Credit score ranges run from 300 to 850 under both major scoring systems, FICO and VantageScore, and lenders slice that scale into tiers that decide whether your application gets approved and what interest rate you’re offered. The national average FICO score is 714, which lands the typical American in the “good” band. Where you sit in the range matters because the tier, not the exact number, usually determines the terms you see.
The FICO Credit Score Ranges
Most mortgage and auto lenders still pull FICO scores, so the FICO tiers are the ones you’ll run into most often.
- Poor (300–579): Frequent past-due accounts, defaults, or very high debt relative to available credit. Most conventional lenders will decline applications in this range.
- Fair (580–669): Some negative marks but not a pattern of default. You’ll qualify for certain loans, though at higher rates.
- Good (670–739): Near the national average. Most lenders consider this an acceptable risk.
- Very Good (740–799): Consistently on-time payments and low balances. You’ll qualify for competitive rates.
- Exceptional (800–850): The top tier, reflecting a long track record of responsible borrowing. Lenders offer their best terms here.
The jump from one tier to the next isn’t always linear in cost. Moving from Fair into Good can open the door to products you were being declined for entirely, while moving from Very Good to Exceptional often shaves only a fraction of a percentage point off a rate you were already going to get.
The VantageScore Ranges
VantageScore uses the same 300-to-850 scale but different labels and slightly different cutoffs: Subprime (300–600), Near Prime (601–660), Prime (661–780), and Superprime (781–850).2VantageScore. The Complete Guide to Your VantageScore 4.0 Credit Score A 670, for example, is “Good” under FICO but “Prime” under VantageScore.
The practical difference between the two systems is smaller than the labels suggest. Lenders set their own cutoffs regardless of which model they use, so the description you see on a free credit app can shift depending on who’s doing the scoring even if your underlying credit behavior hasn’t changed.
What Score You Need for Common Goals
Mortgages
Most conventional mortgage lenders want a minimum score in the mid-600s, though specific cutoffs vary by institution. FHA loans are more accessible: borrowers with a 580 or above can qualify with as little as 3.5% down, while scores between 500 and 579 require a 10% down payment. Below 500, FHA financing generally isn’t available.
The cost gap between tiers is real money. A borrower with a 620 score might pay an interest rate two to three percentage points higher than someone with a 760 on the same loan. On a $300,000 30-year mortgage, that difference can add up to more than $100,000 in extra interest over the life of the loan. Under the Truth in Lending Act, lenders have to disclose the interest rate, finance charges, and total cost of a loan before you sign.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1026.17 – General Disclosure Requirements
Auto Loans and Credit Cards
Auto lenders and credit card issuers often pull industry-specific versions of your FICO score — a FICO Auto Score or a FICO Bankcard Score — that start from the same foundation but weight the factors to predict risk for that particular kind of borrowing.4myFICO. FICO Score Versions Your number on one of these can run slightly higher or lower than the base FICO you see on a consumer app, which is why the score your dealer quotes you may not match the one in your banking app.
If You’re in the Poor or Fair Range
A low score doesn’t lock you out of credit, but it does mean paying more and getting fewer options. Many lenders use automated cutoffs that reject applications below a certain score without human review. Secured credit cards offer a path back: they require a refundable deposit, typically starting at $200, that becomes your credit limit. Using the card for small purchases and paying the balance in full each month puts positive payment history on your report just like any other card.5Experian. Best Secured Credit Cards of 2026
What Moves You Between Tiers
FICO builds its score from five categories, each with a fixed weight:
- Payment history (35%): Whether you’ve paid on time, how late any missed payments were, and how recently they occurred. A single 30-day late payment can drop a good score by 60 to 100 points.
- Amounts owed (30%): How much of your available credit you’re using. Carrying a $3,000 balance on a card with a $10,000 limit means 30% utilization. Lower is better, and crossing above roughly 30% starts to drag your score down noticeably.
- Length of credit history (15%): The age of your oldest account, your newest account, and the average across all accounts. Closing your oldest card can hurt here.
- Credit mix (10%): A blend of account types, such as a credit card, an auto loan, and a mortgage.
- New credit (10%): Recently opened accounts and hard inquiries.
VantageScore 4.0 weights payment history even more heavily, at 41%, with depth of credit and utilization each around 20%.2VantageScore. The Complete Guide to Your VantageScore 4.0 Credit Score Under either model, paying on time is the single biggest lever.
How Negative Items Age Off
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, most negative information drops off your credit report after seven years. That includes late payments, collection accounts, and charge-offs. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the main exception and can remain for up to ten years from the filing date.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Rate Shopping Without Tanking Your Tier
A single hard inquiry typically costs fewer than five points, and the effect fades within a year.8myFICO. Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It? When you’re comparing mortgage, auto, or student loan offers, the scoring models recognize that you’re shopping for one loan rather than opening five. Newer FICO versions treat all inquiries for the same loan type within a 45-day window as a single inquiry; older versions use 14 days.9myFICO. How to Rate Shop and Minimize the Impact to Your FICO Scores VantageScore collapses all hard inquiries within a 14-day window into one.2VantageScore. The Complete Guide to Your VantageScore 4.0 Credit Score Shop within a few weeks, not over several months.
What the Score Doesn’t Include
Credit score ranges reflect borrowing behavior, not personal finances overall. The models don’t factor in your income, savings, employment status, job title, or where you live. A surgeon earning $500,000 a year with no credit history will have a lower score than a barista who’s held a credit card in good standing for a decade. Race, religion, sex, marital status, and receipt of public assistance are all legally excluded from scoring as well.
Also excluded: the interest rates on your existing accounts, your rent payments in most cases (reporting rent to bureaus is still uncommon), and soft inquiries like checking your own score or receiving a pre-approved offer. Only hard inquiries from actual credit applications count.
Finding Out Which Tier You’re In
You can pull a free credit report from each of the three major bureaus every week through AnnualCreditReport.com. The three bureaus made this program permanent after launching it as a temporary pandemic-era measure, and Equifax is providing six additional free reports per year through 2026.10Federal Trade Commission. Free Credit Reports
A credit report isn’t the same as a credit score. The report is the raw account data; the score is the number calculated from it. Many banks and credit card issuers now show cardholders a free FICO or VantageScore in the account dashboard, so check there before paying for a score elsewhere. If the number you see puts you in a lower tier than you expected, your report is where the explanation lives — look for accounts you don’t recognize, balances that seem wrong, and late payments you believe you made on time.