Most sources say that the scale ranges from 350 to 850.

Less than 600 is bad, and you will have a very hard time getting any kind of loan.

600-640: You will be able to do things with this, but you will have very high interest rates.

641-680: This is ok. Not the best, but far from the worst and you will be able to get decent interest rates on loans, but still not entirely desirable.

681-720: This is good. You will always be able to get loans easily, and the higher end of this has a good chance of low interest rates.

720 and up: This is the credit score goal! You should be getting the best possible rates and be able to do anything you want with your credit.

If you’re low on this list, don’t despair, you can build these numbers up!

Where does my credit score come from?

Three major credit reporting agencies take down information from creditors about your financial activities. This information is gathered into reports which you can obtain once a year for free. These reports contain information like late payments, length of your history, the types of credit used among other things. When you apply for things than include a credit check, such as loans or rent applications, your report is taken by a financial institution and used to create a credit score. They then consider this number, deciding whether the number means you are likely to make timely payments and be a desireable customer. You can judge what they’ll likely think of your situation using the scale above.

Hopefully this information will help you decide where you need to be and if you need to work on improving your credit report. Remember that all financial institutions do judge these numbers independently, but you can use this credit score scale explained above as a general guide to get you where you want to be.