Let’s start with the biggest news.

According to FICO.com, the average FICO score in 2020 is 706.

According to Experian, the average credit score in 2020 is 703.

Later in this post, we will explain why is this difference.

The latest data is in, and the average U.S. FICO® Score now sits at 706. Since bottoming out at 686 in Oct 2009, there have been nine consecutive years of increases in the national average FICO Score. Source.

Approximately 21% of Americans had a FICO® Score that fell in the “good” credit score range in the second quarter of 2019, while approximately 58% had a FICO® Score of 703 or greater. Source.

Compiled using the latest information from both FICO and Experian, our study breaks down the data into various subgroupings to provide the most accurate depiction of American consumer credit.

Our studies are always up to date!

2019 Update:

Just recently, the Fair Isaac Corporation – issuer of FICO Scores – announced an update to its scoring model. Instead of relying solely on consumer credit history, the new Ultra FICO Score will incorporate other variables such as how consumers manage their checking, savings and money market accounts.

It’s worth noting, if you maintain an average savings account balance of $400 – and have no negative balances within a three month period – it can generate an initial boost in your credit score by as much as 20 points.

Average Credit Score in America 2020: Charts, Graph, Analysis

Before we explain why the data from FICO.com and Experian slightly differ and give you more advanced findings, let’s give you the actual details till 2020.

Historical Average FICO Score, According to FICO.com:

The latest data is in, and the average U.S. FICO® Score now sits at 706. Since bottoming out at 686 in Oct 2009, there have been nine consecutive years of increases in the national average FICO Score.

Year:	Average FICO Score:
2005	688
2006	690
2007	689
2008	689
2009	686
2010	687
2011	688
2012	690
2013	691
2014	694
2015	696
2016	699
2017	701
2018	704
2019	706

Historical Average FICO Score, According to Experian:

As mentioned above, the average FICO Score continues to demonstrate a strong upward trend. Bottoming nearly a year after the 2008 financial crisis, the data shows borrowers are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about debt service.

Year:	Average FICO Score:
2009	686
2010	687
2011	688
2012	693
2013	691
2014	693
2015	695
2016	699
2017	699
2018	701
2019	703

Historical Average Vantage Score:

Similar to the average FICO Score, the average Vantage Score shows a parallel – though somewhat delayed – participation in the upward trend.

Sourced from the latest Experian State of Credit Study, the data depicts the average Vantage Score bottoming in 2014, before beginning a slow climb back to the near-highs of 2013.

Year:	Average Vantage Score:
2013	681
2014	666
2015	669
2016	673
2017	675

Why the data from FICO.com and Experian is different?

Is there a difference between FICO and credit score?

These sites use different algo, which is almost same, that is why the values slightly vary. But as you can see, they are very close. So is there an actual difference between FICO and credit score? We can conclude that:

In a material sense – no.

While FICO consolidates anonymous data from credit bureaus, a Vantage Score is generated from a combination of similar consumer credit filings.

As well, each of their final scores – ranging from 300 to 850 – are calculated use similar model inputs:

• Payment history
• Length of credit history
• Types of credit
• Credit usage
• Recent inquiries

And as you can see the difference is very low.

Year:	By FICO.com:	By Experian:	Vantage Score:
2005	688	–	–
2006	690	–	–
2007	689	–	–
2008	689	–	–
2009	686	686	–
2010	687	687	–
2011	688	688	–
2012	690	693	–
2013	691	691	681
2014	694	693	666
2015	696	695	669
2016	699	699	673
2017	701	699	675
2018	704	701	–
2019	706	703	–

Note! There are many scoring models. They use different also, but their criteria and values are very close. Lenders don’t use same criteria for evaluating your credit risk. Most lenders use FICO, other use VantageScore, other use their own risk criteria.

Here are the most popular scoring models.

Credit Score	Range/Scale:
Generic FICO Score	300 – 850
Equifax	280 – 850
TransRisk	300 – 850
VantageScore 1.0 & 2.0	501 – 990
VantageScore 3.0	300 – 850
PLUS Score	330 – 830
Experian National Equivalency Score	360 – 840

But what is much more important is not this small difference.

What is important is that the average credit score continue growing!

Why The Average Credit Score Continue Growing?

