Your credit score is a snapshot of how you’ve handled borrowing, scored from 300 to 850. It’s a math formula (FICO has existed since 1989), not a judgment of you — and once you know what goes into it, it stops being mysterious.
What is a good credit score?
Generally, 670 and above is "good" — that's where lenders start treating you as lower risk. Here are the five FICO ranges lenders use, and what each one typically gets you:
| Score range | Rating | What it typically gets you |
|---|---|---|
| 800–850 | Exceptional | Top tier; you qualify for essentially everything at the best rates |
| 740–799 | Very good | The real target — best rates on most loans and cards |
| 670–739 | Good | Solid; approved for most things at fair rates |
| 580–669 | Fair | Approvable, but at higher rates, and some products are out of reach |
| 300–579 | Poor | Limited options; secured cards and credit-builder accounts are the way up |
The average American sits around 714 — in the "good" range, and it has been drifting down slightly. You don’t need 850 (that takes a decade of perfect history and barely beats 760); 740–760 is the practical goal, where the savings on rates are real. 800+ is mostly bragging rights.
What actually makes up your score
Five things, weighted like this in the FICO model:
- Payment history — 35%. Do you pay on time? The biggest factor by far. One payment 30+ days late can drop a score 50–120 points.
- Credit utilization — 30%. How much of your available credit you’re using — the fastest lever you control. (How it works and the number to aim for: how credit utilization works.)
- Length of credit history — 15%. The age of your accounts. Older is better, which is why you keep your oldest card open.
- New credit — 10%. Recent applications and hard inquiries; too many in a short span signals risk.
- Credit mix — 10%. Having both cards and loans helps a little — but never take on debt just for the mix.
The top two — payment history + utilization — are about 65% of your score, and they’re the two you most directly control.
What does NOT affect your credit score
Just as important as the five factors is what’s not in them:
- Your income or salary. They don’t appear in your credit report at all — the report covers your identity, accounts, payment history, inquiries, and public records, not what you earn. (Lenders ask about income separately on applications; the score itself can’t see it.)
- Checking your own score. Looking up your score or report is a soft inquiry — it never lowers the number. Only hard inquiries from actual credit applications count against you, and even those sit in the smallest factor.
- Cash and debit-card activity. Debit purchases and cash never reach the credit bureaus, which is exactly why paying for everything with debit builds no history — the system only sees credit accounts.
How to check your score and report — for free
Two different things, both free:
- Your credit reports — the underlying data — are free at annualcreditreport.com: one from each of the three bureaus every week, a benefit that became permanent in 2023. The report is where errors live, so this is the one to actually read.
- Your score — free apps (Credit Karma and most banking apps) show one at no cost. Just remember the model caveat below: an app’s number is a reference, not the number a lender will pull.
And since checking your own score is a soft inquiry, you can look as often as you like — it costs nothing and touches nothing.
How long until you have a score?
With no credit history there’s no score at all — not a zero, just nothing to compute. Once your first account starts reporting, FICO needs about six months of history to generate your first score (VantageScore can appear after about one). From there, the number follows the five factors above — most of all on-time payments and low balances. (Month-by-month expectations: your credit timeline.)
Why you have more than one score
There isn’t a single "your credit score." You have many, because:
- There are two main scoring companies — FICO (used by about 90% of lenders) and VantageScore — and they weigh the factors a little differently.
- There are three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion), and your data can differ across them.
- Free apps like Credit Karma show a VantageScore, which can run 20–50+ points off the FICO a lender actually sees, and it can score you after about a month of history (FICO usually needs about six). Use it to track trends, not to read the exact number.
So don’t panic over small differences between apps — watch the trend, not the exact digit. (For how the two models actually differ, see scoring models explained — this overview keeps it brief on purpose.)
How to move your number up
The score follows the factors, so:
- Pay on time, every time (35%) — set autopay.
- Keep utilization low (30%) — and pay before your statement closing date so a low balance is what gets reported.
- Keep old accounts open (15%) and space out applications (10%).
- Starting from zero? Open one account and let time work — see how to build credit from scratch. New to the US credit system? Building credit as an immigrant.
The bottom line: 670 is "good," 740+ is where the real savings start, and the number is just the sum of five habits — most of all, paying on time and keeping balances low.