Is your credit score average? 

Even when you find out your personal credit score, most people wonder how they stack up with other consumers. What’s a good score? What’s bad?

First, let’s understand that you don’t have just one credit score. There are three credit bureaus in the United States – Transunion, Experian, and Equifax. Each has it’s own data about you and your credit habits. Each also has a slightly different formula for creating credit scores, that all-important number that summarizes your entire credit report.

Your score is almost certainly to be different between the agencies because of the ways in which the score is computed. Lenders and car dealers typically look at only one of the scores but there’s no way you can know in advance which one it might be.

You can get each of your individual credit reports and scores at Equifax at Transunion, and at Experian. 

Credit scores range from 300 to 850. Most people are in the range of 600 to 750. To qualify for the best loan interest rates, you’ll need a score of 680-700 or higher, depending on the lender. Any score below this “prime” level is considered “subprime.” Mortgage lenders have recently gotten themselves in trouble by providing too many high-risk subprime loans.

The national average FICO credit score is about 680. 

It may be a surprise that average scores vary widely by state.

Midwestern and Northeastern states tend to have the highest scores, with South Dakota having the highest at 710. Other states with average scores above 700 are North Dakota, Vermont, New Hamshire, Minnesota, Montana, Massachusetts, and Iowa. States with the lowest average credit scores include Texas, Nevada, Louisiana, and Arizona. Texas has the lowest at 651.

Factors that can damage your credit report include late payments, insufficient credit references, high credit card balances, and bankruptcy.

The first step to improving your credit score is finding out what it is — from all three credit agencies. Get both your detailed credit report and your credit score. Then take the necessary steps toward a better credit score. Make payments on time, reduce outstanding debt, and correct any errors that might be in your credit reports.

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