Credit Statistics
Did you know there is a 92 point difference between the median FICO® Score of the highest scoring state and that of lowest scoring state?1
How does your FICO® Score compare to your state's median score?
As the leading company that helps the nation's largest banks and financial institutions assess consumer credit risk, FICO is often asked to describe the credit use of a typical consumer. In researching the answer, we discovered that consumers vary immensely in terms of the types of credit they use and how they use it.
By analyzing a representative national sample of millions of consumer credit profiles, FICO was able to survey the panorama of credit activity across the U.S. The following statistics reflect the average use of credit by today's consumers.
Number of Credit Obligations
On average, today's consumer has a total of 13 credit obligations. These include credit cards (such as department store charge cards, gas cards and bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Not included are savings and checking accounts, which are typically not reported to a credit reporting agency. Of these 13 credit obligations, nine are likely to be credit cards and four are likely to be installment loans.
Consumer Payment Performance
On average, today's consumers are paying their bills on time. Less than half of all consumers have ever been reported as 30 or more days late on a payment. Only 3 out of 10 have ever been 60 or more days overdue on any credit obligation. 77% of all consumers have never had a loan or account that was 90+ days overdue. Less than 20% of U.S. consumers have ever had a loan or account closed by the lender due to default.
Credit Utilization
About 40% of credit card holders carry a balance of less than $1,000. About 15% are far less conservative in their use of credit cards and have total card balances in excess of $10,000. When we look at the total of all credit obligations combined (except mortgage loans), 48% of consumers carry less than $5,000 of debt. This includes all credit cards, lines of credit, and loans (other than mortgages). Nearly 37% carry more than $10,000 of non-mortgage-related debt as reported to the credit reporting agencies.
Total Available Credit
The typical consumer has access to approximately $19,000 on all credit cards combined. More than half of all people with credit cards are using less than 30% of their total credit card limit. Just over 1 in 7 persons are using 80% or more of their total credit card limit.
Length of Credit History
The average consumer's oldest open obligation is 14 years, indicating that he or she has been managing credit for some time. In fact, we found that 1 out of 4 consumers had credit histories of 20 years or longer. Only 1 in 20 consumers had credit histories shorter than two years.
Credit Inquiries
When someone applies for a loan or a new credit card account – and a lender subsequently requests a copy of the applicant's credit report from a credit reporting agency – this request is noted as an "inquiry" in the applicant's credit file, regardless of whether the request was approved or declined. The average consumer initiated only one inquiry within the past year. Fewer than 6% had four or more inquiries over the past year.
