How Credit Scores Are Calculated: What Each Factor Actually Measures
FICO groups everything on your report into five categories. This page goes one level down and lists what FICO says each category looks at, with examples of the behaviors that move each one.
The headline weights, 35 percent for payment history, 30 for amounts owed, 15 for length of history and 10 each for new credit and credit mix, are on our credit score ranges page, next to VantageScore's. FICO says the importance of the categories “may vary from one person to another.” What helps more is knowing what sits inside each category, because the actions that help are different in each. Everything below is from FICO's own category pages unless noted, checked October 22, 2026. Sources are at the bottom.
Everything comes from your credit report
A FICO Score is calculated only from the data in one bureau's credit report. The one exception FICO names is UltraFICO, which also uses banking data you choose to share. FICO lists what the score does not consider:
- Race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status
- Age
- Where you live
- Salary, occupation, title, employer or employment history
- Child or family support obligations
- The interest rate on any of your accounts
- The type of credit you are applying for
A lender may still look at your income, job and the loan you want when it decides. They are part of the lender's decision, not of the score. A raise does nothing to your score, and a mistake on your report can drag it down. That is why checking your reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, now free weekly, is the first step in any rebuild.
Payment history: severity, recency, frequency
FICO's payment-history category covers payments on credit cards, retail cards, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgages. FICO lists what it looks at:
- How late. How overdue delinquent payments are now or were in the past. A payment 90 days late is a worse signal than one 30 days late.
- How much. The amount still owed on delinquent accounts or collection items.
- How often. The number of past-due items on the report.
- How long ago. The time since the delinquency, bankruptcy or collection appeared. FICO says “the older a credit problem, the less it counts.”
- The good side of the ledger. The number of accounts being paid as agreed.
- Public records. Bankruptcy. FICO says bankruptcies stay on your report for 7 to 10 years depending on the type, and third-party collections for seven years from the original delinquency date.
What this means in practice. Two people each have one 30-day late payment. One has it on a single account with a year of history. The other has it among six accounts paid as agreed for eight years. The same mark weighs far more on the first file. FICO says one or two late card payments can be outweighed by an otherwise good history. It also says older and smaller items count less than recent or larger ones. The time since the problem counts, so the most useful thing after a late payment is a long run of on-time payments. See late payments on a credit report and the removal date calculator for when items age off.
Amounts owed: five separate measurements
“Amounts owed” is often treated as a single utilization number. FICO lists five things in it:
| What FICO measures | Example | What tends to help |
|---|---|---|
| Total owed on all accounts | $1,800 across two cards and a car loan | Lower total balances |
| Amount owed by account type | Revolving card debt vs installment loan debt | Keeping card balances low specifically |
| Number of accounts with balances | Balances reported on 4 of 5 cards | Fewer cards reporting a balance |
| Utilization on revolving accounts | $900 on $3,000 of limits = 30% | A low ratio. FICO says a low ratio can help more than using none at all |
| Installment balance vs original amount | $8,000 left on a $10,000 car loan = 80% still owed | Paying the loan down over time |
Categories from myFICO “Amounts Owed,” checked October 22, 2026. The car-loan example is FICO's. The other dollar figures are our illustrations.
Two practical points come from this list. First, the balance is usually reported as of your statement closing date, so a card you pay in full every month can still show a balance. Paying before the statement closes lowers what gets reported. The utilization guide and calculator works this out per card. Second, spreading $900 across four cards instead of one does not hide it. The total ratio is the same, and more accounts show a balance. Because the reported balance updates each statement cycle, this is usually the category you can change fastest.
Length of credit history: three ages, not one
FICO says this category considers:
- The age of your oldest account
- The age of your newest account
- The average age of all your accounts
- How long specific types of accounts have been open
- How long it has been since you used certain accounts
Opening a new card moves two of these at once. Your newest-account age drops to zero, and your average falls. Someone with two cards aged 6 and 4 years averages 5 years. Add a new card and the average becomes 3.3 years (10 ÷ 3). The same new card on a file with ten accounts averaging 12 years barely changes the average. That is the arithmetic behind FICO's warning that new accounts weigh more on short histories. The last item is easy to miss. FICO considers how long it has been since you used certain accounts, so a card left untouched for years is not the same as one in regular use. FICO also says you can have a high score with a short history if the rest of the file is strong. Our average age of accounts calculator runs the numbers for your own accounts.
New credit: inquiries and recently opened accounts
FICO's new-credit category looks at how many new accounts you have, by type, and what share of your accounts are new. It looks at how long it has been since you opened one, and how many hard inquiries you have had in the past 12 months. Inquiries stay on the report for two years, but only the last 12 months are scored. FICO says a single inquiry usually has a small effect, and many kinds of inquiries are ignored entirely. Checking your own credit and prescreened offers do not count. Mortgage, auto and student loan rate shopping inside FICO's window is grouped. The details are in hard vs soft inquiries.
