What Is the Average Credit Score in America?

What Is the Average Credit Score in the U.S.?

We'll get straight to it. The average credit score in America is 714 on the FICO scale as of October 2025, based on Experian data. On the VantageScore 4.0 model, it's 701 as of March 2026.

Both numbers land squarely in the "Good" credit range (670 to 739 on the FICO scale). That means the typical American has enough credit health to qualify for most standard loan products, though they'll still pay a bit more in interest than someone in the "Very Good" or "Exceptional" tiers.

Here's what the full FICO score ranges look like:

If your score is sitting around 714, you're right at the national average. That's not bad. But it also means there's meaningful room to move up. The difference between a 714 and a 760 can save you thousands of dollars in interest on a mortgage or a personal loan over time.

If you're not sure where exactly your number falls, we have a full breakdown in our guide on what is a good credit score.

Average Credit Score Over Time

The average FICO score in the U.S. has been on a slow, steady climb for over a decade. From 2013 through 2024, it went up every single year without exception. That 12-year winning streak finally ended in 2025, when the national average dipped from 716 back down to 714.

Two points might not sound like much, and on an individual level, it isn't. But for a national average to reverse direction after more than a decade of growth, something meaningful shifted underneath the surface. We'll dig into the reasons below.

First, here's the full timeline:

Average Credit Score by Age and Generation

Your age is one of the strongest predictors of your credit score, and the pattern is consistent: older Americans carry higher scores. This makes sense. Credit scores reward long credit histories, low utilization, and a track record of on-time payments. All of those things accumulate with time.

The generational gap is large. The average Gen Z consumer has a FICO score of 678, and the average member of the Silent Generation sits at 760. That's an 82-point spread.

What's worth noting in 2025 is that the score declines hit younger borrowers hardest. Gen Z dropped 3 points and Millennials dropped 2 points compared to the prior year. Boomers actually went up by a point. More on why this is happening in a later section.

Here's the full generational breakdown:

Average Credit Score by State

Where you live doesn't directly change your credit score, but geography and credit health are closely linked. States with higher median incomes, lower costs of living relative to wages, and older populations tend to cluster at the top. States with higher poverty rates and younger demographics tend to cluster at the bottom.

Minnesota leads the nation with an average FICO score of 742. The entire upper Midwest and New England dominate the top of this list. On the other end, Mississippi has the lowest average at 676, which still falls in the "Good" range but sits 66 points below Minnesota.

Here are the top 5 and bottom 5 states:

Credit Score Distribution: Where Do Americans Fall?

The national average only tells part of the story. When you look at how scores are actually distributed across the population, a more interesting picture comes into focus.

The biggest concentration of Americans, about 22.8%, now holds scores of 800 or above. That's an all-time high. At the same time, roughly 15% of consumers sit below 580 in the "Poor" range, which is up about 1.5 percentage points from 2024.

What's shrinking is the middle. The share of consumers scoring between 600 and 749 dropped from 38.1% in 2021 to 33.8% in 2025. FICO has described this as a "K-shaped" divergence. People at the top are doing better than ever. People at the bottom are sliding. And the middle is thinning out.

This means the average FICO score of 714 actually masks a growing split. If your score is below 670, you're not just "below average." You're increasingly separated from the majority of consumers who qualify for competitive rates. And if you're struggling in that range, options like bad credit loans or secured credit cards can be practical stepping stones.

Average Credit Score by Race and Ethnicity

We believe in being honest about data, even when it's uncomfortable. The credit score gap by race in America is large, persistent, and well-documented.

Asian Americans carry the highest average FICO scores at roughly 745. Non-Hispanic White consumers average about 734. Hispanic White consumers average 701. Black Americans average approximately 677.

These gaps don't exist because of individual choices alone. They reflect decades of systemic differences in access to banking, homeownership, generational wealth, and predatory lending patterns that disproportionately targeted communities of color. The CFPB has found that 11% of all adults (about 26 million people) are "credit invisible," meaning they have no credit file at all, and this rate is higher in Black and Hispanic communities.

It's important context when you see headlines about the "average" credit score. A national average of 714 doesn't mean everyone starts from the same place.

Why the Average Credit Score Declined in 2025

The 2-point drop from 716 to 714 might seem small, but it ended a 12-year run of consecutive annual increases. That doesn't happen without real underlying pressure. Here's what's driving it.

Student loan payments resumed. After more than three years of pandemic-era forbearance, federal student loan payments restarted in late 2023. By 2025, the full impact showed up in credit data. Millions of borrowers, most of them under 45, saw their on-time payment records disrupted. This is the single biggest factor behind Gen Z and Millennial score declines.

The "K-shaped" split widened. Consumers at the top (800+) continued to grow as a share of the population. But the middle thinned out. The percentage of consumers scoring between 600 and 749 dropped from 38.1% in 2021 to 33.8% in 2025. Some moved up. Others fell down. The net effect pulled the overall average lower.

Mortgage and auto loan delinquencies ticked up. Rising interest rates from 2022 through 2024 made housing and car payments more expensive. For borrowers who bought or refinanced at higher rates, monthly payments became harder to maintain. Early-stage delinquencies (30 to 89 days late) rose across both categories.

Credit card balances hit record levels. Total U.S. credit card debt crossed $1.14 trillion in 2025. Higher balances mean higher utilization ratios, which directly pull down FICO scores. This hit younger consumers hardest, since they tend to have lower credit limits.

The important takeaway: the decline wasn't random. It was concentrated among younger borrowers dealing with student loans, rising costs, and high credit card utilization. If you're in that group and your score dropped, you're far from alone. And the path back up is straightforward. We'll cover that next.

How to Check and Improve Your Credit Score

Knowing the average FICO score is useful for context, but what matters most is your own number and what you can do about it.

You're entitled to free credit reports from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) once a week through AnnualCreditReport.com. Your FICO score specifically is available free through many banks and credit card issuers. Check yours if you haven't recently, because your credit score updates more often than you might think.

Once you know your score, here's what actually moves the needle:

Building credit takes time, but most of the heavy lifting comes from two factors: paying on time and keeping balances low. If you do those two things consistently, your score will move in the right direction within a few months.

If your credit score is preventing you from getting approved for the products you need, take a look at no credit check loan options or credit cards for low credit scores as a bridge while you rebuild. The point isn't to stay in those products forever. It's to get your foot in the door so you can work your way up.

And if you've been denied and you're not sure why, our guide on why you can't get a loan covers the most common reasons and what to do about each one.