FICO Score Breakdown

Your FICO score isn't a mystery — it's a weighted formula. Five factors determine every FICO score, and knowing their weights tells you exactly where to focus your energy.

The Five FICO Factors

Payment History (35%)

The single biggest factor. One 30-day late payment on an otherwise clean file can drop a 780 score by 90–110 points. The good news: the damage fades over time. A late payment from 4 years ago hurts far less than one from last month, and it falls off entirely after 7 years.

FICO looks at: how recently a late payment occurred, how severe it was (30/60/90/120+ days), and how many accounts have been paid late.

Amounts Owed / Credit Utilization (30%)

This factor measures how much of your revolving credit limits you're using. FICO evaluates utilization both per-card and in aggregate. Carrying more than 30% on any single card — even if your overall utilization is low — can hurt your score.

Unlike late payments, utilization resets every billing cycle. Pay down a balance today and your score can improve within 30 days. The optimal target is below 10% for the highest scores, with at least one card showing a small non-zero balance.

Length of Credit History (15%)

FICO looks at three age-related signals: the age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account, and the average age of all accounts. Opening a new card lowers your average age immediately. Closing an old card can lower the age of your oldest account years after the closure, once the closed account finally drops off.

This factor rewards patience more than any other. Someone with a 10-year credit history at moderate utilization will outscore someone with a 2-year history at perfect utilization.

Credit Mix (10%)

Lenders want to see that you can manage different types of credit responsibly. Having at least one revolving account (credit card) and one installment account (auto loan, mortgage, personal loan) demonstrates a fuller credit profile. You don't need every type — this factor only matters meaningfully if you have zero revolving or zero installment accounts.

New Credit (10%)

Each hard inquiry from a credit application typically costs 5–10 points and affects your score for 12 months (though it stays on your report for 24 months). Multiple applications within a 45-day window for the same type of loan (mortgage, auto, student) are deduplicated by FICO and treated as a single inquiry — this is called rate shopping protection.

Opening a new account also temporarily lowers your average credit age, which interacts with the Length of Credit History factor above.

What FICO Doesn't Consider

By law, FICO scores cannot factor in race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or receipt of public assistance. Your income, assets, employment history, and bank account balances are also not part of the score — lenders evaluate those separately during underwriting.

Where to Focus

Since payment history and utilization together account for 65% of your score, those two factors give the highest ROI for effort. Pay on time without exception, and keep card balances below 10% of their limits. These two habits alone can build an excellent score over time.

Use our Credit Score Simulator to see how specific changes would affect your score, or read Credit Score Ranges Explained to understand what your current number means to lenders.