What Is The Average Credit Score In America By Age & State?
Try searching for “average credit score” and you are likely to get different answers from every website. Here’s why…
I just went through the top 10 listings on Google for the above term and it was alarming to see that virtually all of them were citing information that was either (a) incorrect, or (b) misleading.
The problem starts with the scores they are using…
- FICO – This is without a doubt the gold standard of credit scoring. When people talk about scores, this is what they are talking about (or at least, intend to be talking about). Unfortunately, FICO is pretty tight-lipped about it and greatly restricts its usage.
- PLUS Score – This is a scoring model developed by Experian which is geared solely towards consumers (it’s not used by creditors). Instead of running on a 300 to 850 scale like FICO, it runs on a 330 to 830 scale. It’s peddled through FreeCreditScore.com.
- VantageScore – This runs on a 501 to 990 scale. It was developed a few years ago by the major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to compete with Fair Isaac’s industry-leading FICO formula. However, VantageScore hasn’t really caught on and lenders very rarely use it.
Rather than identifying an average credit score as being a PLUS Score or VantageScore, almost all websites (even large authority sources) are using these scores interchangeably, without mentioning what type of score their data is using.
For example, one top site tells us the average credit score in the United States is 692 for FICO. Then, it proceeds to give a state by state breakdown, without specifying that they’re actually using PLUS scores for the individual states instead of FICOs (obviously not an apples-to-apples comparison).
Here’s the truth…
What is the average credit score? Well that’s really not even a question you should be asking. Why? Because those with ultra-low scores (due to a bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc) are going to have scores significantly lower – these drag down the average number big time.
If you want a better gauge of where you fit in, then you should be looking at the median credit score which is 723 for FICO (and has been reported as such for many years in a row). The median means it’s exactly in the middle: 50% of people have a lower score, 50% have a higher score. This will give you a much better idea of the credit score average for Americans.
If you still insist on knowing the current “average” then good luck on finding that out. A few years ago FICO cited the 692 figure but they’ve remained silent on what is the average ever since. Translation? FICO no longer reports the average, so there’s no way to know 100% for sure. However being that the median has remained 723 for years, I believe it’s safe to assume that the average is still pretty darn close to 692.
Average credit score by state?
Ah… so this is where it gets tricky! FICO doesn’t release a state by state breakdown of score distribution. So in order to judge their performance, we have to turn to a different scoring model unfortunately.
As an alternative, let’s use Experian’s PLUS Score. Why? Because they publish the PLUS scores by state and since they are among the largest credit reporting agencies, their sample size is obviously huge. However keep in mind they run on a 330 to 830 scale and therefore are NOT the same as FICOs. However, this information is still a good way to measure performance of states relative to each other.
As of December 2011 Experian’s National Score Index reports a 687 PLUS Score as the average in the United States. I’ve organized the data below and marked those states which are at or above average as green, and those below in red.
- Alabama – 676
- Alaska – 684
- Arizona – 676
- Arkansas – 677
- California – 687
- Colorado – 692
- Connecticut – 705
- Delaware – 680
- Florida – 678
- Georgia – 670
- Hawaii – 700
- Idaho – 694
- Illinois – 693
- Indiana – 686
- Iowa – 708
- Kansas – 697
- Kentucky – 680
- Louisiana – 670
- Maine – 702
- Maryland – 687
- Massachusetts – 710
- Michigan – 688
- Minnesota – 718
- Mississippi – 668
- Missouri – 690
- Montana – 709
- Nebraska – 708
- Nevada – 660
- New Hampshire – 711
- New Mexico – 676
- New Jersey – 699
- New York – 697
- North Carolina – 679
- North Dakota – 715
- Ohio – 690
- Oklahoma – 676
- Oregon – 698
- Pennsylvania – 700
- Rhode Island – 700
- South Carolina – 671
- South Dakota – 714
- Tennessee – 679
- Texas – 667
- Utah – 694
- Vermont – 712
- Virginia – 694
- Washington – 700
- Washington DC – 679
- West Virginia – 680
- Wisconsin – 707
- Wyoming – 695
You probably notice that those states with the lowest average scores tend to be in the southern half of the country (both the southeast and southwest). Meanwhile, many states in the Midwest and New England have above-average.
