What Is My Credit Score?

A man looks at his phone while holding an apple in his other hand.

Your credit score is a key factor of your financial well-being, providing a glimpse into how well you manage your financial obligations. You can check your FICO® Score 8 for free through Experian to get an idea of where you stand, and also get some insights into how you can improve your credit.

As you evaluate your credit health, here's what you need to know about why your credit score is so important, which factors influence it and how to monitor your credit regularly.

What Does My Credit Score Mean?

When you apply for a credit card or loan, a lender's top priority is making sure the debt is repaid on time. While it's impossible to predict the future, lenders use credit scores as predictive models to assess the likelihood that you'll pay your bills on time.

Your credit scores are based on information found in your credit reports. Credit reports contain key details about your past and current dealing with credit, such as the status of both open and closed accounts, loan and credit card balances, payment history and credit inquiries—more on those in a minute.

Credit scoring models use algorithms to analyze the information found in your credit reports and convert it into a simple score. So, while your credit score doesn't tell the full story, it can give lenders a basic understanding of how risky you are as a prospective borrower.

The base FICO® Score 8, the score most widely used by lenders, ranges from 300 to 850. The following FICO® Score ranges can help you evaluate how you're doing:

FICO® Score Ranges and Ratings
Range Rating
300 — 579 Poor
580 — 669 Fair
670 — 739 Good
740 — 799 Very good
800 — 850 Exceptional

How to Check My Experian Credit Score

When lenders review your credit, they use a credit score based on your credit report from a single credit bureau: Experian, TransUnion or Equifax. They may even check your credit with two or all three bureaus. To get an idea of what your credit profile looks like, you can check your FICO® Score powered by Experian data for free. Here's how:

  1. Get started. Visit Experian's website and click on "Check your FICO® Score for free." You'll then provide the last four digits of your Social Security number and your phone number.
  2. Verify your personal details. You'll receive a confirmation link in a text message. Click on the link, then return to your browser. You'll then enter or confirm your personal information, including your name, date of birth, full Social Security number and address.
  3. Create your account. After entering your personal information, you'll create login credentials using your email address and a password. You can then proceed to create your account.
  4. View your dashboard. Your FICO® Score 8 appears on your main dashboard when you log in to your account. If you click on your score, you can get more details about the factors that are impacting it, as well as a summary of your debt. This allows you to track changes and trends over time.

Note that you can also download the Experian mobile app and register there instead of through your desktop browser.

If you want to view your FICO® Scores based on your reports from all three credit bureaus, as well as have access to industry-specific scores, identity theft insurance, bill negotiation services and many other features, you can upgrade your account with a paid premium membership from Experian.

It can make sense to check all versions of your FICO® Score if you're planning to apply for an important loan, such as a mortgage to buy a house.

How to Get Your FICO® Score for Free

Understand the reasons that help or hurt your FICO® Score, including your payment history, how much credit you are using, as well as other factors that influence your overall credit.

Get Your FICO® Score

Understanding the 5 Credit Score Factors

There are five main categories of credit activity that impact your FICO® Score. While FICO assigns a percentage to each one, the math isn't necessarily cut and dried. That said, they can give you a good idea of which factors are more influential than others. Here's a quick summary of each one.

Payment History: 35%

Paying your bills on time is crucial for establishing a positive payment history. If you miss a single payment by 30 days or more, it could have a significant negative impact on your credit score—and the longer it goes unpaid, the more damage it'll do.

Other major negative events can also severely damage your payment history. Examples include loan default, charge-offs, repossession, foreclosure, collection accounts and bankruptcy.

Amounts Owed: 30%

With this category, FICO looks at a handful of factors to get an idea of how your debt balances may impact your ability to add another credit account. Factors include:

  • Credit utilization on your credit cards
  • The overall amount owed on all of your accounts combined
  • The amount owed on individual accounts
  • Current installment loan balances compared with their original amounts
  • The number of accounts that have a balance

Length of Credit History: 15%

Being able to use credit responsibly over a long period of time can help you build and maintain good credit. For this category, FICO looks at the age of your oldest open credit account, the age of your newest account and the average age of all of your accounts. It'll also consider how long specific accounts have been open.

New Credit: 10%

Each time you apply for credit, the lender will typically run a hard inquiry on one or more of your credit reports. FICO will consider these inquiries, as well as how long it's been since you've opened a new account, to evaluate your most recent credit activities.

Credit Mix: 10%

Being able to manage different types of credit responsibly can help improve your credit score. As you naturally open new accounts, such as credit cards for everyday spending or auto loans and mortgage loans for larger purchases, diversifying your credit mix could help you take your FICO® Score higher.

That said, this factor likely won't make or break a lender's approval decision, so you don't necessarily need to open different types of accounts just to improve your credit.

How to Check What Factors Are Affecting My Experian FICO® Score

As previously mentioned, your free Experian account can provide you with key information about which factors are influencing your FICO® Score. You can review these factors through your online account or the Experian mobile app.

