The average credit score in the United States is 715, according to FICO’s Score Credit Insights study, which looked at data from April 2025. That’s still in the “good” range, but it represents a two-point year-over-year decline — the biggest drop since the Great Recession.
Persistent inflation and a sluggish job market have forced many Americans to rely more on credit to cover their expenses. As a result, credit utilization has increased and on-time payments have decreased, lowering credit scores.
“Earlier this year, the percentage of credit card balances 90 days or more past due reached the highest level since the second quarter of 2011,” Richard Barrington, an analyst at Credit Sesame, told CNBC Select.
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Growing student loan debt is another contributing factor: After a 3-year moratorium and a 12-month “waiting period,” during which student borrowers were protected from negative credit reports and collections, delinquencies began being reported to credit bureaus again in January.
These partial or missed payments are now impacting scores: As of April, just under a third of student loan borrowers (5.8 million) were 90 days or more delinquent, according to a TransUnion analysis, marking the highest percentage on record.
“A person’s payment history is the most important component of credit scores,” Barrington said. “So if you fall behind on your student loan payments, you destroy your credit score.”
FICO’s analysis highlights a growing divide among consumers: The bracket with average credit scores (600-749) fell from 38% in 2021 to 33.8% in 2025. In the same time frame, the percentage in the “excellent” range (800-850) increased from 23.3% to 24.8% and the percentage in the “poor” range (300-549) jumped. from 7.2% to 12.1%.
According to Barrington, “the results are increasingly split between the haves and the have-nots.”
This is evident when looking at credit scores by state, which range from 677 in Mississippi and 687 in Louisiana to highs of 738 in New Hampshire and 739 in Wisconsin.
Average FICO Score by State
| State | Average credit score |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 691 |
| Alaska | 724 |
| Arizona | 712 |
| Arkansas | 695 |
| California | 723 |
| Colorado | 731 |
| Connecticut | 727 |
| Delaware | 713 |
| Florida | 707 |
| Georgia | 693 |
| Hawaii | 733 |
| Idaho | 731 |
| Illinois | 722 |
| Indiana | 713 |
| Iowa | 730 |
| Kansas | 722 |
| Kentucky | 704 |
| Louisiana | 687 |
| Maine | 732 |
| Maryland | 715 |
| Massachusetts | 733 |
| Michigan | 720 |
| Minnesota | 743 |
| Mississippi | 677 |
| Missouri | 713 |
| Montana | 733 |
| Nebraska | 731 |
| Nevada | 701 |
| New Hampshire | 738 |
| New Jersey | 725 |
| New Mexico | 704 |
| new York | 722 |
| North Carolina | 707 |
| North Dakota | 734 |
| Ohio | 716 |
| Oklahoma | 695 |
| Oregon | 732 |
| Pennsylvania | 722 |
| Rhode Island | 722 |
| South Carolina | 700 |
| South Dakota | 735 |
| Tennessee | 705 |
| Texas | 695 |
| Utah | 732 |
| Vermont | 740 |
| Virginia | 723 |
| Washington | 736 |
| West Virginia | 702 |
| Wisconsin | 739 |
| Wyoming | 726 |
Barrington links credit scores to a state’s median income and employment rates. According to the The Fed’s real median household income in St. Louis, Mississippi is $55,980 and Louisiana’s is $60,740, the lowest and second-to-last in the nation, respectively.
In contrast, New Hampshire’s median household income is $111,000, the second highest after Massachusetts.
Wisconsin and New Hampshire also have some of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, at 3.1% and 3.0% respectively. In comparison, Mississippi has an unemployment rate of 3.9% and ranks 28th in employment nationally, while Louisiana ranks 38th with a rate of 4.4%.
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How to increase your credit score
If you are unhappy with your score, there are several steps you can take to improve it. On-time payment history makes up 35% of your FICO score, the largest portion. Paying your bills on time is therefore the best way to increase your score.
“Get your “You want to have room each month to make debt payments on time.”
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He suggests paying off high-interest debt first.
“More of each subsequent payment will go toward principal rather than interest, giving you more bang for your buck,” he said.
Another technique is to lower your credit utilization rate, or the percentage of your available credit that you are using, which makes up an additional 30% of your score. Paying off debt is the safest way to lower your ratio, but if funds are tight, you can also request a credit limit increase on one of your cards.
“If you don’t tap into that extra credit, increasing your limit will reduce your overall debt utilization,” said Jim Droske, president of Illinois Credit Services..
Reviewing your credit reports can also increase your score. Nearly half (44%) of participants in a 2024 Consumer Reports study found errors in their reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Of those, 27% said errors could have negatively impacted their score, including debts that didn’t belong to them, accounts they never opened, and incorrect reporting of late or missed payments.
You can request a free weekly report from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. Improving your score can unlock credit card approvals, lower interest rates, and even better housing and jobs.
“You need to think of your credit score as more than an abstract three-digit number,” Barrington said. “Think of it as a financial resource and manage it.”
Credit Score FAQs
What is a good credit score?
How is your credit score calculated?
Your FICO credit score considers five factors to determine your credit score: your payment history (35%), the amounts you owe on your debt (30%), how long you’ve had your credit accounts (15%), the number of new lines of credit you’ve recently obtained (10%), and the variation in the types of credit you balance (10%).
What is the highest possible credit score?
FICO scores can go as high as 850, although anything above 800 is considered “excellent” credit.
Meet our experts
At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant education and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Jim Droske, president of Illinois Credit Services and a credit scoring expert with nearly 30 years of experience.
We also interviewed Richard Barrington, financial analyst at Credit Sesame. A chartered financial analyst and graduate of St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, Barrington previously worked for the investment management firm Manning & Napier Advisors and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, CNBC and numerous other publications.
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At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice, enabling them to make informed financial decisions. Each personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with in-depth knowledge of credit products. Although CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all of our content independently of our sales team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on maintaining high journalistic standards and ethics.
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