Personal loan APR caps, by state.

We catalogued the APR caps that materially constrain offers on unsecured consumer personal loans (typically $500 to $50,000, terms 3 to 72 months) for borrowers in each state and DC.

Caps were sourced from state banking-department and attorney-general publications, with cross-references to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's database of state consumer-credit laws. Where a state has multiple cap regimes (different rules for amounts under and over a threshold, for example), we report the cap that applies to the modal personal-loan use case in our partner network: a $5,000 to $15,000 unsecured installment loan with a 36 to 60 month term.

We do not use anonymised lead data for this study. Our marketplace currently routes leads to partner lenders rather than originating loans directly, so we don't yet have a representative sample of actual approved APRs to disclose. When that sample is large enough to be statistically meaningful, we plan to publish a paired data study showing accepted APR by state and credit tier.

State law changes. The data on this page reflects rules in effect as of the last review date. Always consult the relevant state regulator (linked on each state-specific page) for authoritative current rules.

Two borrowers with identical credit profiles can get materially different offers based on their state. A 620-FICO borrower in Texas might see APRs from 22% to 32.99%. The same borrower in California will see a narrower range topped out by the 36% statutory ceiling, but with fewer participating lenders. In Arkansas, the 17% constitutional cap pushes most subprime lenders out of the market entirely.

Cap regimes don't unambiguously help borrowers. A strict cap reduces the maximum interest you can be charged, but it also reduces the number of lenders willing to make a loan to a borderline applicant. The empirical evidence on net welfare is mixed; CFPB research generally finds caps below 36% materially constrict credit access while caps at 36% or above mainly affect payday-style products without sharply limiting personal-loan access.

The Military Lending Act applies a 36% Military APR ceiling for active-duty service members and their dependents regardless of state. That MAPR includes interest, fees, and certain credit-insurance premiums, so its effective bite can be tighter than a 36% state cap on interest alone.