What
is a Good Credit Score?
An Introduction & Overview
A good credit score is important to your
future borrowing abilities, and could affect whether you get
that new car or even insurance or a new job. Yet only around
30% of Americans know their scores, and 78% of our credit
scores are said to contain errors. So very few likely even
know what a good score is so they can clean up their reports
and raise their number.
The Impact of Your Credit Score
Your score affects how lenders, insurers,
and even employers, perceive you as a risk. For instance,
the median (which means half the people surveyed were higher
than this score and half were lower) nationwide FICO score
is around 723. Someone with that score applying for a loan
will fare well, but the further you get below that mark, the
more costly the loan will become—if you even get it.
People with scores around 600 have been known to get loans,
but it costs them dearly.
What is a Good Credit Score?
A good credit score, however, is considered
700 and above, although the best rates are reserved for those
with scores above the median. Remember that the median is
not the average score, it’s the score that splits the
population of Americans with credit scores in half—half
of the people with credit scores are lower than 723 and half
are higher.
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