# The $400 Gap: Same Emergency Loan, $4.60 or $100 — Set by Your State | Big Daddy Loans > The Fed says 37% of U.S. adults can't cover a $400 emergency with cash. We mapped what borrowing that same $400 actually costs — from $5 to $100 in fees depending only on your state. Источник: https://bigdaddy-loans.com/research/the-400-dollar-gap/ --- Original research · Fed SHED 2025 · CC-BY-4.0 # The $400 Gap: the same loan costs $4.60 or $100 — your state decides. Borrowing $400 for two weeks costs **about $4.60 in a 36%-APR-cap state but roughly $100 in Nevada or Idaho** (~652% APR) — a nearly **22× gap for the identical loan, set by your state, not your credit**. And the people who hit that gap have the least room to absorb it: **37% of U.S. adults can't cover a $400 emergency with cash** (Federal Reserve, SHED 2025). **Key finding.** The price is fixed by law, not by need. In **14 states and DC the $400 loan is banned outright**; everywhere else the fee swings from ~$4.60 to ~$100 with no relation to the borrower's credit or income. And the cost rarely stops at one loan — the typical payday customer pays **$520 in fees to repeatedly re-borrow about $375** (Pew), which is why the same emergency that costs one family $4.60 traps another in a months-long cycle. Can't cover $400 with cash 37% U.S. adults — Fed SHED 2025 Couldn't pay it at all 13% U.S. adults — Fed SHED 2025 Cost to borrow $400 / 14d $100 Nevada & Idaho — Cost Index 2026 Same loan, cheapest states ~$4.60 36% APR-cap states — a ~22× gap **On this page** $400 is the line What it costs Who crosses the gap Methodology & sources RM **[Rachel Mensah](/authors/rachel-mensah/)** · Reviewed by [Curtis Brennan, CFP®](/authors/curtis-brennan/) Published June 24, 2026 · Free to cite with attribution (CC-BY-4.0) ## $400 is the line between fine and not fine Every year since 2013 the Federal Reserve has asked a deceptively simple question in its [Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-executive-summary.htm): if you were hit with an unexpected $400 expense, how would you pay for it? In the 2025 survey (fielded October 2025, published May 2026), **63% of adults said they would cover it entirely with cash, savings, or a credit card paid off at the next statement**. The other 37% would not — most would borrow the money or sell something, and **13% of all adults said they would not be able to pay the expense at all**. The $400 figure has become shorthand for household fragility because it is small enough to feel ordinary — a car repair, an ER copay, a broken appliance — yet large enough that more than a third of the country can't absorb it without reaching for credit. The same survey found that **40% of adults earning under $50,000 could not cover even a $100-to-$499 expense right now using only their savings** — the income band where a $400 shock is most likely to force a borrowing decision. This is the population that [short-term payday loans](/payday-loans/) are built to serve — though for many a [lower-cost alternative](/payday-loan-alternatives/) exists. The question we wanted to answer isn't whether borrowing $400 is wise — it's what it *costs*, and why that cost varies so wildly for people in exactly the same situation. ## What borrowing $400 for 14 days actually costs Fees on a standardized $400, 14-day single-payment loan, derived from our [50-State Cost Index 2026](/research/cost-index-2026/) (fee per $100 × 4). Effective APRs are statutory maximums or storefront-market norms for no-cap states. Banned states are shown for completeness — the loan isn't legally offered there. | State | Fee on $400 | Total payback | Effective APR | Nevada / Idaho *no cap* | $100.04 | $500.04 | ~652% | Utah | $94.00 | $494.00 | ~613% | Texas *CAB/CSO* | $88.40 | $488.40 | ~576% | Missouri | $82.00 | $482.00 | ~535% | California *CDDTL* | $70.60 | $470.60 | ~460% | Florida | $44.00 | $444.00 | ~286% | 36% APR-cap states *CO, IL, NE, NM…* | ~$4.60 | ~$404.60 | ~36% | 14 states + DC *banned* | — | not offered | n/a Fees are derived by multiplying the per-$100 fee in the Big Daddy Loans Cost Index 2026 by four. Real lender pricing varies; no-cap-state figures are storefront-market norms, not statutory ceilings. See the cost index for per-state sourcing. ## Who