What is a good credit score?

What is a good credit score?

On the FICO scale, which runs 300 to 850, a good score is 670 to 739. FICO labels this band "good" and describes it as near or slightly above the average of U.S. consumers. In plain terms, a good score tells a lender you are a dependable borrower who pays on time and is unlikely to default.

Cross 670 and most everyday credit opens up: mainstream credit cards, auto loans at competitive rates, and mortgages without the penalty pricing that hits lower scores. You will not always get the single lowest rate on offer at 670, but you are firmly in "approved" territory rather than "maybe" or "no."

What are the credit score bands?

Two brands set the labels most people see. FICO, used in the vast majority of lending decisions, publishes named tiers. VantageScore, the other major model, uses lending-industry terms like prime and subprime. Both run on the same 300 to 850 scale.

Source: myFICO, "What is a Credit Score?"

The top of this scale is 850. For why you do not need to chase it, see our companion piece, What is the highest credit score?.

Source: VantageScore, "The Complete Guide to Your VantageScore."

Because the two models slice the scale differently, the same person can land in slightly different-sounding tiers depending on which score a lender pulls. That is normal. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency that oversees consumer lending, keeps the guidance simple and neutral: most scores range 300 to 850, and "usually a higher score makes it easier to qualify for a loan and may result in a better interest rate or loan terms."

What is considered an excellent credit score?

FICO does not use the word "excellent," but the tiers people call excellent are "very good" (740 to 799) and "exceptional" (800 and up). Practically, anything 740 and above puts you in the group that gets a lender's best pricing on most products.

Here is the part worth internalizing: lenders price in tiers, not in single points. Once you are inside the top tier for a given loan, usually somewhere in the mid-to-high 700s, everyone in that band is quoted the same lowest rate. A person at 765 and a person at 850 are treated identically. So the difference between "good" and "excellent" is real money at the low end and nothing at the high end.

What credit score do you need for a mortgage?

These product-level numbers are directional norms, not fixed rules: each lender sets its own cutoffs, and they shift with the market. Conventional mortgages generally start around a 620 minimum, and government-backed FHA loans can go lower, sometimes to 580 or below with a larger down payment. But minimums and best rates are different things. To reach the lowest mortgage pricing, lenders typically want a score in the 760 range or higher. Between the floor and that top tier, every 20-point step up tends to lower the rate you are quoted, which on a 30-year loan adds up to real money.

What credit score do you need for a car loan?

There is no hard cutoff for an auto loan, and the ranges below are typical lender practice rather than published rules. People with fair or even poor scores get approved, they just pay much higher rates. For a competitive auto rate, a score in the "good" range (670+) is a reasonable target, and 720 and up generally lands you in the better-priced tiers. Below the mid-600s, expect the annual percentage rate to climb steeply.

What credit score do you need to rent an apartment?

Landlords set their own thresholds, so treat this as a directional norm. Many do not publish a cutoff, but a score in the 620 to 670 range is a common informal threshold for approval without extra conditions. Below that, a landlord may still say yes but ask for a larger deposit, a co-signer, or proof of higher income. A "good" score of 670+ generally clears most rental screening without friction.

What is the average credit score?

The average U.S. FICO Score is about 715 (2025). That number sits inside the "good" band, which means the typical American already has a good score. This is the context that makes 670 less intimidating: reaching "good" is roughly reaching average, not reaching the top.

The flat truth: 670 is the door, 760 is the finish line

Do not confuse the two useful thresholds. 670 is where you stop being treated as a risk and start getting normal approvals. 760 is where you have captured essentially every rate advantage a strong score buys. The stretch between them is worth working toward. The stretch above 800 is a vanity project.

So aim for 670 to get in the door, push toward the mid-700s to lock in the best pricing, and then stop optimizing. Pay every bill on time, keep your card balances low relative to your limits, and let the score settle. That is the entire game, and it puts a good score within reach of almost anyone.