The key driver of this trend is the improved consumer financial health that has resulted from the steady economic growth that the U.S. has experienced since the Great Recession. But there are likely several other important factors pushing U.S. consumers’ scores upwards as well.

• There has been increased consumer awareness around FICO Scores and credit education. Programs like FICO® Score Open Access provides over 300 million consumer accounts free access to the FICO® Score. A recent article pointed out a study by economists at Yale, NYU, and the University of Chicago which found that borrowers who are shown their FICO® Scores are more likely to adopt better credit habits and improve their scores.
• Negative credit information is being removed from credit files.  As covered here, consumers who suffered financial misfortune during the Great Recession have over the past few years had the associated missed payments from that time period purged from their credit file, in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  In addition, the Fed has highlighted that consumer credit scores in the lower score ranges may have benefitted over the past several years from efforts by the Consumer Reporting Agencies to refine collection reporting practices on consumer files.

As a result of these developments, consumer credit profiles and financial health have shown significant improvement since bottoming out in 2009.

The improvement in FICO® Scores is readily apparent when examining score distribution data over the past 10 years.  The percentage of U.S. consumers scoring in the lowest score ranges (e.g. <550) has dropped by almost one-third, from 16% in April 2009 to 11.1% in April 2019.  Meanwhile, the number of consumers scoring in the super-prime range of 800+ has increased from 18.2% to 22.3% over the same period.

Average Vantage Score by State:

Organized from highest to lowest, the average Vantage Score by state ranges from 647 to 709. Even without an identifiable trend, you can still see that 30 states sit either at or above the national average, while the other 21 states (including DC) fall below the 675 mark.

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State:	Average Vantage Score:
Minnesota	709
Vermont	702
New Hampshire	701
South Dakota	700
Massachusetts	699
North Dakota	697
Wisconsin	696
Iowa	695
Nebraska	695
Hawaii	693
Washington	693
Connecticut	690
Montana	689
Maine	689
Colorado	688
Oregon	688
New York	688
Rhode Island	687
Pennsylvania	687
New Jersey	686
Utah	683
Illinois	683
Idaho	681
California	680
Virginia	680
Kansas	680
Wyoming	678
Ohio	678
Michigan	677
Missouri	675
Maryland	672
Delaware	672
District of Columbia (DC)	670
Arizona	669
Alaska	668
Florida	668
Indiana	667
North Carolina	666
Kentucky	663
Tennessee	662
New Mexico	659
West Virginia	658
Arkansas	657
South Carolina	657
Oklahoma	656
Texas	656
Nevada	655
Alabama	654
Georgia	654
Louisiana	650
Mississippi	647

Average Credit Score by Age:

Age Bracket:	Average Credit Score 2018	Average Credit Score 2019
20 – 29	659	662
30 – 39	677	673
40 – 49	690	684
50 – 59	713	706
60+	747	749

It’s more than obvious that how important is your credit score in live. And unfortunately people learn this late.

Like a few of the figures above, the data shows a strong correlation between age and one’s average credit score. And when considering the inputs we outlined at the start, this result is somewhat expected.

Why?

Because most young people have a limited borrowing capacity as well as a limited credit history. Considering FICO models are data driven – a lack of credit usage works against those in the lowest age cohorts.

Conversely, borrowers over the age of 40 – or 30 for that matter – usually have established careers, predictable earnings and carry a significant amount of mortgage debt. The longer duration of credit usage combined with an established repayment history signifies higher creditworthiness in the eyes of analysts.

Average Credit Score by Income:

While at first glance, the data shows a positive correlation between income and one’s average credit score, a recent Federal Reserve study cautions not to make too much of the relationship.

After statistically regressing several Mintel/Comperemedia data sets using its proprietary inputs, researchers concluded that, “credit score distributions of high- and low-income consumers are both widely dispersed [and] that income is not a strong predictor of credit scores , or vice versa.”

Technically speaking, the results showed a correlation of 0.27 and an R-squared of roughly 0.08. To feel confident in the linear relationship between two variables, most statisticians want to see a correlation greater than 0.60.

Income Grouping:	Percentage of Median Family Income (MFI):	Average Credit Score:
Low Income	< 50%	664
Moderate Income	50-79%	716
Middle Income	80-119%	753
High Income	120%	775

Average Credit Score by Gender:

Citing data from a 2016 study, the table below shows men have a higher average credit score than women. While many variables are at play, the main difference between the two is employment earnings.

