What is the Average Credit Score by Age or State?

A credit score is a number ranging from 300-850 that measures your creditworthiness—the higher the score, the better. There are several types of credit scores as well as several components that go into one.

Experian recently explored the average credit scores in the United States, breaking them down by several different factors in an effort to understand how and why they continue to increase. Two factors they explored are age and state. And, while these do not affect how a credit score is determined, there are some correlations one can draw.

What is the average credit score by age?

Age is not factored when calculating your credit score—in fact, it doesn’t even show up in your credit report. What matters is the average length of your credit history—the longer your available credit history is, assuming it’s a responsible one, the more likely lenders are to view you as financially trustworthy over the long term.

So, while it’s entirely possible for a young person to have a higher credit score than someone older than them, the odds are they will have a lower score simply because they have shorter payment and credit histories than their older counterparts.

This is evident in the current average FICO^® credit scores by age range:

^{†Data from Experian}

What is the average credit score by state?

No matter the neighborhood, town, city, or state, credit scores range from person to person based on each individual’s financial situation—and NOT the location itself. Where you live is never considered when calculating your credit score.

Where there is a potential impact is with the different societal characteristics present in each state. Things like unemployment rates and income levels can potentially influence credit scores one way or another. For example, a state with higher employment and income levels may lead to its residents having a better ability to pay their credit card bills, get more credit, etc., and vice versa with states with lower employment and income levels.

With all of that in mind, you can see the different average FICO^® credit scores from state to state:

^{†Data from Experian}

So, what does this all mean?

Whether your score looks good or not compared to those around you, it’s always a great idea to do your best to practice smart financial habits (e.g., timely payments, a healthy credit utilization ratio, etc.) The better you do these things, the higher your credit score will likely be.

If you’d like to put these smart financial habits into practice with a new credit card, Credit One Bank offers a variety of cards for you to choose from. You can even take a quiz to find the right card for you.