A credit score is a numeric representation of the information in your credit reports. According to FICO, the company that invented credit scores, your credit scores are based on five categories of information in your reports:
- 35% Payment history
- 30% Amounts owed
- 15% Length of credit history
- 10% Credit mix
- 10% new credit
Credit scores traditionally range from 300 to 850, with higher scores indicating that you have a longer, more positive history of paying off debt as agreed. In addition to FICO, there are several companies that have their own credit score calculators. Each credit score you view may be different depending on which company calculates the score, which calculator they use and which credit report is used to generate the score