I have my credit score number, how good is that?

Factual Questions
1

I’m sure this has been touched on before, but after searching through 50 old threads, I’m just posting.

I know my current credit score. It’s pretty high, I am pleased. But how good is good? I understand that each lender evaluates the score on their own criteria, but is there any objective measure of how good my score is? Are they arranged normally (if so, what’s mean and variance)?

2

This page has more than you ever wanted to know about FICO scores.

It’s important to note that the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) usually have different overlapping sets of information about you, and therefore your credit score may vary significantly between credit bureaus. It doesn’t hurt to get a regular copy of your credit report from each bureau every year or so. (In the past five years, I’ve discovered two accounts on my report that were not mine. There’s a lot of incorrect data floating around out there.)

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Disclaimer: I work for a subsidiary of Experian which has nothing to do with the credit industry.
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3

Unfortunately, that site doesn’t answer the question, I’ve been there already. Given that I have score x from bureau y, how can I understand where that ranks? What is the distribution of the scores.

4

If you e-mail it to me, I’ll let you know. In general

It breaks down something like this

Max 850
High >700
Ok >650
Low>540
Poor<540
Min 300

This pdf talks about FICO scores and how they are calculated and interpretted.

http://www.myfico.com/Offers/myFICO_UYCS%20booklet.pdf

5

Here is a statistical breakdown of credit scores:

6

Thank you Gfactor! That’s exactly what I was looking for.

7

Here’s another breakdown of FICO scores.

8

Dang. I was trying to find that one. But I kept getting interrupted by work. Thanks.

9

As long as we’re on the topic of credit reports, here’s the site for requesting free annual copies of your credit reports from the three bureaus. Check your state to be sure the rollout of the program includes it (the Midwest became eligible March 1). I don’t know if these reports include the FICO scores but even without the scores it’s good information.

10

I believe they come with scores.

11

Last week’s Sun-Times said they didn’t.

12

Turns out I’m full of crap.

How can I get my credit score?
You can purchase a credit score by contacting one of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies.
Equifax - www.equifax.com
Experian - www.experian.com
TransUnion - www.transunion.com
You can also purchase a credit score when you request your free annual credit report through this website.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/helpfaq