In both cases, you can click or tap on your FICO® Score or the Credit menu, then scroll down to the Score Ingredients section. You'll get a rating for each of the five FICO® Score factors, and you can select each one to get more details about how you're performing. This information can also help you pinpoint areas where you can improve.

How to Use Your Credit Score

Whether you're trying to build credit or maintain a good credit score, it's a good idea to monitor your credit regularly. Here are some things you can do with your Experian FICO® Score:

  • Track your progress. Credit scores can fluctuate in the short term, but you can track trends in your FICO® Score over time to determine how well you're doing with your goals.
  • Determine your next steps. Breaking down your score ingredients can help you understand exactly which areas are holding you back from seeing the improvements you want. Once you know what's hurting your score, you can take concrete steps to change your credit behaviors and improve your credit.
  • Spot inaccuracies. As you review your FICO® Score and credit reports, you can also look for potentially inaccurate information that could be hurting your score. If you find something, such as an incorrectly reported late payment by one of your creditors, you have the right to file a dispute with the credit bureaus or contact the company that provided the information to have it corrected.

Get More Help With Free Credit Monitoring

In addition to your Experian FICO® Score, you'll also get free access to your Experian credit report when you register. What's more, Experian can provide customized alerts when changes are made to your report, making it easier to stay on top of your credit health and address potential issues as they develop. Experian's credit monitoring service is free and can give you an advantage as you work to build and maintain a strong credit profile.

How Good Is Your Credit Score?

300 credit score301 credit score302 credit score303 credit score304 credit score305 credit score306 credit score307 credit score308 credit score309 credit score310 credit score311 credit score312 credit score313 credit score314 credit score315 credit score316 credit score317 credit score318 credit score319 credit score320 credit score321 credit score322 credit score323 credit score324 credit score325 credit score326 credit score327 credit score328 credit score329 credit score330 credit score331 credit score332 credit score333 credit score334 credit score335 credit score336 credit score337 credit score338 credit score339 credit score340 credit score341 credit score342 credit score343 credit score344 credit score345 credit score346 credit score347 credit score348 credit score349 credit score350 credit score351 credit score352 credit score353 credit score354 credit score355 credit score356 credit score357 credit score358 credit score359 credit score360 credit score361 credit score362 credit score363 credit score364 credit score365 credit score366 credit score367 credit score368 credit score369 credit score370 credit score371 credit score372 credit score373 credit score374 credit score375 credit score376 credit score377 credit score378 credit score379 credit score380 credit score381 credit score382 credit score383 credit score384 credit score385 credit score386 credit score387 credit score388 credit score389 credit score390 credit score391 credit score392 credit score393 credit score394 credit score395 credit score396 credit score397 credit score398 credit score399 credit score400 credit score401 credit score402 credit score403 credit score404 credit score405 credit score406 credit score407 credit score408 credit score409 credit score410 credit score411 credit score412 credit score413 credit score414 credit score415 credit score416 credit score417 credit score418 credit score419 credit score420 credit score421 credit score422 credit score423 credit score424 credit score425 credit score426 credit score427 credit score428 credit score429 credit score430 credit score431 credit score432 credit score433 credit score434 credit score435 credit score436 credit score437 credit score438 credit score439 credit score440 credit score441 credit score442 credit score443 credit score444 credit score445 credit score446 credit score447 credit score448 credit score449 credit score450 credit score451 credit score452 credit score453 credit score454 credit score455 credit score456 credit score457 credit score458 credit score459 credit score460 credit score461 credit score462 credit score463 credit score464 credit score465 credit score466 credit score467 credit score468 credit score469 credit score470 credit score471 credit score472 credit score473 credit score474 credit score475 credit score476 credit score477 credit score478 credit score479 credit score480 credit score481 credit score482 credit score483 credit score484 credit score485 credit score486 credit score487 credit score488 credit score489 credit score490 credit score491 credit score492 credit score493 credit score494 credit score495 credit score496 credit score497 credit score498 credit score499 credit score500 credit score501 credit score502 credit score503 credit score504 credit score505 credit score506 credit score507 credit score508 credit score509 credit score510 credit score511 credit score512 credit score513 credit score514 credit score515 credit score516 credit score517 credit score518 credit score519 credit score520 credit score521 credit score522 credit score523 credit score524 credit score525 credit score526 credit score527 credit score528 credit score529 credit score530 credit score531 credit score532 credit score533 credit score534 credit score535 credit score536 credit score537 credit score538 credit score539 credit score540 credit score541 credit score542 credit score543 credit score544 credit score545 credit score546 credit score547 credit score548 credit score549 credit score550 credit score551 credit score552 credit score553 credit score554 credit score555 credit score556 credit score557 credit score558 credit score559 credit score560 credit score561 credit score562 credit score563 credit score564 credit score565 credit score566 credit score567 credit score568 credit score569 credit score570 credit score571 credit score572 credit score573 credit score574 credit score575 credit score576 credit score577 credit score578 credit score579 credit score