The average credit score in 2026 is 714, and what that number hides

People usually look up the average credit score for one reason: to find out whether they’re behind. The honest answer is that the average is a worse yardstick than it looks, and the number right next to it in FICO’s report, the median, tells you more.

FICO published its fall 2026 Credit Insights report in August 2026. It measures FICO Score 8, which myFICO calls the most widely used FICO version, across U.S. consumers with a scorable file, using an April 2026 snapshot.

The 2026 numbers, straight from FICO

FICO’s August 25, 2026 release says the average has been flat at 714 since October 2025. Its spring 2026 edition, released March 24, 2026, had already reported 714 and called the decline “a gradual downward trend since 2023.” The fall report puts the national peak in April 2023, and FICO’s October 2024 post put April 2024 at 717, one point below the April 2023 figure of 718.

Lined up by April snapshot: 718 in 2023, 717 in 2024, 715 in 2025, 714 in 2026. Four points in three years is small for a national figure. It also isn’t evenly spread, and the average hides that.

Why the median is 30 points higher than the average

An average adds every score and divides by the count. A median lines everyone up and picks the person in the middle. When a distribution has a long tail on one side, the two drift apart.

Example. Take five people with scores of 520, 690, 760, 800 and 820.

• Average: 520 + 690 + 760 + 800 + 820 = 3,590, divided by 5 = 718.
• Median: the middle score of the five is 760.

One person at 520 dragged the average 42 points below the person in the middle. That’s the U.S. picture in miniature. Credit scores are capped at 850, so the top can’t stretch out, but the bottom runs all the way to 300. With 10.5% of people below 550, the average gets pulled down while the median stays near 744.

So a 720 puts you above the average but below the typical person. Half of scorable consumers are at 744 or higher.

The middle is thinning out

FICO’s report describes the share of people between 700 and 749 as declining, while the share between 550 and 649 is rising slightly. Meanwhile, the 750-plus group (48.1%) and the below-550 group (10.5%) both held steady over the year.

In plain terms, people who were doing fine are mostly still doing fine, and some people who were in the low 700s appear to have slid down a band. The average barely moved because those shifts partly cancel out. If you’re someone who drifted from the 700s into the 600s over the past two years, the “714 and stable” headline doesn’t describe your experience, and you’re not imagining it.

The August release points at some causes. Early mortgage and auto delinquency improved year over year. Student loans went the other way: FICO says about 3.2 million consumers with a payment due had a recent student loan delinquency, and their average score fell 38 points in a year. If that’s you, start with student loan delinquency and your credit in 2026.

Averages by age tell two different stories

FICO and Experian both publish age breakdowns, and they don’t look alike because they measure different windows.

FICO’s report compares April 2026 to April 2019. By that measure, 18 to 29 year olds are up 17 points, the largest gain of any group, 30 to 44 year olds are up 10, and 45 to 59 year olds are up 6. People 60 and older have held near 752 for seven years. FICO also says the 45 to 59 group has had the largest decline of any generation since the national peak in April 2023.

Experian’s data compares September 2024 to September 2025 and shows actual averages:

Both can be true at once. Younger borrowers are well above where they were before the pandemic and slightly below where they were a year ago. Age itself isn’t a scoring factor, but length of credit history is, and older consumers have had more years to build it.

Geography spreads things out too. Experian’s 2025 state averages run from 741 in Minnesota to 677 in Mississippi.

Why your number won’t match “the average” anyway

The 714 figure is FICO Score 8. If you’re checking a VantageScore in a free app, or a lender pulls the older FICO versions used for mortgages, you’re looking at a different model reading the same data, and it can land well above or below your FICO 8. Our explainer on why your three scores don’t match covers how that happens.

Experian’s 713 for late 2025 is a separate count from FICO’s 714, taken on a different date. Both point the same way, and a one-point gap between publishers means nothing.

What being average costs you

On FICO’s scale, 714 sits in the Good range (670 to 739). Mainstream lenders will generally work with it. The cost shows up in pricing.

Example. Fannie Mae charges loan-level price adjustments by score band. For a purchase loan at 75.01% to 80% of the home’s value, the September 30, 2026 matrix lists 1.375% for scores of 700 to 719 and 0.375% for 780 and up. On a $300,000 loan:

• At 714: $300,000 × 1.375% = $4,125
• At 780: $300,000 × 0.375% = $1,125

That’s a $3,000 difference on the same house, usually built into the rate or paid at closing. Lenders add their own pricing on top, so treat this as the agency piece only. You can run your own numbers with the score cost calculator.

Using the average without being misled by it

1. Compare yourself to the median (744), not the average. It’s the better “typical person” benchmark.
2. Know which score you’re looking at. If it isn’t FICO 8, it isn’t directly comparable to 714.
3. If you’re under 700, look at the two things FICO’s report keeps pointing to: recent delinquencies and card balances. Average card utilization is 35.2%. FICO’s own profile of people with 850 scores found an average revolving utilization of 4.1%.
4. If you’re near a pricing line like 740 or 780 and planning a mortgage, the distance to the next band matters more than the national average does. How your score changes your mortgage cost shows where those lines sit.