The category also covers rebuilding. FICO says that after payment problems, opening new credit and paying on time will raise your score over time. A secured card or credit-builder loan costs a little in this category at first and pays back in payment history.
Credit mix: least worth chasing
FICO looks at the types of accounts you have: credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgages. It says you do not need one of each. It also says you should not open accounts just to add types. FICO says a mix of credit “most likely won't determine” whether you get credit. It suggests asking whether a small loan opened for the mix is worth a score drop from the new inquiry and account, and answers “probably not.” If you already need a loan for a real purpose, the added type is a small bonus. Do not take on interest to get it.
Which category each item feeds
One thing on your report usually touches more than one category. Here is how common events map, based on FICO's category descriptions:
| Event on your report | Categories it affects |
|---|---|
| You open a new credit card | New credit (inquiry, new account), length of history (newest and average age fall), amounts owed (more available credit) |
| A card balance jumps from $200 to $2,000 | Amounts owed only. It reverses when the lower balance reports |
| A payment goes 30 days late | Payment history. It fades with time but can stay up to seven years |
| An account goes to collections | Payment history (a serious item, weighted by amount and recency) |
| You take out a car loan | New credit, length of history, amounts owed (installment balance) and credit mix |
| You pay a car loan down | Amounts owed (share of the original amount still owed) |
| You close your oldest card | Amounts owed (less available credit, so utilization can rise). For how its age is treated, see the closing guide |
Our mapping from myFICO's five category pages, checked October 22, 2026. How much each event moves a score depends on the rest of the file, and FICO does not publish point values. For closing cards, see closing a credit card.
How VantageScore 4.0 differs
VantageScore reads the same bureau data but groups and weights it differently. Its weights are on the ranges page. Two behavioral differences matter most:
- Utilization over time. VantageScore says 4.0 considers your utilization ratio for up to two years back, where 3.0 used only the previous month. A balance you are paying down steadily can read differently from one that is flat.
- Thinner files. VantageScore says it can create a score with one month of credit history. FICO's minimum requires an account open at least six months. See building credit from scratch.
Separately from any model, the three bureaus stopped reporting paid medical collections on July 1, 2022. In April 2023 they removed medical collections with an initial balance under $500. That changes what any score sees.
FAQ
What are the five factors in a FICO Score?
Payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit and credit mix. FICO publishes weights of 35, 30, 15, 10 and 10 percent, and says the importance of each category may vary from one person to another.
Does my income affect my credit score?
No. FICO says salary, occupation, employer and employment history are not part of the score. Lenders may still consider income separately when they decide whether to approve you.
Is it better to have 0 percent utilization?
Not necessarily. FICO says a low utilization ratio can help more than using none of your available credit. A small balance reported on one card, paid in full by the due date, avoids interest and still shows the card in use.
Do I need a loan and a credit card for a good credit mix?
No. FICO says it is not necessary to have one of each type of credit. It advises against opening accounts just for the mix, because the new inquiry and new account can lower your score.
How long do negative items affect my score?
They can stay on your report for years: up to seven years for late payments and collections, and 7 to 10 years for bankruptcy depending on the type. FICO says the older an item is, the less it counts, so its weight fades before it is removed.
Sources
Only primary sources. Every rule and figure above comes from one of these pages, checked October 22, 2026.
- myFICO, “What's in my FICO Scores?” — myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score. Category overview; what is not in the score; UltraFICO exception.
- myFICO, “Payment History” — myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/payment-history. Components; bankruptcy and collection durations; recency.
- myFICO, “Amounts Owed” — myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/amount-of-debt. Five measurements; car loan example; statement balances.
- myFICO, “Length of Credit History” — myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/length-of-credit-history.
- myFICO, “New Credit” — myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/new-credit. New accounts, inquiries, re-establishing credit.
- myFICO, “Credit Mix” — myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/credit-mix.
- myFICO, “Credit Checks” — myfico.com. Inquiry impact and windows.
- VantageScore, “The Complete Guide to Your VantageScore 4.0 Credit Score,” June 26, 2025 — vantagescore.com. Two-year utilization look-back.
- VantageScore, “The Credit Score Wars,” January 15, 2026 — vantagescore.com. One month of history.
- TransUnion newsroom, “Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Remove Medical Collections Debt Under $500 From U.S. Credit Reports,” April 11, 2023 — newsroom.transunion.com.
- FTC, “Free Credit Reports,” June 2026 — consumer.ftc.gov/articles/free-credit-reports.
Educational information, not financial advice. FICO and VantageScore revise their models and pages, and lenders use many versions; if something here no longer matches the source, tell us. · Advertiser disclosure