Credit Score Range – Episode #87
Is the credit score range 1-100? 350-850? Does it matter? Probably one of the greatest points of confusion in credit scoring is all the different models that exist. Of course, these models all have different credit score ranges making an apples to apples comparison difficult. I see it all the time. “Yippie, my credit score is a 845!” That’s a great, near perfect, score on the FICO score scale. But on the VantageScore range that’s a “B” grade as it’s well below the 990 perfect score. Here are the credit score ranges for the largest scoring models.
Credit Score Ranges by Model
- FICO score system goes from 300 to 850
- VantageScore goes from 500 to 990
- Experian’s PLUS score goes from 330 to 830
If you are thinking about a loan, you should know that most lenders use FICO scores and that it is well worth saving $1000s over the life of the loan to check your FICO scores instead of relying on non-FICO scores to guide you. In addition, all 3 FICO scores from all 3 bureaus should be checked if you are looking at a refinance or a home loan.
What is the Credit Score and FICO Score Scale? – Episode #9
Credit Score Scale
Credit score scales range and it really varies by which system you’re talking about. The FICO score system is the most used that range goes from 350 to 850. Then you have the VantageScore, this is relatively new and goes from 500 to 990. Then there is the PLUS score from Experian and this goes from 330 to 830.
Interestingly, the score ranges are all kind of about the same but be careful this can mean a big swing in your credit score depending on which system you’re using. You want to make sure when you’re looking your score that you’re looking at the score the lender is actually going to use and in most cases this is going to be the FICO score. To see how my score fluctuated between scoring models, check out my review of the TrueCredit 3 in 1 monitoring product. My non-FICO with them was 50+ points lower than my TU fico score I saw through the Suze Orman FICO Kit.
