"Our low wages (Utah is near the bottom of per capita income nationally) contribute to financial problems here. That is reflected by the growth in payday lenders," he said.

Hilton agrees on that one point. "Our wages in Utah are very low. We have larger families. And we also have older (college) students with families that a lot of other areas in the country do not. So, families here tend to have higher financial burdens."

Poor targets?

The Morning News used computer analysis to see where growth is occurring and where stores are concentrated.

It found that, generally, the poorer the residents are in a specific ZIP code or city, the more payday loan stores they tend to have. Also generally, the more Hispanics in a ZIP code or city, the more payday lenders they have.

Three key exceptions appear, however.

First, areas containing regional shopping malls or big commercialized highway strips (such as Salt Lake County's State Street or Redwood Road) have more payday lenders than expected from demographic data. Areas near Hill Air Force Base also have far more than would be expected. And some cities that legally restrict the numbers of stores have fewer than expected.

Accordingly, areas that are relatively low-income, have large Hispanic populations and have regional shopping areas have the most payday lenders.

For example, among the 62 Utah cities and communities that have at least one payday lender, Midvale has the most per resident: 6.63 per 10,000 residents. South Salt Lake is second with a rate of 6.35 per 10,000 residents. Both rates are four times higher than the state average.

Midvale and South Salt Lake also happen to be near the top of Utah cities with the highest poverty rates and lowest per-person income. They rank No. 2 and 3 among all Utah cities for percentage of Hispanics. And both Midvale and South Salt Lake have heavily commercialized State Street running through them, lined with strip malls and discount stores.

Of course, Midvale is close to Fashion Place Mall, just over the border in Murray. As an example of how large shopping centers seem to attract payday lenders, 18 payday loan shops are on State Street in Murray and Midvale within a mile of Fashion Place. That makes it convenient for borrowers to spend money from their convenient loans.

Do payday lenders specifically target the poor and Hispanics?

"No," Pignanelli said, referring to the 10 chains belonging to the Utah Consumer Lending Association he represents. "But there are some bad apples (elsewhere) in the industry."

He adds that sometimes lenders may locate in areas where populations are poorer or more Hispanic "because it is easier to get a lease there, say along State Street, for example."