What actually moves your FICO score, ranked by weight

Payment history and amounts owed decide most of a FICO Score. FICO publishes the weights: payment history 35%, amounts owed 30%, length of credit history 15%, new credit 10%, and credit mix 10% (myFICO, What's in my FICO Scores). The top two add up to 65%. If you want a higher score, paying on time and keeping balances low is where the effort belongs.

What each factor measures

Payment history, 35%

FICO looks at how late any past-due payments were, how many there are, and how long ago they happened, across cards, retail accounts, installment loans, and mortgages. Collections and bankruptcies count here too.

The timing rule that matters: creditors report a payment as late once it is at least 30 days past due. Experian says there is no reporting code for an account that is 1 to 29 days late, so paying within that window usually costs you a late fee but no credit damage. Federal student loans are not reported late until 90 days. A reported late payment can stay on your report for seven years from the date the account first went past due.

Amounts owed, 30%

This is more than one ratio. FICO's amounts owed page lists the total you owe, what you owe on each type of account, how many accounts carry a balance, your utilization on revolving accounts, and how much of each installment loan is still unpaid compared with the original amount. FICO also says a low utilization ratio can score better than using none of your credit at all.

Utilization is the fastest-moving input because it updates every time a balance is reported. The common "stay under 30%" advice is a rule of thumb, not a scoring line; see what the 30% utilization rule gets wrong.

Length of credit history, 15%

FICO considers the age of your oldest account, your newest account, and the average age of all accounts, plus how long specific accounts have been open. FICO says a long history helps but is not required for a good score. Time is the only input, so there is no shortcut here.

New credit, 10%

Recent applications and newly opened accounts. FICO's figures are specific: for most people, one additional hard inquiry takes less than five points off. Inquiries stay on your report for two years, but FICO Scores only count them for one. Rate shopping for a mortgage, auto loan, or student loan is grouped: older FICO versions treat inquiries in any 14-day span as one, newer versions use 45 days, and FICO ignores those inquiries entirely in the 30 days before scoring. More on that in hard vs. soft credit inquiries.

Credit mix, 10%

Whether your file shows revolving accounts (cards, store cards, HELOCs) and installment loans (mortgage, auto, student). FICO's own credit mix page asks whether you should apply for the types you lack, and answers "No." It is the smallest factor and not a reason to borrow.

Same action, different damage: FICO's own simulation

FICO ran the same credit events through FICO Score 9 for sample consumers and published the results. Two of them: Sophia starts at 607 with 7 accounts, 8 years of history, 67% revolving utilization, a 30-day late payment in the last year, and a charge-off in the last two years. Maria starts at 793 with 21 accounts, 19 years of history, 12% utilization, and no delinquencies. The point changes below are computed from FICO's published ranges.

Two lessons follow. A clean file has the most to lose: comparing midpoints, one 30-day late costs Maria about 2.7 times what it costs Sophia. FICO's explanation is that a score moves more when an event changes the risk picture more, and a first late payment on a spotless file is a bigger change than one more on a file that already has some. Second, nobody can promise you an exact point change in advance. FICO itself publishes ranges, and says results for other profiles may vary beyond them.

What a score band is worth in dollars

Base FICO Scores run 300 to 850. myFICO labels below 580 poor, 580 to 669 fair, 670 to 739 good, 740 to 799 very good, and 800 and up exceptional. Lenders set their own cutoffs, so the labels matter less than the price you are offered. The myFICO Loan Savings Calculator shows the rates it expects at each score band. Using the rates it displayed on October 7, 2026, here is what each band costs on a $300,000, 30-year fixed mortgage and a $50,000, 60-month new-car loan:

What the math shows:

• Above 780, nothing changes. The top band runs 780 to 850, so a jump from 790 to 840 buys the same rate.
• On the mortgage, moving from 620 to 639 up to 780 or higher cuts the payment by $164 a month and total interest by about $58,800 over 30 years.
• On the car loan, the cost sits below 700. A 720 borrower pays $4 a month more than a 780 borrower. A 640 to 659 borrower pays $72 a month more, about $4,300 in extra interest over five years.

These are survey rates, not offers, and actual rates vary by lender. The pattern is the useful part: score gains are worth the most below the low 700s and close to nothing above 780.

Which FICO Score lenders use in 2026

You have many scores, not one. The CFPB says each score depends on the model, the data source, and even the day it was calculated. Where things stand as of October 2026:

• Most lending: myFICO calls FICO Score 8 the most widely used version. Industry-specific auto and bankcard scores run 250 to 900 instead of 300 to 850.
• Mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: for decades these required "Classic FICO", which myFICO identifies as FICO Score 2, 4, and 5, one per bureau. Under an interim policy announced July 8, 2025, lenders may choose Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0 for each loan, and on September 9, 2026 VantageScore 4.0 opened to all approved lenders (FHFA credit score page). FICO 10T is approved but not yet eligible for delivery. See what credit score you need for a mortgage.
• Trended data: FICO 10T looks at balance history over the previous 24 months or longer, not just this month's balance. FHFA says the newer models also take in more data sources, including rent payment history.
• Buy now, pay later: FICO has built FICO Score 10 BNPL and 10T BNPL. A March 2026 FICO post says they will be available at the bureaus once BNPL data is furnished at scale, and that until recently most BNPL providers did not report to the bureaus at all.

The minimum to have a FICO Score

If an app says it cannot score you, check FICO's minimum requirements: at least one account open six months or more, at least one account reported to the bureau in the past six months, and no deceased indicator on the report. One account can meet both. A person who opens a first card today has no FICO Score until about six months later.

The order to fix things in

1. Stop new damage. Set autopay for at least the minimum on every account. A payment caught before it is 30 days late is generally not reported as late.
2. Lower reported balances. This shows up as soon as the lower balance reports, often within one statement cycle. The statement close optimizer works out how much to pay before each card's closing date.
3. Check all three reports for errors. A late payment that was not late, or a credit limit reported too low, is free to dispute. See how to get your free credit reports.
4. Then wait. Account age and a run of on-time payments are the remaining inputs, and neither can be sped up.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. What's in my FICO Scores?, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
2. How Credit Actions Impact FICO Scores, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
3. Loan Savings Calculator, myFICO. Rates as displayed October 7, 2026. Checked October 2026.
4. Credit Checks: What are credit inquiries and how do they affect your FICO Score?, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
5. FICO Score Versions, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
6. Credit Scores, Federal Housing Finance Agency. Checked October 2026.
7. Modernizing Credit Scoring for the BNPL Era, FICO. Checked October 2026.
8. When Do Late Payments Get Reported?, Experian. Checked October 2026.
9. Why Did My FICO Score Drop After Paying Off a Loan?, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
10. What are the minimum requirements for a FICO Score?, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
11. How Credit Actions Impact FICO Scores, FICO blog (June 2019). Checked October 2026.
12. VantageScore 4.0 Implementation FAQ, Federal Housing Finance Agency. Checked October 2026.
13. What is a credit score?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked October 2026.
14. Payment History, Amounts Owed, Length of Credit History, and Credit Mix, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
15. What is a FICO Score?, myFICO. Checked October 2026.