Usury Laws by State: Maximum Interest Rates and Commercial Loan Exemptions (2026)

North Dakota's ceiling stayed in a narrow band this year, dipping from 9.288% in January to 9.059% in June before climbing to 9.293% in October 2026. The cap that applies is the one in effect when you sign.

For four of these Januarys the ceiling sat on its 7% floor. It peaked at 10.547% in January 2024 as Treasury yields rose, which shows how much an index-linked cap can swing.

Criminal limits sit well above civil caps and often survive the business exemptions. New Jersey's line, for example, moves from 30% to 50% when the borrower is a corporation, LLC or LLP.

These headline numbers mostly describe what an individual pays. Read them together with the exemption chart, because a low cap can disappear entirely for a business borrower.

The spread is wide. In Alabama the cap stops applying at $2,000 of principal, while New York keeps its criminal limit in place until a loan reaches $2.5 million.

Criminal usury thresholds and penalties in selected states

Source: New York State Senate, N.Y. Penal Law § 190.40, Criminal usury in the second degree; Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes Chapter 687, Interest and Usury; Conference of State Bank Supervisors, New Jersey usury statutes (CSBS compilation); public.law (reproduction of Colorado Revised Statutes), C.R.S. § 18-15-104, Criminal usury; Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Massachusetts usury statutes (CSBS compilation); Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Georgia usury statutes (CSBS compilation); Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Rhode Island usury statutes (CSBS compilation). Download as image

States whose usury cap moves with a published benchmark rate

Source: Delaware General Assembly, Delaware Code Title 6, § 2301; North Dakota Legislative Branch, N.D. Century Code chapter 47-14; Conference of State Bank Supervisors, 50-State Survey of Consumer Finance Laws: usury rate data; Conference of State Bank Supervisors, North Carolina usury statutes (CSBS compilation); Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, Commissioner Gonzales Announces Weekly Formula Rate October 14, 2026; Washington State Legislature, RCW 19.52.020 and 19.52.080; Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Rhode Island usury statutes (CSBS compilation); public.law (reproduction of Texas Finance Code), Tex. Fin. Code § 303.009; Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner, Interest Rates (weekly and monthly ceilings). Download as image

How the usury cap treats business loans by state

• 9Cap still reaches most business loans
• 19Business loans exempt above a dollar amount or for entity borrowers
• 20Business loans broadly exempt, or no cap on agreed rates

What does a usury law actually limit?

Many states have two layers. The civil cap decides if you can get out of paying some or all of the interest. The criminal cap decides whether the lender has committed a crime. They are set at different rates and they come with different consequences.

Take New York. The civil limit on most loans under $250,000 is 16%. A separate criminal line sits at 25%, and charging above it is a class E felony. Florida works in a similar way: 18% is the general civil cap, more than 25% is a misdemeanor and more than 45% is a third-degree felony.

The penalty for crossing a civil cap also varies a lot. In Arkansas, a usurious contract under the state constitution is void as to principal and interest, which means the lender can lose everything. Other states take away only the interest, or only the part above the cap. So the same overcharge can be a minor dispute in one state and a wiped-out debt in another.

Is there a maximum interest rate on business loans?

Often, no. Or at least not the one you would expect. States carve business lending out of their usury rules in three common ways.

First, by borrower type. In Illinois, loans to corporations and most business loans to partnerships and sole proprietors can carry any rate. In New York, a corporation cannot raise civil usury at all, though the 25% criminal limit still applies. North Dakota exempts corporations, LLCs, cooperatives, trusts and tax-filing partnerships.

Second, by loan size. Ohio's 8% cap on written instruments falls away once principal tops $100,000. Pennsylvania's 6% limit does not reach business loans of any amount. Virginia bars usury defenses on business or investment loans of $5,000 or more.

Third, by a separate business ceiling. Texas lets its floating ceiling rise to 28% for business, commercial and investment credit, above the 24% top for other loans, but no further.

The practical upshot: if you borrow through an LLC, you may have no civil usury protection at all once you sign as the entity. That is not always bad. It just means the rate you agreed to is the rate you owe, and the fight shifts to fees, defaults and personal guarantees.

What is the criminal usury rate in my state?

Only some states set one, and the numbers are spread out. Massachusetts starts at 20% per year counting interest plus expenses. New York and Florida start at 25%. New Jersey uses 30%, or 50% for corporations, LLCs and LLPs. Colorado treats anything above 45% as a class 6 felony. Georgia makes charging more than 5% per month a misdemeanor.

Criminal limits matter to business owners because they tend to outlast the civil exemptions. A New York company that cannot claim civil usury can still point to the 25% line, at least until the loan reaches $2.5 million, where every cap lifts. Massachusetts is the opposite case: its 20% rule does not apply if the lender notified the Attorney General in advance, if another law already regulates the loan's rate, or if the lender is under state or federal regulatory oversight, as banks are.

If your all-in cost looks close to one of these lines, count everything the lender calls a fee. Some statutes, like the one in Massachusetts, measure interest plus expenses, not the stated rate alone.

Do usury laws apply to private loans and merchant cash advances?

