States With the Best and Worst Credit Scores (2024)

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• The average FICO credit score is 715, and the average VantageScore credit score is 701.
• Minnesota has the highest average FICO credit score, with an average FICO score of 742.
• Mississippi has the lowest average FICO credit score, with an average FICO score of 675.

The average FICO credit score in 2024 is 715 and the average VantageScore is 701. However, average credit scores vary widely based on a number of factors, including age, income, immigration status, health, and race.

Average credit scores also vary significantly based on location. The average Minnesota resident has a 742 FICO credit score, the highest average of any state. Meanwhile, the state with the lowest average FICO credit score is Mississippi, at 680.

Understanding credit scores

What a credit score means

A credit score is a number that indicates how likely a person is to repay their creditors back on time, based on payment history from their credit report. Credit scores range from 300 to 850, with a score of 700 or higher generally considered good and 800 or higher considered excellent.

What goes into credit score calculations

Five categories are considered when calculating a credit score:

• Payment history: if late payments were made, how often you missed payments, and how recently. This is typically the most important factor
• Amounts owed: the amount of credit you've used in relation to your limits, also known as credit utilization
• Length of credit history: how long you've been using credit
• New credit: temporary score drops from applying for new credit
• Credit mix: the types of credit you have and how many accounts you have open

10 states with the highest average credit score

According to data gathered by Experian, the 10 states with the highest average credit scores in the third quarter of 2023 — the most recent data available — are as follows:

The highest average VantageScore credit scores as of March 2024 are as follows:

10 states with the lowest average credit score

Credit scores have improved over the past couple of decades. In 2012, the average FICO credit score was 689 compared to 718 in 2023. Yet some states continue to lag behind the national average. The 10 states with the lowest average credit scores in 2023 are as follows:

It's worth noting that of these 10 states, all but one are located in the South, defined by the US Census Bureau. However, even at the bottom of this list, the average resident in all these states would have a "prime" credit score, above 660. Average credit scores were not always what they are today. The average FICO score in October 2005 was 688 and has steadily risen over the past two decades.

You'd also think that the states with the lowest credit scores would have the most debt, though this isn't the case. In fact, Mississippi has the lowest average credit card debt and the second lowest average debt among all states.

The 10 states with the lowest average VantageScore credit scores show a similar pattern, predominantly comprised of southern states.

How credit scores are categorized

The range of possible credit scores spans from 300 to 850, which FICO categorizes into five levels called risk categories. While lending decisions aren't solely determined by your credit score or which risk category you fall into, these help gauge how likely you are to qualify for a loan or credit card.

The five risk categories and their corresponding ranges are:

Looking at this spread, we see 49 states with good credit scores on average. Minnesota, with a 742 average score, is the only exception, nudging its way into a "very good" average score.

How do you raise your credit score?

Improving your credit score isn't a matter of eliminating negative information from your credit report, but building positive information on top of your negative information.

You should prioritize making payments on your current lines of credit on time and make sure your overall balance isn't too high. If your minimum payments are posing a problem each month, consider consulting with a credit counselor and signing up for a debt management plan.

The best debt management servicescan negotiate a lower interest rate with your creditors or lower your minimum payments in exchange for longer payment periods.

You can also look into credit-building products such as credit builder loans. These will add payment history to your credit reports and accept your application without a credit check. Rent reporting services will also help you build your payment history by reporting any rent payments you make to the credit bureaus, which doesn't automatically happen. You can find our guides on the best credit builder loans and best rent reporting services here.

Keeping tabs on your credit score is a good habit to get into, so you'll know your financial standing in the eyes of creditors at any given point. Through AnnualCreditReport.comyou can request three free credit reports annually, one from each of the credit bureaus.

You can also check your credit scorewith a credit monitoring service. Some of the best credit monitoring services are even free.

Frequently asked questions about average credit scores by state