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.
The credit score ranges
- 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.
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.
Sources
- Score ranges, the five factors and their weights: myFICO — What’s in my FICO Score
- What a credit score is and why there are many: CFPB — what is a credit score?
- What counts as a "good" score and the range tiers: Experian — what is a good credit score?