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Credit scores, explained

Ranges, models, versions, and why your three scores never match. Each guide opens with a short answer, then shows the mechanism and the sources.

  1. Credit score ranges: what 300 to 850 really meansThe FICO Scores and VantageScores most lenders use today run from 300 to 850. The exceptions are FICO's auto and bankcard scores (250 to 900), Equifax's educational score (280 to 850) and the retired VantageScore 1.0 and 2.0 (501 to 990). FICO calls 670 to 739 Good and 800 or higher Exceptional.
  2. FICO vs. VantageScore: the real differences that change your numberFICO and VantageScore both run 300 to 850 and read the same credit reports, but they weigh things differently. VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0 ignore paid collections and can score thinner files. FICO 8, still the most widely used FICO version, counts paid collections. For mortgages, lenders can now choose Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0.
  3. FICO 8, 9, 10 and 10T: which version lenders actually useFICO 8 is still the most widely used FICO Score for cards and general lending. Mortgage lenders use the older FICO 2, 4 and 5, or now VantageScore 4.0. FICO 9 and 10 ignore paid collections, and FICO 10T adds 24 months or more of balance history. Each lender picks its version, so ask.
  4. The credit scores mortgage lenders actually pull in 2026Most mortgage lenders pull a tri-merge report with Classic FICO Scores: FICO 2 from Experian, FICO 5 from Equifax and FICO 4 from TransUnion, then use your middle score. Since September 2026, lenders selling to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may use VantageScore 4.0 instead. FICO 10T is approved but not yet deliverable.
  5. How a credit score is calculated, without the pie-chart mythsA FICO Score is calculated only from your credit report. FICO groups the data into five categories: payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of history (15%), new credit (10%) and credit mix (10%). Those weights describe the general population. FICO says the importance varies by person and publishes no point values.
  6. Why your three credit scores don't match, and when to worryYour three scores differ because Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each keep a separate file. Lenders don't all report to all three, they report on different days, and each bureau stores some data differently. Even the same FICO version is tuned to each bureau's data. A gap is normal; a gap caused by an account you don't recognize is not.
  7. Why your free app score doesn't match your lender'sYour free score is usually a different model, from a different bureau, calculated on a different day than the one your lender pulls. Credit Karma shows VantageScore 3.0; Experian's free score is FICO 8. Lenders often use FICO Auto or Bankcard Scores, or the mortgage FICO versions. The free score is still useful for spotting trends and errors.
  8. How often credit scores update, and why yours lags behindA credit score is recalculated every time someone requests it, using whatever is on your report at that moment. Your report changes when lenders send updates, which most do about once a month, each on its own schedule. So your score can change several times a month, or not at all, depending on when your accounts report.
  9. Credit score reason codes, decoded: what each one is telling youReason codes, also called key factors, are the short statements that come with a credit score explaining what held it back most, listed in order of impact. Federal law lets a score disclosure list up to four, plus a fifth if inquiries were a factor. Even very high scores come with them, so their order matters more than their presence.
  10. Does checking your own credit lower your score? No, and here's whyNo. Checking your own credit report or score is a soft inquiry, and soft inquiries have no effect on your FICO Scores. Lenders can't even see them. Only a hard inquiry, which happens when you apply for credit, can lower your score, and FICO says one usually costs less than five points.
  11. The average credit score in 2026 is 714, and what that number hidesThe average U.S. FICO Score is 714, according to FICO's fall 2026 Credit Insights report, based on April 2026 data. The median is higher, at 744, because a group of very low scores pulls the average down. Both numbers are one point lower than in April 2025.
  12. What it takes to reach 850, and why you don't need itAn 850 FICO Score takes a long, spotless record: no late payments, very low card balances (850 scorers average around 4% utilization) and usually decades of history. About 1.7% of scorable consumers have one. For most lending decisions, a score around 780 already gets the best pricing, so the last 70 points rarely save money.
  13. Your credit score dropped and you don't know why: how to find outA score rarely drops for no reason, but the reason is often invisible from the app. Typical causes are a higher card balance being reported, a limit cut, a new account or inquiry, a paid-off or closed account, or a new negative item. Compare your current reports against last month's to find which one changed.
  14. What changed in credit scoring in 2025 and 2026, with datesThe biggest change is in mortgages: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now accept VantageScore 4.0 from any approved lender, FHA will accept VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2027, and Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter dropped its 620 minimum. Your everyday FICO 8 score works the same way it did.