Private loans are where usury caps bite hardest. Banks often sit outside state limits. In California, banks, licensed finance lenders and licensed real estate brokers are exempt classes, and in Arkansas federally insured banks may charge what federal law allows. That leaves the friend, the relative, the investor and the small private lender as the parties most likely to be held to the state number. If you lend to or borrow from someone you know, write the rate down. Several states, such as Alabama and New Jersey, apply a lower default rate when there is no written agreement.

Merchant cash advances are a harder question. They are usually written as a purchase of future receivables, not a loan, and if a court agrees, usury law does not apply at all. Courts tend to look at substance over labels: whether payments truly adjust when your sales drop, whether the funder can demand the full amount if you close or file for bankruptcy, and whether the term is fixed in practice. A contract that guarantees repayment no matter what starts to look like a loan, and that is when the state caps on this page come back into play.

Why do some caps change every month?

A handful of states tie their cap to a published benchmark instead of a fixed number. North Dakota uses the 6-month Treasury bill average plus 5.5 points, with a 7% floor, and resets monthly. For October 2026 the ceiling is 9.293%. Tennessee uses the average prime rate plus 4 points, which the state put at 11.00% in its October 14, 2026 announcement.

For you this means two things. Check the cap in force on the date you sign, not the date you got the quote. And if your loan has a variable rate, ask whether the contract has a savings clause that holds the rate at the legal maximum if the index pushes it over.

What to do before you sign a loan or note

• Find the governing-law clause first. The state named there usually decides which cap applies, and lenders often pick a state with no cap on agreed rates.
• Be clear on who the borrower is: you as a person, or your company. Signing as an LLC can switch off the civil cap in many states.
• Add up the full cost, including origination fees, monthly charges and required balances, and compare it to the criminal threshold in your state.
• Look for a default interest rate. A rate that jumps after one late payment can cross a cap the base rate never touched.
• Read any savings clause. It can protect the lender as much as you, but it also shows the lender expects the rate to run close to the legal limit.
• If the deal is close to a line, get a lawyer licensed in that state to look at it before the money moves.

Sources and method

Every number on this page comes from the sources below, each opened and read on or before October 17, 2026. A second, independent review checked every figure against its source and corrected anything that did not match. 48 of 51 state entries were confirmed; any that could not be are marked "Not yet confirmed" and left out of every count and chart.

1. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, 50-State Survey of Consumer Finance Laws: usury rate data (Current page as viewed Oct 15, 2026 (no last-updated date shown; CSBS states information is updated annually))
2. New York State Senate, N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-501 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
3. New York State Senate, N.Y. Banking Law § 14-a (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
4. New York State Senate, N.Y. Penal Law § 190.40, Criminal usury in the second degree (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
5. New York State Senate, N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-521 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
6. Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes Chapter 687, Interest and Usury (2026 Florida Statutes)
7. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, California Constitution art. XV, § 1 (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
8. public.law (reproduction of Texas Finance Code), Tex. Fin. Code § 303.009 (As amended 2011, viewed Oct 15, 2026)
9. Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner, Interest Rates (weekly and monthly ceilings) (Weekly ceiling for Oct 12 to Oct 18, 2026; October 2026 monthly ceiling, viewed Oct 15, 2026)
10. North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions, Usury Rate (2026 monthly rates through October 2026)
11. North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions, Usury Rate Archive, July 1981 to December 2025 (Archive through December 2025)
12. North Dakota Legislative Branch, N.D. Century Code chapter 47-14 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
13. Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, Commissioner Gonzales Announces Weekly Formula Rate October 14, 2026 (Oct 14, 2026 (based on weekly average prime rate of 7.00% published by the Federal Reserve Oct 13, 2026))
14. public.law (reproduction of Colorado Revised Statutes), C.R.S. § 5-12-103 (Viewed Oct 15, 2026)
15. public.law (reproduction of Colorado Revised Statutes), C.R.S. § 18-15-104, Criminal usury (Viewed Oct 15, 2026)
16. Delaware General Assembly, Delaware Code Title 6, § 2301 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
17. Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Code § 28-3301 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
18. Maryland General Assembly, Md. Code, Commercial Law § 12-103 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
19. Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minn. Stat. §§ 334.01 and 334.011 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
20. Virginia Legislative Information System, Va. Code § 6.2-303 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
21. Virginia Legislative Information System, Va. Code § 6.2-317 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
22. Washington State Legislature, RCW 19.52.020 and 19.52.080 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
23. Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes, K.S.A. 16-207 (Current text as viewed Oct 15, 2026)
24. vLex (reproduction of Connecticut General Statutes), Conn. Gen. Stat. § 37-9 (2023 edition as reproduced)
25. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Alabama usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
26. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Alaska usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
27. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Arkansas usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
28. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Georgia usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
29. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Kentucky usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
30. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Massachusetts usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
31. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Mississippi usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
32. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Missouri usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
33. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Nebraska usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
34. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, New Jersey usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
35. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, New Mexico usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
36. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, North Carolina usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
37. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Ohio usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
38. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Oregon usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
39. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Pennsylvania usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
40. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Rhode Island usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
41. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Vermont usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
42. Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Louisiana usury statutes (CSBS compilation) (CSBS statute compilation (2020 file folder), part of the CSBS 50-State Survey)
43. Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Code § 28-3302, Rate of interest not expressed and on judgments (Current text as viewed Oct 17, 2026)