- Nevada has the lowest credit score at 660 – that’s 27 points below the U.S. average.
- Minnesota has the highest at 718 – which is 31 points above the U.S. average.
- The spread between the lowest and highest state is 58 points.
Average credit score by age group?
Last by not least, the brings us to score distribution by age. I think my friends over at Credit Karma have the best data set available for showing average credit score by age. Although it’s not FICO, they use a credit scoring system which correlates closely – TransUnion’s TransRisk model. Like FICO, it runs on a 300 to 850 scale.
The first thing you probably conclude from looking at that is the older you get, the more your score will go up on average. There are a few reasons for this:
- Let’s be honest here… there are many people who screw up their credit during their college/younger years. It’s not ’til a few years later when they realize how much they messed up, and in turn, they finally start managing it properly (but by this time they’re older).
- Credit scores (FICO and competitors) all take into account the age of your credit history and accounts. The longer the [positive] history, the more it will help your score. This is a reason why adults who have had accounts for decades tends to have higher scores.
- Even if you never had major screw-ups with your credit as an early adult, as you get older, you [hopefully] start building up a nest egg and paying down debts like your mortgage, student loans, etc. This of course helps your score.
I would like to warn you though that you shouldn’t think you are doing good just because you are above average for your age group. Sure the average may be 638 for the 18 to 24 age group but truth be told, you can somewhat easily hit the low 700′s by the time you are 20 if you do things right. Just check the forum and you will see people who are 18, 19, and 20 with FICOs either in the high 600′s or low 700′s.
By the time you are 25 to 27, in my personal opinion there is really no excuse for not having an 800 or close to it.
How many cards do you have in 2013?
Without any loans whatsoever, I achieved a high credit score by my mid-twenties solely using credit cards. Obviously a mix of cards and loans are ideal, but if you only have one or two loans on your credit report, then I would recommend going heavy on the cards (have 5 to 10 if you can use them responsibly and stay debt-free). At age 25 I had around a dozen cards and a FICO of around 770 to 790.
Looking to get more cards and use the same strategy I did? If you do, I would strongly recommend you only go with no annual fee cards. That way you can keep them open for the long haul and won’t have to worry about an annual fee. For cards that are used sparingly, that’s the way to go.
Here are a couple of my favorite no annual fee cards in 2013:
Actually the average US credit score is approx 678. Many of these comments are old and dont take into account the foreclosure and umemployment issues which over the last few years have ruined the credit for many.
My credit score is 759 and when I spoke with the bank to see if I qualified for the $800,000 loan on a house I wanted, they said ‘jumbo’ loans are based on a score of about 700 so it really doesn’t matter how much higher your score may be. what matters is your income, debt to income ratio and credit score – not just the score. btw: Yes, with a 759 I got the loan but to be honest, all I needed as a 700 to get it, anything over doest matter according to 4 different loan officers from Chase to Citimortgage
Not all creditors work the same. I just checked into a refinance on my home and the company I talked with offered a lower interest rate at 760 while mine was at 748. For that large of a loan just a .3 percent rate change can save thousands. But they also could not tell me (or would not) what the loan acceptance was based on. I understand though they used the score as the sole means to determine the rate they would give. I opted to wait and get my score up a little more (just pay off some credit cards while keeping them open is all I needed to bring it up that much). So after a few months I will be ready with a better score as long as the government holds the current rate that is. If they intend to raise it I will jump in with the current rate ASAP.
This was a very interesting article. I am 35 with a score of 811 and have always paid loans off early and have paid balance of my credit cards every month.
19 here with a credit score of 753! I have my dad to thank for that. I just pulled my credit report and Ive been building credit for 7 years! to any of you around my age trying to start off right do what my parents and I did….my dad had a macys credit card and put me under his account when i was 12. he always made his payments on time. So by the time I applied for credit at my FCU I had a score of 760 (ish) its dropped a bit for a few reasons but I can still work to make it higher.
also, I have read a few comments on here (not all but most) and I cant believe how ignorant some people can be! FICO is not a game its a formula. Your credit score isnt by how well you make your payments. It has to do with how many accounts you have open..your income, the balance you owe, the amount of credit you have available, the variety of accounts (store credit cards, mortgage, loans,…) etc. Usually your local bank, fcu offers classes and courses about how credit works. I suggest most of you inform yourselves and attend.
inform yourself, fico does not factor your income
Despise internet bullies like you…bet you’re a real a*hole in person..know it all and the negative character list could go on and on.