actually crosses the gap The Fed's data describes the need; [The Pew Charitable Trusts'](https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2014/12/payday-lending-in-america) long-running work on payday lending describes who answers it. Pew estimates that about **12 million Americans use payday loans each year, paying roughly $9 billion in fees**. The typical borrower isn't covering a one-off shock — **58% report trouble meeting their monthly expenses at least half the time**, and the average customer ends up paying about **$520 in fees to repeatedly re-borrow roughly $375**. That is the structural problem hiding behind a single $400 loan. Pew found the average payday loan demands a lump-sum repayment that consumes about **36% of a borrower's gross paycheck**, while most borrowers can realistically afford no more than 5%. The gap between those two numbers is why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has documented that **roughly 80% of payday loans are re-borrowed within two weeks** of repaying a previous one. If you're already in that cycle, our guide on [what to do when you can't repay](/guides/what-if-you-cant-repay/) walks through the options before the next rollover. Put the two datasets together and the picture is stark: the 37% of households that can't absorb a $400 expense are routed toward a product whose price is set by geography, and whose repayment terms are calibrated to a budget most borrowers don't have. A family in Colorado pays about $4.60 to bridge the gap; an identical family across the line in Idaho pays $100 — for the same $400, the same 14 days, the same emergency. ## Methodology & sources - **Need data** is taken directly from the Federal Reserve's SHED 2025 report — national, self-reported, fielded October 2025. We report the Fed's figures as published and do not re-weight them. - **Cost figures** are derived from our own [50-State Payday Loan Cost Index 2026](/research/cost-index-2026/) by scaling the per-$100 fee to a $400 principal over a 14-day term. The cost index is built from state statutes, regulator fee schedules, and rate caps. - **Borrower-behavior figures** are from The Pew Charitable Trusts' "Payday Lending in America" research series and the CFPB's payday data point. These are foundational studies in the field; we cite them as such and link the originals. - **What we did not do:** we did not survey borrowers ourselves for this study, and we do not claim the 37% who face the $400 gap all take payday loans — the Fed and Pew populations overlap but are not identical. The comparison is of need against price, not a causal claim. **Sources:** - Federal Reserve, [Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 — Executive Summary](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-executive-summary.htm) (May 2026). - Federal Reserve, [Board issues Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 report](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/other20260513a.htm) (May 13, 2026). - The Pew Charitable Trusts, [Payday Lending in America](https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2014/12/payday-lending-in-america). - Big Daddy Loans, [50-State Payday Loan Cost Index 2026](/research/cost-index-2026/) (CC-BY 4.0). ## Related research [Cost Index 2026**The same $300 loan costs $4 or $75 — by state**The 50-state cost matrix this study draws its fees from.](/research/cost-index-2026/) [Borrower Pulse 2026**What 12,000 borrowers told us about why they borrow**The demand side behind the $400 gap.](/research/borrower-pulse-2026/) Check your own number: [loan cost calculator](/tools/cost-calculator/) · [state eligibility checker](/tools/state-eligibility-checker/). #### Reference this research Big Daddy Loans (2026). *The $400 Gap*. CC-BY-4.0. bigdaddy-loans.com/research/the-400-dollar-gap --- #### Highlights of the gap 37% Lack $400 for an emergency $100 Fee in NV / ID $4.60 Fee under 36% rate cap 22× Difference in price --- [Cost Index 2026](/research/cost-index-2026/) ## Free to cite, quote, and chart — with attribution. Reproduce any figure with a visible credit to Big Daddy Loans and a link to this study. Media inquiries: press@bigdaddy-loans.com · author Rachel Mensah available for comment. See the $400 cost table