On a scale from 1 - 10, how bad does breaking a finger hurt and for how long?

Relatively low: a minor finger fracture might be 3-4 a displaced finger fracture might be a 7 or 8 and everyone has different perspectives on pain tolerance

Acute pain @ 5-7/10: The acute pain form a finger fracture can be painful enough so as to perhaps require a brief period of prescription level pain medication. We will assume we are talking about the more common closed (skin intact) type of finger fracture involving one of the smaller bones (phalanges) of the fingers, and that surgery is not indicated. Once the fracture is reduced ("set"), the acute pain will subside