternative loan from a credit union, a payment plan with the bill you are trying to pay, or an employer pay advance.
- If you are taking a new loan to pay off the last one, ask the lender about a payment plan. California lenders reported arranging 309,434 payment plans in 2025.
- Count the total fees you would pay over several loans, not just one.
What these numbers are
The report covers lenders licensed under the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law; 81 of the 82 licensees filed in time to be included. The data are reported by the lenders and are not audited. The DFPI's average APR is a simple average of the APRs reported by each licensee, not weighted by loan volume. Survey-based figures in Part II of the report, such as repeat borrowing and fees, may not match Part I exactly because of differences in lenders' systems.
Source
California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, Annual Report of Payday Lending Activity Under the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law, 2025 (published July 2026), Tables 1 to 6 and survey results, retrieved October 20, 2026. Figures are reported as published by the DFPI. Our table is available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "California Payday Loans: Volume, APR and Repeat Borrowing, 2016-2025," My Credit Guide, October 20, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/california-payday-loans/.