Yes youre right, my mistake!
And how am I bullying? I’m simply giving advice. I dont know it all thats why I like to inform myself rather than being ignorant, whiny, and complain for things I shouldnt. Youre the a**hole.
Wow… I am almost 30 and have just started trying to repair my stupid credit mistakes and I’m reading these for extra help…. very confusing with all the back and forth . I have almost finished paying off my car and would like to know what card to get, best rate for my 600 score and how to purchase and pay the balances????
Brandon,
I was in the same boat as you until I tried myfico.com. They have what turns out to be an awesome tool that shows you which debts, collections etc. to pay off first and how many points you can expect to earn for each one. Three months ago my score was 545 and today I just learned it is 631. It’s not a great score, but it is projected to be about 710 by the end of the year if I only keep doing the same one thing I am doing now- and I am not busting the bank with my fingers crossed to pay off old “debt” from a previous case of identity fraud while hoping it “might’ help my score.
Never too late to improve Brandon. At least you admit you are human and have made mistakes, trust me, we all make mistakes no matter our age!
Keep up the good work, you’ll get there. Get a capital one or Orchard card, not a real high credit limit but good for someone trying to obtain a card and I believe they accept applicants with that credit score. Altho Capital One recently took over Orchard, not 100% sure about that one. You may want to check them out online before applying so the hard pull on your credit report won’t lower your score.
Shop around. There are many cards out there and many that offer a zero percent rate for a set time on balance transfers. While holding several cards will help raise your score you must make payments on schedule and keep the cards paid down or paid off in order for it to help your score. A gas card is handy as long as you keep it payed off. Easy to use at the pumps and will help your credit and also easy to get. However it is very important not to let the bill get up there but keep them payed off. Cards change their offers often so watch for offers. Use the internet to search for no yearly fees and low rates. If you keep them payed off early then the rates will not mean much.
More available credit and lower debt against them are important. Making on time payments is even more important. DON”T BE LATE! Pay early if you are forgetful then by all means purchase software (like Quickens) to keep your accounts balanced and schedule those monthly payments to even utility companies. Medical bills and utilities can go against your record just like a loan or rent can if you do not make the schedule.
Despite all the hype about credit it is not needed to survive, you can have an extremely low credit score and still do anything someone with a high score can mine is 559 and I have bought and paid for both a Home ($134,000 Value) and 2 cars(So what one’s a Mazda =p ) and have set my kids up accounts for college, just remember no one likes to turn down Cash because CASH IS KING! You can get any type of loan you want with a reasonable down payment so IMO screw Credit reports live happy with a Bank Debit card and save up for the things you need loans for.
Do yourself a favor, pay all your credit cards off and cut them up. I did this 10 years ago and have put enough in my bank equal to any credit card I could sign for and now I am my own credit. Cars? I buy mine in cash and pay back my savings. Live this way and you’ll be happier than anyone here.
I’m 48. I keep trying to care about my FICO score, but then I get hungry.
Mine is a 637. I want to get to 750. Can someone help me pay some of my bills off?
I was the victim of identity theft TWICE. “Flagging” the credit with the three reporting agencies is a joke. Sending them the police report, the Federal Trade Commission Report and the FBI report didn’t help either. The theft took place in 2005 & 2006. I have been clawing my way up since, spending hours and hours of my time cleaning up my credit. Getting inquiries and reports removed. I should start a business on what to do. I’m 47, have bought and sold my home, have a parent plus student loan, and my credit score can get no highter than 697. It’s embarassing, but it is what it is. The person that stole my credit lives on [removed]. Stop by and tell her the REAL Sharon says hello.
I just turned 21 and don’t have any loans in my name and paid cash for my car but my credit score just was ran and I have a 767. I do have a credit card but I pay it off every month along with car insurance. I’m not sure how to keep raising it.
I always have paid my credit cards at time, before due date.
