Here’s The Average Credit Score By Age In The US

Most of us have a general idea of what our credit score is, and we all know the bigger the number, the better. But many wonder, “What constitutes a good credit score and how do I measure up against everyone else’s score?” For context, the average FICO^® Score in America is 695, and the average VantageScore 3.0^® stands at 673. 

These are two of the most widely used scoring models in the country, and both range between 300 – 850. That gives you a bar for comparison in terms of average credit score.

It's valuable to know your score to gauge your own personal finances. Knowing your creditworthiness in comparison to others in your demographic or region can help you determine where you are and where you want to be financially.

Let’s dig deeper into how you might measure up with specific age groups and locations.

You may have guessed that credit score tends to increase with age – and you’re right! While the average credit score for Americans in their 20s is 662, the average score for people over 60 jumps to 749. Building good credit takes time (among other things) but knowing a little bit about credit in relation to your age can go a long way.

Here’s a breakdown of the average FICO^® Score by age. 

• Age 20 – 29: 662
• Age 30 – 39: 673
• Age 40 – 49: 684
• Age 50 – 59: 706
• Age 60+: 749

So now you know how you measure up by age, but what about location? We know the average FICO ^® Score in the U.S. is 703, as of 2019. What about the average score for Georgians, Michiganders or Ohioans?

To be clear, where you live doesn’t factor into your credit score, but it can be useful to understand how your score compares to the average in your state.

Let’s break down the USA into the four regions used by the U.S. Census Bureau: Northeast, Midwest, West and South. As of 2019, the Northeast has the highest average FICO^® Score at 717. All the states in this region fit into the first two columns on the map above.

The next highest is the Midwest at 716. The Midwest has a wider dispersion than the Northeast but has five states listed in the highest column: Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The West comes in at 710 with the widest dispersion of the three regions. On one side, you’ve got Hawaii and Washington at 723, and on the other, there’s Nevada and New Mexico at 686.

Rounding out the regions, the South has an average score of 688. Thirteen of the South’s 16 states fall into the bottom two columns. The only states that aren’t southern states in those columns are Indiana, Nevada and New Mexico.

Boulder, Colorado, tops the list of metropolitan areas with high average FICO^® Scores. With a score of 743, it’s a whole 40 points above the national average. Madison,

On the other side of chart, you have Newark, New Jersey, and Detroit, Michigan, with VantageScores^® of 610 and 591.

In general, the lower your income, the less credit you’ll be extended. While income might be a factor in securing a loan, it doesn’t directly affect your credit scores.

However, credit utilization – meaning the percentage of available credit you use – does factor into a credit score. If you have a lower credit line and use most or all of it, it’ll negatively impact your score.

Building credit is also hard if you don’t have the income to get credit extended to you. It should come as no surprise that those in lower income brackets have lower scores.

So, now that you have a few frames of reference to compare your score to, what can you do about it? Understanding how to improve your score starts with gaining some knowledge regarding what goes into calculating it. In most cases, it’s these six factors:

• Payment history: Whether you’ve paid past credit accounts on time

• Total debts owed: The amount of money you owe to creditors

• Credit utilization: The amount of available credit you’ve borrowed

• Length of credit history: How long your credit accounts have been established

• New credit: How many credit accounts you’ve opened in a short amount of time

• Credit mix: The types of accounts that make up your credit report

Knowing the factors is a start, but understanding how to move the needle in the right direction on each of them is what really matters. Let’s take a look at six ways to get you on the path to climbing the credit score ladder.

1. Make All Your Credit Card Payments On Time

Late payments mean your credit card company changes its focus from giving you credit to collecting a debt. This results in them taking a pretty punitive approach, which can include charging you late fees, hiking up your interest rate and even closing your account.

2. Reduce Your Total Debt

The amount of debt you have is one of the biggest factors that affects your credit score. Carrying a lot of debt, especially credit card debt, is a score killer that can make it hard to get approved for new cards or other loans. Debt on a “maxed out” credit card or debt that goes over your credit card limits is, not surprisingly, especially bad.

3. Keep Your Credit Utilization Low

This is a good indicator of how you manage your finances and what your overall financial capabilities are, so it’s a big influence on your credit score. Getting your utilization rate to below 30% is a good way to improve your overall score.

4. Build Your Credit History 

The longer you build up your credit history the better, as this gives credit card companies more data points in determining how responsible you are when it comes to credit. Paying your bills, credit card debts and other loans on time year after year is a good way to make your credit history shine.

5. Minimize The Frequency Of New Credit Applications

The first thing a bank does when you apply for credit is a hard credit inquiry, which will hurt your credit score. However, if you keep these hard credit inquiries to one or two over a 12-month period, the impact will be minimal.

6. Strive For A Diverse Credit Mix

Having a variety of credit types isn’t a huge factor in determining your credit score, but every bit helps when you’re working toward making yours better. When lenders see you using credit responsibly in several different ways – credit card loans, student loans, home loans, auto loans, etc. – it gives them a little more peace of mind.

As you’ve likely surmised already, the more comfortable lenders get with your behaviors regarding credit, the better your score will be.

The best advice when it comes to your credit score is simply to pay attention to it. Not only does this ensure you understand your score as it ebbs and flows, but it also allows any factual errors that could be affecting your score to be remedied.

You have three different credit reports to monitor – Equifax^®, Experian™ and TransUnion^® – and there are three basic ways to do it:

1. Request copies and check them yourself.
2. Use a free service – there are a variety to choose from online.
3. Use a paid service – again, a quick Google search will supply you with plenty of options.

No matter how you choose to monitor your credit, don’t turn a blind eye or put it off. Knowledge is power when it comes to credit. And now that you’re armed with the knowledge and tools, you can look at your credit with an informed eye. So don’t look away for too long.