Five main factors determine your credit score, with payment history and the amount you owe carrying the most weight. Together, those two categories account for roughly 65% of a FICO score. Understanding all five, and how much each one matters, gives you a clear picture of where to focus your efforts.
Two major scoring models are in wide use: FICO and VantageScore. Both pull from the same credit report data, but they weigh the categories slightly differently. Most lenders still rely on FICO scores, though VantageScore appears frequently in free credit monitoring tools. Regardless of which model a lender uses, the same behaviors help or hurt your score.
Payment History (35% of Your FICO Score)
Whether you pay your bills on time is the single largest factor in your credit score. In the FICO model, payment history accounts for 35% of the calculation. VantageScore weights it even more heavily at 41%. A single missed payment can cause a noticeable drop, and the later the payment, the worse the damage. A payment that’s 90 days late hurts more than one that’s 30 days late.
Late payments can remain on your credit report for up to seven years, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The good news is that their impact fades over time. A missed payment from four years ago drags on your score far less than one from four months ago. Bankruptcies stay on your report even longer, up to ten years, and collections accounts generally remain for seven years.
If you do nothing else for your credit, pay at least the minimum on every account by the due date. Setting up autopay for minimums is a simple way to prevent the most damaging kind of credit event.
Amounts Owed and Credit Utilization (30%)
The total amount you owe across all accounts is the second biggest factor, making up 30% of a FICO score. But the raw dollar amount matters less than your credit utilization ratio, which is the percentage of your available credit you’re currently using. If you have a credit card with a $10,000 limit and a $3,000 balance, your utilization on that card is 30%.
Keeping utilization below 30% is a widely cited guideline, but lower is clearly better. People with “very good” or “exceptional” credit scores typically keep utilization at 15% or less. On the other end of the spectrum, those with “poor” scores average around 86% utilization. The scoring models interpret high utilization as a sign of financial stress, even if you can comfortably afford your payments.
Utilization is calculated both per card and across all your revolving accounts combined. Paying down balances is the most direct way to improve this factor, but you can also request a credit limit increase (without spending more) to lower the ratio. Unlike late payments, utilization has no memory. Your score reflects whatever your balances are when the credit card company reports them, usually once per billing cycle. Pay down a high balance and the improvement can show up within a month or two.
Length of Credit History (15%)
This factor considers the age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account, and the average age of all your accounts. A longer history gives scoring models more data to evaluate, which generally works in your favor. It accounts for 15% of a FICO score. VantageScore bundles age together with credit mix into a combined 20% category.
This is why closing old credit cards can sometimes lower your score. When you shut down a long-held account, it can reduce the average age of your credit file. If you have a card with no annual fee that you’ve held for years, keeping it open (even if you rarely use it) preserves that history. Conversely, this factor is one reason young borrowers or people new to credit tend to start with lower scores. There’s no shortcut here. Time is the only fix.
New Credit and Hard Inquiries (10%)
Every time you apply for a loan, credit card, or other credit product, the lender pulls your credit report. That creates a “hard inquiry,” which signals that you’re actively seeking new debt. Too many hard inquiries in a short period can lower your score, though the impact is usually small. FICO only considers hard inquiries from the last 12 months when calculating your score, even though the inquiries themselves stay on your report for up to two years.
One helpful exception: rate shopping. If you’re comparing mortgage or auto loan offers from several lenders within a short window (typically 14 to 45 days, depending on the scoring model), all those inquiries are treated as a single inquiry. The models recognize that you’re shopping for the best rate on one loan, not trying to open five separate accounts.
Opening several new accounts in a short time can also lower the average age of your credit history, compounding the effect. If your credit is in good shape and you’re not planning a major purchase soon, the occasional new application won’t cause lasting harm. But if you’re about to apply for a mortgage, it’s worth holding off on new credit cards for a few months.
Credit Mix (10%)
Scoring models like to see that you can manage different types of credit. This factor looks at the variety in your credit file: credit cards (revolving credit), auto loans, mortgages, student loans, and personal loans (all forms of installment credit). Having a mix of both revolving and installment accounts can give your score a modest boost.
At 10% of your FICO score, credit mix is the least influential factor you can actively control. It’s not worth taking on a loan you don’t need just to diversify your credit file. But if you only have credit cards and you’re financing a car anyway, adding that installment loan naturally broadens your mix.
How FICO and VantageScore Differ
Both models use the same underlying data, but their category weights diverge in a few notable ways. FICO groups amounts owed into one 30% bucket. VantageScore splits that concept into three separate categories: utilization (20%), total balances (6%), and available credit (2%). VantageScore also combines credit age and credit mix into a single 20% factor, while FICO treats them as distinct 15% and 10% categories.
In practice, the differences rarely change what you should do. Paying on time, keeping balances low, maintaining older accounts, and limiting new applications will improve your score under either model.
What Doesn’t Affect Your Score
Your income, employment status, bank account balances, and debit card activity have no direct impact on your credit score. Checking your own credit report (a “soft inquiry”) also has zero effect. Rent and utility payments traditionally haven’t appeared on credit reports, though some services now allow you to opt in to having those payments reported, which can help if you have a thin credit file.
Race, religion, marital status, and national origin are prohibited from being used in credit scoring under federal law. Your age isn’t used as a scoring factor either, though the length of your credit history (which correlates with age) does matter.