Average Credit Statistics
With all of this talk about credit scores, you're probably eager to look at some numbers. What is the average credit score? What does the average person's credit report look like? With this information, you can see where you fit in with other consumers.
What's the Score?
The Fair Isaac Corporation publishes information on the national distribution of FICO credit scores. In the United States, here is where consumers fall:
FICO Score |
Percent of Population |
800+ |
13 percent |
750–799 |
27 percent |
700–749 |
18 percent |
650–699 |
15 percent |
600–649 |
12 percent |
550–599 |
8 percent |
500–549 |
5 percent |
499 or less |
2 percent |
As you can see, 58 percent of the U.S. population has a FICO score above 700. This shows that a healthy portion of the population has a pretty good credit score. An additional 15 percent have a score above 650. Therefore, roughly three out of four consumers qualify for a standard loan rate or better.
In 2006, the median FICO credit score in the United States was 723. This means that half of the people had scores below that number, and half of the people had scores above that number. This number is considered a pretty good FICO score, so most people are doing a good job with their credit.
As you make improvements on your credit, it is important that you understand how you stack up. According to the Fair Isaac Corporation, credit scores rank you relative to other consumers. In other words, a relatively high score means that you are less likely to fall behind than somebody with a relatively low score. How did they decide what to measure? Why did they try to determine how likely you are to be ninety days late within the next two years? They researched what lenders wanted.
