Credit Score Ranges

Scoring categories

The scale runs from 300 to 850. The vast majority of people will have scores between 600 and 800. A score of 720 or higher will get you the most favorable interest rates on a mortgage, according to data from Fair Isaac Corp., a California-based company that developed the credit score. (Its own score is called the FICO score.)

Fair Isaac reports that the American public's credit scores break out along these lines:

Credit score Percentage:

499 and below	1 percent
500-549	5 percent
550-599	7 percent
600-649	11 percent
650-699	16 percent
700-749	20 percent
749-799	29 percent
800 and above	11 percent

How others score

According to Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), this is how FICO® scores are typically spread among the population:

Below 620	620-690	690-745	745-780	Above 780
20%	20%	20%	20%	20%

High scores--720 and above--indicate a relatively low risk of borrower default. Scores in the 600s and below are considered higher risk.