Credit Scores by Generation: How Age Affects Your FICO Score

Average credit scores by generation climb steadily with age in the United States, with the Silent Generation posting the highest average FICO score at 760 while Gen Z trails at 680, according to third quarter 2023 data from Experian.

Where Each Generation Stands

The overall average credit score among Americans hit 715 in 2023, up one point from the year before. But that national figure hides a wide spread once you break it down by age group. Gen Z consumers, defined by Experian as those between 18 and 26 in 2023, averaged 680, a score that lands squarely in the good range. Millennials, aged 27 to 42, came in just a bit higher at 690.

Generation X, spanning ages 43 to 58, averaged 709. Baby boomers, ages 59 to 77, jumped further to 745. Then there is the Silent Generation, 78 and older, sitting at 760, the only cohort whose average score crosses into the very good tier. That is an 80 point gap between the youngest and oldest groups, and it has held fairly steady over time even as every generation's score inched upward from 2022 to 2023.

None of this means birthdays alone raise your score. Age itself is not a factor FICO calculates. What matters is what age tends to bring: more years of credit history, more time to establish a repayment pattern, and often more experience managing different types of debt.

Why Payment History and Utilization Carry the Most Weight

The FICO 8 score, the version most lenders and all three major credit bureaus rely on, runs from 300 to 850 and is built from five weighted ingredients. Payment history dominates at 35 percent of the total score, tracking whether you have paid bills on time or let them slip. Credit utilization follows at 30 percent, measuring how much of your available credit you are actually using at any given moment. Carrying a lower balance relative to your limits helps your score.

Length of credit history accounts for 15 percent. This is where older borrowers get a natural edge, since a credit file that goes back three decades simply outweighs one that started five years ago. New credit inquiries make up 10 percent, penalizing consumers who have applied for several new lines of credit in a short window. Credit mix rounds out the model at 10 percent, rewarding people who have successfully juggled different account types, such as a mortgage alongside a credit card or auto loan.

Put together, it is easy to see why a 22 year old just starting out with one credit card cannot match the score of a 70 year old with a paid off mortgage, a couple of long held credit cards, and decades of on time payments. The math favors time in the game.

How the Three Credit Bureaus Assign Your Score

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each maintain their own version of your credit file and update it regularly based on information reported by lenders. When you apply for a loan or a new credit card, the lender pulls your score from one or more of these agencies to decide whether to approve you and what interest rate to offer. A higher score generally translates into better loan terms and lower borrowing costs.

A score of 670 or above is generally considered good under the FICO scale, which runs from 300 to 850. Anything below that line is considered fair or poor, while scores above 670 climb through good, very good, and exceptional tiers. You can check your own score for free through services like Credit Karma or through banking apps offered by card issuers such as American Express and Citibank. Federal law also entitles every consumer to a free credit report from each of the three bureaus once a year, available at AnnualCreditReport.com, which gives a far more detailed look at your account history than a simple score.

Regional Differences Add Another Layer

Generation is not the only variable that shapes the national credit picture. Location matters too. Minnesota posted the highest average credit score of any state in 2023 at 742, with Vermont and Wisconsin close behind at 737 each. Mississippi sat at the other end of the spectrum with the lowest average score in the country, 680, matching Gen Z's national average.

What Younger Borrowers Can Do to Close the Gap

Nothing about a low starting score is permanent. Paying every bill on time, every time, addresses the single biggest factor in the FICO formula. Keeping credit card balances well below their limits helps on the utilization front, and simply keeping older accounts open, rather than closing them, lets credit history age gracefully rather than resetting the clock. None of these habits require decades to pay off. They just require consistency, which is exactly what tends to separate a 680 score from a 760 one over time.