What Is A Good Credit Score?

Understanding Credit Score Range

First Published Date: March 13, 2016

Your credit score is a three digit number that reflects the well being of your credit worthiness or how efficiently you are managing money or debts. Various credit reporting agencies such as Equifax and TransUnion provide this information and Fair Isaac Corp. produces the most commonly used credit scoring algorithm known as FICO, although various other credit scoring models exist.

The credit score ranges are very similar for most of the credit scoring models and they can run from the upper 200 to upper 900 range. I will use the FICO score to illustrate what a good credit score is in this article, as FICO is the most widely used credit scoring model.

What is considered a good score or a bad score varies according to the lender and what type of loan is being sought because lenders have their own set standards to approve or deny you credit.

Here is a very general guideline for FICO score range (300 – 850):

350 – 629 = Bad

630- 689 = Fair

690 – 719 = Good

720 + = Excellent

The highest FICO score possible is 850 and not many are able to achieve that. However, anything above 720 in general is considered an excellent credit score and those who achieve it most likely will get approved for whatever they apply.

Although having a score above 800 is kind of like having an elite status in score, lenders usually treat those within the range from 750 to 850 the same way. In other words, if your score is 750 you will most likely get the same rate as someone at 820.