Posted by: Alina Comoreanu

The average credit score in the U.S. is anywhere from 669 to 699. It depends on which credit report and credit-score model are used, as the following table shows.

Type of Credit Score	2016 Average
TransUnion VantageScore	669
Experian VantageScore	673
Equifax VantageScore	699
FICO Score	699

Below, you can learn more about the average credit scores by year, state, age and more. Checking out these credit score statistics will give you a better sense of how good your credit score is relative to those of your peers. Credit-score averages can also tell us a lot about the health of consumers’ finances and the strength of the economy.

Finally, it’s important to note that while many different types of credit scores exist, the most popular ones all use the standard 300 to 850 credit-score range. They’re also based on the same information – your credit reports – and produce very similar results in most cases, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. So it doesn’t really matter whether an average credit score is based on a VantageScore or FICO model, as long the data is consistent. After all, there isn’t one “real” credit score.

1. Average Credit Score by Year

2. Average Credit Score by Age

3. Average Credit Score by State

Average Credit Score by Year

The average U.S. credit score can tell us a great deal about the health of consumers and the economy more broadly. That’s especially true when you examine credit-score averages over time. For example, the average VantageScore credit score improved by 11 points from 2007 to 2015, reflecting our rebound from the Great Recession. Credit-score statistics tend to be relatively slow to reflect such big economic events, however, making them somewhat unreliable for predictive purposes.

Sources: MyFICO.com & New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax

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Average Credit Score by Age

Statistics show that credit scores tend to improve as people age. As you can see from the table below, the oldest people have the highest credit scores, on average. And scores decline by age group all the way to the youngest cohort, which has the lowest average credit score.

The accumulation of wealth and experience over time is the most likely explanation for this. As people age, they also tend to grow more financially responsible and secure, qualities that lend themselves to credit improvement. And the more time you have, the more opportunity there is to recover from mistakes. Another reason is the way credit scores are calculated. The length of your credit history accounts for a significant portion of your score (around 15%), for one thing.

Source: Experian 2016 State of Credit

There is not a direct correlation between credit quality and age, though. In 2016, the average person with bad credit was 11 years older than the average person with excellent credit, as the following table shows.

Credit Score Tier	Average Age
Excellent	41
Good	45
Fair/Limited	47
Bad	52

Source: WalletHub

Some people assume that younger folks have lower credit scores because they now face a tougher time obtaining credit due to the CARD Act’s restrictions. But you can still get a credit card when you turn 18. You just need to demonstrate that you have access to enough income or assets to afford the minimum monthly payments, which are usually around $15 to start.

Besides, 56% of college students have been using credit cards as of 2016, according to Sallie Mae, and the average student has three cards.

Average Credit Score by State

The average credit score by state ranges from 642 in Mississippi all the way to 702 in Minnesota. And both states are fairly representative of their broader regions, as you can see below. If you’re wondering, blue states have a higher average credit score (676) than red states (667).

Source: TransUnion

Credit Scores by Region:

The South has the worst credit, on average (657), whereas the Midwest has the best (680). In fact, four of the five states with the highest average credit scores are in the Midwest. With that being said, every region has at least one state whose residents boast good credit, on average.

So while job opportunities, living costs and other local factors definitely affect credit-score averages, it’s also true that credit scores can flourish anywhere.

Region	Average Credit Score
Northeast	676
South	657
Midwest	680
West	676

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