What a score is, who uses which one, and why the numbers differ.
A credit score is a number, built from the information in your credit report, that estimates how likely you are to repay borrowed money. Lenders, landlords, and insurers may use it to decide whether to approve you and at what price. There is no single score: each model calculates its own number from your report.
FICO scores range from 300 to 850. Five factors make up the score, with these general weights.
| Factor | Weight | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Payment history | 35% | Whether you paid past accounts on time, and any late payments, collections, or bankruptcies |
| Amounts owed | 30% | How much of your available credit you are using and how much you owe overall |
| Length of credit history | 15% | How long your accounts have been open, including your oldest and your average |
| New credit | 10% | How many accounts you recently opened and recent hard inquiries |
| Credit mix | 10% | The variety of accounts you manage, such as cards and installment loans |
The weights are general guidance. They differ from person to person, because they depend on what is in your file.
FICO has released several versions over the years: FICO Score 8 is widely used, and FICO Score 9, FICO Score 10, and FICO Score 10 T are newer. Mortgage lending has long used older versions, FICO Score 2, 4, and 5, one for each bureau. There are also industry-specific auto and bankcard scores built for those lenders.
VantageScore also ranges from 300 to 850. The common versions are VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0. VantageScore says its models can score people with limited histories, sometimes after a single month, where FICO 8 generally needs more history. Check current model documentation for the exact minimums.
VantageScore does not publish percentage weights the way FICO does. It describes how influential each factor is, with payment history the most influential. Version 4.0 also uses trended data, which looks at how your balances and payments have moved over time, and it treats paid collections and medical collections differently from older models. The details change with each version, so verify against VantageScore's own materials.
| Feature | FICO | VantageScore |
|---|---|---|
| Range | 300 to 850 | 300 to 850 |
| Current versions in use | FICO 8 is the most common, with 9, 10, and 10 T newer | VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0 |
| How factors are described | Fixed general percentage weights | Influence levels, not percentages |
| Limited history | Needs more history to score | Can score shorter or thinner files |
| Trended data | Included in FICO 10 T | Included in VantageScore 4.0 |
| Mortgage lending | Older FICO versions have been the standard | VantageScore 4.0 approved for mortgages sold to the GSEs, see below |
Bands help you see roughly where you stand. These are the FICO bands as published by FICO. VantageScore uses its own band names and cutoffs, and lenders set their own rules.
| FICO band | Score |
|---|---|
| Poor | 300 to 579 |
| Fair | 580 to 669 |
| Good | 670 to 739 |
| Very good | 740 to 799 |
| Exceptional | 800 to 850 |
