Average credit statistics
As a company that helps the nation's largest banks and financial institutions
assess credit risk, Fair Isaac is often asked to describe the credit use of a
typical consumer. In researching the answer, we discovered that consumers vary
immensely in what types of credit they use and how they use it.
By analyzing a representative national sample of millions of consumer credit
profiles, Fair Isaac was able to survey the panorama of credit
activity across the U.S. The following statistics reflect the average use of
credit by today's consumers.
Number of Credit Obligations
On average, today's consumer has a total of 13 credit obligations on record at a
credit bureau. These include credit cards (such as department store charge cards,
gas cards, or bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans,
student loans, etc.). Not included are savings and checking accounts (typically
not reported to a credit bureau). Of these 13 credit obligations, 9 are likely to
be credit cards and 4 are likely to be installment loans.
Past Payment Performance
On average, today's consumers are paying their bills on time. Less than half
of all consumers have ever been reported as 30 or more days late on a payment. Only 3 out of 10
have ever been 60 or more days overdue on any credit obligation. 77% of all
consumers have never had a loan or account that was 90+ days overdue, and less
than 20% have ever had a loan or account closed by the lender due to
default.
Credit Utilization
About 40% of credit card holders carry a balance of less than $1,000. About 15%
are far less conservative in their use of credit cards and have total card
balances in excess of $10,000. When we look at the total of all credit obligations
combined (except mortgage loans), 48% of consumers carry less than $5,000 of debt.
This includes all credit cards, lines of credit, and loans-everything but
mortgages. Nearly 37% carry more than $10,000 of non-mortgage-related debt as
reported to the credit bureaus.
Total Available Credit
The typical consumer has access to approximately $19,000 on all credit cards combined. More than
half of all people with credit cards are using less than 30% of their total credit
card limit. Just over 1 in 7 are using 80% or more of their credit card
limit.
Length of Credit History
The average consumer's oldest obligation is 14 years old, indicating that he or
she has been managing credit for some time. In fact, we found that 1 out of 4
consumers had credit histories of 20 years or
longer. Only 1 in 20 consumers had credit histories shorter than 2 years.
Credit Inquiries
When someone applies for a loan or a new credit card account - in short, any time
one applies for credit and a lender requests a copy of the credit report - this
request is noted as an “inquiry” in the applicant's credit file. The
average consumer has had only one inquiry on his or her accounts within the past
year. Fewer than 6% had four or more inquiries resulting from a search for new
credit.
