How can the average credit score remain at 692 in this market?

The average score was at 678 a few weeks ago. I cannot believe that it would go up in an economy like this. With all the foreclosures, etc. how can they accurately compute the average score?

Public Comments

1. Maybe they are using too small a sample size which is leading to inaccurate data.
2. By how many credit cards you have open, how many car loans you have, or if you make your payments on time, do you pay the minimum or pay off your cards monthly.
3. Easy, all this means is that there are enough people doing the right things including using debt better to raise the credit score. The credit score is based partly on how well you manage debt and how much you have.
4. Different sources have been reporting the average FICO score at different numbers in the range of the high 670s to the low 690s for a couple of years now, so it may not have gone up - it may just be that it has come from a different source. To really understand the credit scoring system it is important to know some other information as well: 1. A FICO score can range from 300 to 850. 2. The national AVERAGE FICO is 678. 3. The MEDIAN American FICO score, however, is higher at 723. Even middle school math made my eyes glaze over, so if you are anything like me it may help to have a refresher on the difference between "median" and "average" at this point. "Median" means that half of all credit scores fall below 723 and half of all credit scores fall above 723. However the "average" score is what you get if you add together every credit score in America, and then divide that total by the number of scores that were added. Why is the median score of 723 higher than the average score of 678? The reason is because there are more really low scores between 300 and 723, than there are really high scores between 723 and 850. In fact, 60% of scores are between 650 and 799. Of the remaining 40% of scores, more are below 650 than are above 799. 4. Anything below 620 - 650 is considered a poor score. 5. There is nothing wrong with having a median score of 723. This is a good credit score and lenders will perceive you as unlikely to default and offer you a competitve interest rate. 6. A score of 770 and up is considered excellent and people with these scores get the very best deals. However, the advantage between having a score of 800 versus 700 is minor compared to the difference between having a score of 700 versus 600. 7. At below 550 you would be considered to have damaged credit and be in need of credit repair. In short, folks should be aiming to get above the median of 723 instead of the national FICO score average of 678, but don't sweat it. The average FICO score is still definitely good credit and enough for you to qualify a consumer for standard rates. It is likely that in time the average and median scores may drop but there will be enough people doing ok that the foreclosures and credit crunch may not have as big an effect as you may expect. Amazingly, the statistics show that the majority of US households still have no credit card debt.