FICO score

What It Means

A FICO Score is a credit scoreCredit scoreA three-digit number calculated from your credit report that lenders use to judge how likely you are to repay; common models run from 300 to 850. See more calculated by FICO's models from the information in your credit reportCredit reportA record of how you've borrowed and repaid, kept by credit bureaus and sold to lenders, landlords, insurers and others who decide whether to deal with you. See more. myFICO groups that information into five categories and publishes how much each counts for the general population: payment historyPayment historyThe record in your credit reports of whether you paid each credit account on time, late or not at all; it's about 35% of a FICO Score. See more 35%, amounts owed 30%, length of credit historyLength of credit historyHow long you've been using credit, measured by the ages of your oldest, newest and average accounts; it makes up 15% of a FICO Score. See more 15%, new credit 10% and credit mixCredit mixThe variety of credit types on your report, such as cards, retail accounts, installment loans and a mortgage; it makes up 10% of a FICO Score. See more 10%. Base FICO Scores, including FICO Score 8, the version lenders use most, run from 300 to 850.

How People Say It

• "What's your FICO?"
• "The lender pulled my FICO Score 8."
• "My FICO went up once I paid the card down."

The Breakdown

A short example. Dana has two credit cards and has never missed a payment. Before the holidays she runs one card up to $2,700 of its $3,000 limit, planning to pay it off in January. In December she applies for a car loanCar loanAn installment loan used to buy a vehicle, repaid in monthly payments over a set term, with the vehicle as collateral. See more and is surprised the rate isn't better.

Where it goes wrong. Paying on time covers payment history, the biggest category at 35%, but amounts owed is next at 30%, and myFICO describes it as how much of your available credit you're using. A card at 90% of its limit weighs on that part of the score even when every payment arrives on time. Opening several new cards at once touches another category, new credit, at 10%.

What to watch for

• Pay every credit account on time; payment history carries the most weight.
• Keep card balances well below their limits, especially in the months before a big application.
• Open new credit only when you need it.
• Ask which FICO version a lender used. myFICO says FICO Score 8 is the base version most widely used by lenders, and industry-specific versions such as the FICO Auto Score run from 250 to 900 instead.

Good to Know

The five percentages are myFICO's figures for the general population, and it notes that how much each category matters for you depends on your own credit profile. myFICO's statement that FICO Scores are used by 90% of top lenders comes from a study counting all versions of FICO Scores sold to lenders, FICO Score 8 among them. For mortgagesMortgageA loan used to buy or refinance a home, secured by the home itself and repaid in monthly installments over a set term. See more sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as of September 2026, lets lenders choose, on an interim basis, between Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0VantageScoreA credit scoring model from the company VantageScore; version 4.0 runs from 300 to 850 and gives payment history the most weight, at 41%. See more.

Related Terms and Categories

• Credit score

  A three-digit number calculated from your credit report that lenders use to judge how likely you are to repay; common models run from 300 to 850.

• VantageScore

  A credit scoring model from the company VantageScore; version 4.0 runs from 300 to 850 and gives payment history the most weight, at 41%.

• Payment history

  The record in your credit reports of whether you paid each credit account on time, late or not at all; it's about 35% of a FICO Score.

• Credit utilization

  The share of your available revolving credit you're using, found by dividing your card balances by your credit limits.

• Length of credit history

  How long you've been using credit, measured by the ages of your oldest, newest and average accounts; it makes up 15% of a FICO Score.

• Credit mix

  The variety of credit types on your report, such as cards, retail accounts, installment loans and a mortgage; it makes up 10% of a FICO Score.

Debt and credit