May 1, 2026
Whether it's a wedding ring traded in for a short-term loan or a family heirloom exchanged to cover a utility bill, more Americans are turning personal belongings into quick cash.
Pawn shops, often overlooked in broader economic data, are starting to reflect shifts that don't always show up on Wall Street. Even as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite (1) push to record highs, demand for small, fast loans backed by personal items appears to be rising.
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At Empire Loan in Stoughton (2), customers regularly walk in with jewelry and leave with cash in hand, but who those customers are is beginning to change. CEO Michael Goldstein, who has spent four decades in the industry, told Boston 25 (3) he's seeing more suburban clients than in the past, along with a noticeable increase in women using pawn services.
"My customer isn't the guy walking into the Ritz-Carlton," Goldstein said. "He's the guy holding the door."
Markets are booming, but households feel the strain
Instead of selling their belongings for good, most customers use them to secure short-term loans, handing over items like jewelry as collateral and returning later to get them back. Goldstein says the vast majority, about 90%, do exactly that.
That kind of demand is starting to show up at scale. The global pawn shop market (4) was valued at roughly $39.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to climb to nearly $59.5 billion by 2033, according to Market Reports World. The typical customer, he explained, isn't out of work. Rather, many are employed but struggling to keep up as expenses pile up faster than their income.
A recent Gallup survey (5) found that 55% of Americans now feel their finances are deteriorating — the highest share recorded since the poll began in 2001. The findings suggest people are feeling more pressure today than they did during both the pandemic and the Great Recession.
"Overall, affordability concerns dominate this year's list, with combined mentions of inflation, energy, housing and health care costs — along with college expenses, transportation costs and childcare — far exceeding all other types of financial concerns," Gallup said (6).
Those worries are being reinforced by real-world price increases. Gas costs, for example, have recently climbed to their highest level since the war in Iran began, with the national average reaching $4.18 per gallon, according to AAA (7).
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A more fragile economy
Goldstein sees pawn activity as an early signal of these shifts. He describes the industry as a kind of "canary in the coal mine," where changes in consumer behavior tend to show up quickly.
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"When gas prices go up, or unemployment ticks up, our customers feel it first," he said. Many of those customers have little exposure to the stock market, meaning they don't benefit when it rallies.
The S&P 500 recently closed (8) at a record 7,173.91, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed to a fresh high of 24,887.10 — both pushing further above where they stood before the Iran war began. That strength has become a talking point at the top.
President Trump (9) has repeatedly pointed to the market as proof the economy is on solid footing, saying "the only thing that's really going up big? It's called the stock market and your 401(k)s," and framing rising equities as a sign of broader economic health.
But the view from Main Street looks very different.
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For many Americans, those gains are out of reach. While the market has delivered returns of about 16% in 2025 (10), the people walking into pawn shops aren't riding the rally — they're pawning what they own to stay afloat.
That's where the disconnect becomes hard to ignore. As Bruce McKinnon, an entrepreneurship professor at Lasell University, put it, pawn shops have become a "darling" of Wall Street over the past 18 months — a sign that demand for quick cash is rising even as markets hit new highs.
Stay ahead of the squeeze
Taken together, McKinnon said, those habits point to a consumer economy that's becoming more fragile. As more households lean on short-term fixes like pawn loans, the best defense is building a financial buffer before you need it. Start with an emergency fund. Financial experts typically recommend setting aside three to six months' (11) worth of essential expenses enough to cover rent, groceries, utilities and transportation if something unexpected hits.
From there, look for ways to ease pressure on your monthly budget. That could mean buying staples in bulk, switching to discount grocers or using cashback and coupon apps to stretch your spending a little further.
It may also help to talk through your options with a financial advisor. They can help you prioritize expenses, manage debt and build a plan that keeps short-term stress from turning into long-term strain.
Because ideally, your jewelry and beloved family heirlooms stay in your drawer.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Yahoo Finance (1); Empire Loan (2); Boston 25 News (3); Market Reports World (4); Gallup (5),(6); AAA (7); CNBC (8),(10); YouTube (9); Vanguard (11)
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based staff reporter at Moneywise covering personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, and her work has appeared on platforms including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Apple News.