Men – on average – earn more money than women in the workplace.

Higher average earnings lead to increased borrowing capacity, which seems to result in a higher average credit score.

Income Range ($):	Male Average Credit Score:	Female Average Credit Score:
35,000 – 54,999	646	634
55,000 – 74,999	651	639
75,000 – 99,999	666	652
100,000 – 149,999	683	671
> 150,000	700	690

Confirming the trend, a recent Federal Reserve study – released June 22, 2018 – compares the average credit score of single males and females within the 21-40 age bracket. The study compiles 10-years of Mintel and TransUnion data to generate its average Vantage Score.

 

Age:	Male Average Vantage Score:	Female Average Vantage Score:
21 – 30	768	762
31 – 40	793	785

As part of their findings, researchers concluded that single women tend to have higher debt usage, longer credit histories, higher debt outstanding, increased use of credit revolvers as well as higher installment loan balances.

The study also concluded that single women are more likely to have payment delinquencies included within their credit history.

Conversely, males tend to exhibit higher rates of bankruptcy.

 

Average Credit Score by Race:

According to a report published by the Federal Reserve Bank, Asians (745) have the highest average credit score, while Blacks (677) have the lowest average credit score.

 

Race:	Average Credit Score:
Blacks	677
Hispanics	701
Other	732
Whites	734
Asians	745

Credit Scores and Loan Interest Rates:

When applying for a loan, the first step taken by banks and alternative lenders is to check your credit score.

While many other variables are taken into consideration, your credit score plays an important role in determining the loan terms, and most importantly, the cost of borrowing.

Using their own risk-based models, lenders roughly characterize and price borrowers as such:

Credit Score:	Expected Interest Rate:
670 – 800+	5% – 10%
580 – 669	10% – 20%
300 – 579	20% – 35.99%

At the bottom-end of the scale, borrowers with low credit scores often face diminishing prospects when trying to obtain a loan. As a result, payday loans and auto tittle loans – with interest rates as high as 300% to 400% – are usually their only option.

Consumer studies also show:

• Roughly 20% of people who enter into auto title loans end up losing their car.
• The average American debt cycle is 200 days.

Credit Scores and Credit Card Interest Rates:

Cut from the same cloth, a stable and reliable credit score will also benefit you when it comes to credit card applications. As an unsecured form of borrowing, lenders are wary to extend large credit limits to high-risk borrowers.

As such, maintaining a respectable score will not only lower your annual interest rate – but also allow you to qualify for options with higher minimum balances, lower annual fees and greater rewards as well.

How Credit Score Factors Changed Over The Last 10 Years?

Do you know this graph?

Probably yes. You’ve seen graphs like this one many times.

But now we will dig more into what is behind that and give you more advanced information on how these percentages change over the last 10 years. Here it is.

How We Conducted the Study:

Updated to reflect the latest information available in 2020, our study combed through official credit scoring data from Experian, the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) and the US Federal Reserve. We also included statistics from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), then summarized our findings to provide the most accurate depiction of American consumer credit.

Conclusion:

When analyzing the numbers, you see a clear eight-year upward trend in the average FICO Score. While the average Vantage Score shows a similar trend, the slower climb has kept it from reaching its high of 2013.

When crunching the numbers at the state-level, 30 states sit either at or above the national average Vantage Score, while 21 other states (including DC) sit below the 675 threshold.

When analyzing the data by age, there is a clear correlation between average age and one’s average credit score. While it’s a function of many factors – greater financial earnings, increased debt usage as well as a longer repayment history seem to hold the greatest weight.

On the other hand, income presents a different story.

While the data shows a positive correlation between income and credit scores, a recent statistical study by the Federal Reserve poured cold water on that notion.

All in all though, the average credit score is headed in the right direction.

As borrowers become more educated about their finances and take better care to avoid mistakes of the past – the end result should be a healthier financial system for all parties involved.

Sources:

Experian: Credit Score Study

Fico: Average Fico Score

FICO Scores vs. Vantage Scores

Experian: State of Credit 2017

Official FICO Score Data

Federal Reserve Study of Credit Scores and Gender

Federal Reserve Study of Credit Scores and Income

Ultra FICO Score Information