What is a Good Credit Score?

You're looking to take out a loan and are aware of your credit score. However, you have no idea if that score is in good standing or not, and therefore can't tell if it is enough to get you that loan. Here is some information that can help you.

A credit score is a number used primarily in the United States to determine a person's creditworthiness. This score is generated through credit reports of a person's history and current credit status. There is a score scale used by credit companies to ascertain a person's credit merit. It is how your score fares on this scale that classifies it as a “good credit score” or not.

According to Fair Isaac Corporation or FICO, the company that came up with the most popular credit score model in the United States, the average credit FICO score among Americans is 723. Those in the 720's and above are considered to be of excellent credit standing and are those that are given the best deals and the quickest service. This is because those in these bracket are considered as the low-risk borrowers.

Most reports place 600-620 as the cut-off for good credit scores, with anything below 600 as “poor credit scores.” The 620 bar is especially seen as the cut-off for premium rates and is the score that divides the good from the bad. If your score is above 620 to the 700's, you're generally considered to be in fair to good standing by all of the credit companies, the higher, the better.