Why my credit score FICO is 750 instead of 800 or more ?
A credit score is not like a school test where you start with 100% then get deductions for errors. You have to EARN the credit score. Paying off all cards every month is a great start! And your score reflects that, 750 is quite good! Other things that will make it higher are time (big factor!) and other loans (mortgages, car loans). A credit score is the bank’s way of determining if you are a good investment. The only way to show them that is through time and consistency. You are doing great! Keep it up.
My parent have the Highest Credit available, no limits whatsoever. If they had a limit it would be over $350,000
The ending of this article is basically crazy accurate. I just turned 26 and my score as of today is 765. Plus I just got a new car by financing. 800 here I come!
There is also a huge difference among races. Just ask my credit bureau
Yes obviously your credit does not show your race. stop being mad at the world and accept whatever credit you have and don’t blame it on the color of your skin, blame it on whether you pay your bills or not.
As far as I know computers are colorblind…
thanks for that crazy comment of the day…lol hmmm
I am 19 years old and have a credit score of 664. I’ve been working my arse off on getting into the seven hundreds by the time I have graduated from college. That way I can get a low interest rate on a home..
My FICO score is very high. It’s 1045 (it goes over the limit). I was told by the banks that I could get up to $5000000 loans with 1.99% interest. I just feel sorry for those people with score of under 800. It is just tough to get anything with that score these days.
Funny, because the max FICO is 850. Additionally, the amount in loans you can get has very little to do with your credit score.
Dude, did you read the article? Your theoretical max FICO score is 850. There isn’t FICO extra credit. It has to be between 300 – 850 or it isn’t a FICO score you’re looking at. I look at about 10 customer credit reports on average per day at work. I have NEVER seen a FICO score of 850 and very rarely in the 840s…and I live in MN, the state the article cited as the highest average credit score state.
Ben, you are totally incorrect about your FICO score…the max score you can have is 850, so is you were told that you have a score of 1045, you were lied to…I hope you didn’t pay whomever it was that gave you that information.
Sound like Ben has confused his FICO score with his SAT score :/
seriously. i hope your joking otherwise your just gloating and adding nothing of note.
Yeah, I had a dream I could fly…
My douche bag meter went over the top reading your comment.
hope the mother ship zooms down and picks you up today Ben, takes you back to the planet you’re from
look whos the bully making fun of people
I got qualified for 3.99% on Discover and a 4.99% on car loan with $16k debt. my score is 668 and I’m 20.
Wow..16k at age 20.. Thats bad
16k at 20 is not terrible if you’re going to school. Average private institution worth a damn in America has got to be around 35-45k a year in tuition. The school I went to is now 51k a year and is not Ivy League! Parents’ college savings cant keep up with that kind of tuition inflation. My parents unfortunately could not contribute a penny to my education and my siblings and I are first generation college grads. Some times you have to invest in yourself.
Not bad at all Mike! Keep up the good work, 1st generation college family, something to be very proud of and great incentive to keep moving forward!! Many people on this site and others like them posting such negative and judgemental comments probably only wish they were educated instead of posting negative comments on blogs going nowhere in life!
My going “cash only” and having NO credit cards for a few years? It did so much damage to my credit score that it’s not even funny. I had a bogus collection get added to my report for a cell phone plan in another state that I never had, and my score dropped into the low 500s. I got it removed, but the damage had been done. Now 5 years later I can’t break any higher than 680. No late payments, ratio is good, things paid off. But can’t break that 680 limit.
The whole FICO game is so annoying.
Thanks for the useful write up. Couldn’t help but notice though, that you say “By the time you are 25 to 27, in my personal opinion there is really no excuse for not having an 800 or close to it” on this page, and the page you link to you say “Even though I first hit 800 in my mid-twenties, that is extremely rare and for most, they may not hit that number ‘til their thirties.”
Seems a bit inconsistent. I’m 34, and pretty happy with my 728 score. But I would of course be much happier with an 800…
You’re very welcome! Yep it is extremely rare for people to hit 800 in their mid-twenties, but there’s no excuse why people can’t achieve it (or get close to it) at that age, if they take the right steps. Does that make sense?
