The 5 FICO Score Factors Explained (2026)
FICO 8 — the credit score used by 90%+ of US lenders — is calculated from five factors with specific weights. Knowing which factor moves your score how much is the difference between random effort and targeted improvement. Below: the five factors, their weights, and the exact behaviors that move each.
The 5 factors
| Factor | Weight | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Payment history | 35% | On-time vs late payments. 30/60/90/120+ day lates. |
| Amounts owed / utilization | 30% | Current revolving balances as % of limits. |
| Length of credit history | 15% | Age of oldest account, newest account, average age. |
| Credit mix | 10% | Variety: cards, auto, mortgage, student, personal loans. |
| New credit / inquiries | 10% | Recent hard inquiries and newly opened accounts. |
1. Payment history (35%)
The most important factor. A single 30-day late payment can drop a good score 60–100 points. A 90-day late or collection can drop it 110–150. Lates stay on your report for 7 years but their impact fades over time.
Action: set up autopay for the minimum on every account. Never miss a due date.
2. Amounts owed / utilization (30%)
Ideal: under 10% per card and overall. Under 30% is acceptable. Over 50% starts pulling the score down noticeably.
Critical detail: utilization is calculated at statement close, not due date. Paying down balances before the statement cuts is what lowers reported utilization. A payer who pays in full monthly can still have high utilization reported if they charge heavily before each statement.
3. Length of credit history (15%)
FICO looks at: age of oldest account, age of newest account, average age across all accounts. Longer is better. The mechanical implication: don't close old cards. Even a $0-balance old card in a drawer boosts your average age.
The authorized-user trick: most major card issuers (Amex, Chase, Discover, Capital One) include authorized-user accounts in the bureau feed. A 20-year-old card with perfect history, added to a child or spouse as authorized user, can give that user instant history.
4. Credit mix (10%)
Having at least one revolving account (credit card) and one installment account (auto, mortgage, student, personal loan) helps. The lift is modest — don't open a loan you don't need just for mix.
5. New credit / inquiries (10%)
Each hard inquiry drops your score ~5 points. Multiple inquiries within 14 days for the same loan type (auto, mortgage) count as one. Newly opened accounts pull down your average age.
Practical rule: space credit card applications at least 90 days apart. Rate-shop auto and mortgage within a 2-week window.
FICO factors questions
Payment history (35%), Amounts owed / utilization (30%), Length of credit history (15%), Credit mix (10%), New credit / inquiries (10%). These weights apply to FICO 8, the most commonly used scoring model.
Payment history. A single 30-day late payment can drop a good score 60–100 points and stays on your report 7 years. Utilization is second — running a 90% balance for one statement cycle can drop a score 20–40 points until paid down.
Because it's the most predictive. Statistically, past payment behavior is the strongest predictor of future payment behavior. FICO weights it heaviest because lenders use the score to price default risk.
Set up autopay for at least the minimum payment on every credit line. Never miss a due date. Pay as much as you can above the minimum to avoid interest, but the score lift comes from on-time payment regardless of amount.
Utilization = (current revolving balance ÷ total revolving credit limit). Measured per-card and overall. Under 30% is acceptable; under 10% is ideal. Utilization is reported at statement close, not due date — so paying mid-cycle can drop reported utilization even if you pay in full monthly.
Yes — it's 15% of the score and you can't shortcut it. However, you can accelerate the age-of-accounts clock by becoming an authorized user on an established account, which copies that account's age to your file (on most card issuers).
Variety of credit types: credit cards (revolving), auto loans (installment), mortgages (installment), student loans (installment), personal loans (installment). Having at least one card plus at least one installment loan helps credit mix. Most people don't need to optimize this actively — it's 10% of the score.
Each hard inquiry drops your score about 5 points and stays on your report 2 years (but only factors into FICO for 12 months). Multiple inquiries for the same type of loan (auto, mortgage) within a 14-day window count as one — called 'rate shopping.'
No. Soft inquiries (checking your own score, pre-qualification, account reviews, prospect mailings) do not affect your score. Only hard inquiries (formal credit applications) do.
VantageScore weights factors differently: payment history 41%, age/type of credit 20%, utilization 20%, balances 6%, recent credit 11%, available credit 2%. The big differences from FICO: higher weight on payment history, lower on utilization. Both models reward the same behaviors.