Yea my score is 592. No one will give me credit to higher it
You can get a secured credit card and/or a Capital One card. You will start out with a low limit and literally build your credit up.
Yes capital one has a credit steps program, you make your payments on time for eight months you get an increase i went from 500 to 1500
Sarah is right about carrying a small balance. I got my first credit card because I had been with Wells Fargo for six years, and the banker told me to keep at least $5 at the end of each pay period. Just having a credit card made my score jump by almost 100 points, allowing me to get a loan.
**The trick is not having NO debt, it’s showing you know how to manage it.** I found this out the hard way after 10 years of paying for things free-and-clear, and often with cash. Go ahead and ring up a small, manageable bill. It will help you in the long run.
There’s no need to carry a balance. The total amount due on your monthly statement is what usually gets reported to the credit bureaus. So as long as you are using your card each month, there will be a balance shown even if you always pay the bill in full.
I learned the hard way like many other individuals. If you just pay off the card in full every month, the only people getting worked over is the bank, not yourself. Same game, different outcome.:)
The credit score is so mis-interpreted. If you pay it off every month, yes your score will be good but it will NEVER be perfect because the credit companies can’t make money off of you. The score has nothing to do with whether you can or cannot afford something. It’s an index for credit companies to assess whether they will make their money back,and it’s their equation, so they make sure people who borrow just right, and pay it off over time [i.e. interest] get great scores. That is who they want to lend to.
I don’t think that’s the case, Mike. The score doesn’t indicate if they can make money off you. In fact, lenders make more money off lower credit score people, not the higher ones. Higher score means less risk, not more money.
The score is an indication of how likely you are to make a late payment based on past history and credit patterns. A company like Fair Isaac, the company responsible for the FICO score, is a third party that evaluates credit. Credit scores aren’t generated by Capital One, Wells Fargo, Citibank, or any of these other creditors. Fair Isaac and other third parties collect data from these creditors to generate a score based on their credit models. Basically, they are predicting the likelihood of a late payment or default.
Wrong. It is based far more on “on time” payments, and percentage of credit used vs. credit available for revolving accounts. Banks make plenty of money of those who pay monthly with fees paid by the stores that accept the cards as payment.
I have a credit score of 830 and I don’t get any better interest rate than anyone else. I put everything on my credit card and pay it all off every month. I have never missed a payment nor have I ever been late on a payment – makes me think this whole thing is just a scam by the banks – they CAN do anything they want, they just don’t.
If you pay the balance off every month then who cares if you’re getting a better or worse rate. I would say the rates change for bigger purchases like cars and houses. I pay mine off every month too and don’t even care what the rate is because it doesn’t apply. We get to use their money interest free for a month, whats better than that? So really its 0 percent.
Something Mike, Les, and CCJS all have in common is they pay off their balances each month. As weird as this is going to seem if you want to raise your credit score carry a balance. Not a huge one about 1-10% is ideal. Here is the reasoning behind this. If you pay off your cards every month it is seen as you don’t really need the credit and you are just using the cards for rebates, points or whatever benefits. If you manage a balance and make your payments on time you are seen as being able to manage credit. You also have to have a good mix of credit 3-4 credit cards, an installment loan(car), and ideally a mortgage. Try it for 3 or 4 months and see if you notice a difference in your scores. Yes, you will be paying some interest on the cards, but that is the game. Is it fair? No, but it is still good to know the rules and then you can decide what is more important to at the time.
You are quite misinformed. The interest rates given are decided by the national interest rate. I also worked at a bank and your credit gets ran through a system called “Chek Systems” that runs your history to see if you owe any banks any money. People like you are the ones screaming at the banker because they can’t open an account. Your talking to the messenger 99% of the time.
I agree totally.
I agree.
it also depends on ‘how much’ credit you have. Theres a billion young people who have paid one or two credit cards on time with a score of 700+, but that doesn’t mean anything. Banks are looking for someone with a paid off car loan, mortgages, etc along with open credit lines without too much debt on them and long credit history.
I’ve pretty much given up on trying to decipher between the different score types (FICO vs. Plus Score) because the companies that market/sell scores practically try to confuse us consumers by misleading us with their different types of scores. All I can do is pay off my balance on a monthly basis and go from there.