A 798 credit score is very good, and it’s much higher than the national average credit score of 702. In fact, 798 is classified as “excellent credit,” and having a credit score this high should qualify you for good terms on most loans, credit cards and other lines of credit.
Key Things to Know About a 798 Credit Score
- Credit Rating: 798 is an excellent credit score, which is even better than a good score. Many people consider excellent credit to be a score of 720+. But we actually recommend setting the bar a bit higher, at 750+, based on the approval rates we've seen for loans and lines of credit.
- Borrowing Options: Most borrowing options are available, and the terms are likely to be attractive. For example, you might be able to qualify for the best credit cards and the best personal loans.
- Best Way to Improve a 798 Credit Score: Reducing the credit utilization on your credit card accounts could quickly boost your score. You can also check out your WalletHub credit analysis for personalized tips.
Below, you can learn all about what you can and cannot do with a 798 credit score, the types of people who have 798 credit scores, and the steps you can take to go even higher.
How 798 Compares to the Rest of the Credit Score Range
A 798 credit score is excellent, and it puts you near the top of the credit score range, as you can see from the table below.
| Credit Score Range | Credit Category |
| 800 – 850 | Perfect |
| 750 – 799 | Excellent |
| 700 – 749 | Good |
| 640 – 699 | Fair |
| 571 – 639 | Poor |
| 500 – 570 | Very Poor |
| 400 – 499 | Bad |
| 300 – 399 | Very Bad |
Since a 798 credit score is in the excellent credit tier of the credit score range, you can qualify for many of the best credit offers.
What Does a 798 Credit Score Get You?
| Type of Credit | Do You Qualify? |
|---|---|
| Credit Card | YES |
| Personal Loan | YES |
| Auto Loan | YES |
| Home Loan | YES |
Not only do you have a good chance of qualifying for most financial products, but you’re also likely to get excellent terms when you borrow and elite perks from credit cards.
This content is not provided or commissioned by any issuer. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of an issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by an issuer. WalletHub independently collected information for some of the cards on this page.
Credit Cards with a 798 Credit Score
The best credit cards typically require good or excellent credit for approval, which means someone with a 798 credit score has a very good chance of qualifying. The trick is finding the right card for your needs.
Best Credit Cards for a 798 Credit Score
To select the best credit cards for people with a 798 credit score, WalletHub’s editors compared more than 1,500 credit card offers based on factors such as their rewards, fees, and interest rates. We ultimately selected the cards likely to save someone with a 798 credit score the most money in a handful of common scenarios.
You should compare credit cards with rewards if you plan to use your card for everyday purchases that you can pay off by the end of the month. If you’re planning big-ticket purchases or a balance transfer that will take months to pay down, focus on credit cards with 0% introductory APR offers.
Car Loans with a 798 Credit Score
You should be able to get approved for a decent car loan with a 798 credit score, considering that more than 70% of all auto loans go to people with credit scores below 780. Still, it’s important to compare your auto loan options carefully if you want to get a low APR.
Mortgages with a 798 Credit Score
Nearly 70% of first mortgages go to borrowers with credit scores below 780, so you should be able to finance your home purchase without issue.
Student Loans with a 798 Credit Score
Student loans are some of the easiest loans to get with a 798 credit score, seeing as roughly 90% of them are given to applicants with a credit score below 780. A new degree may also make it easier to repay the loan if it leads to more income.
Note: Borrower percentages above reflect 2025 Equifax data.
Benefits of a 798 Credit Score
Since a 798 credit score is in the excellent tier, you have very high approval odds for some of the best premium credit card and loan options. You can also get the lowest interest rates for these financial products compared to someone with a lower credit score. In addition, a 798 credit score gives you access to low insurance premiums, high odds of getting approved for an apartment, high credit card limits, and better job and dating prospects.
You can learn more about the benefits from WalletHub’s guide on excellent credit.
How to Get a 798 Credit Score
You can find specific recommendations on your personalized credit analysis page. Below, you can check out some of the most common steps people need to take to get a credit score of 798.
Always Pay Your Bills on Time
Payment history is the most important part of any credit score because it directly answers the question of whether a lender can expect to get its money back from you. Missed payments are the trademark of a risky borrower, indicating irresponsibility and potential financial distress. So it’s important to have as few as possible on your credit report and to surround any that do appear with lots of months where you pay by the due date.
You can find some strategies that may come in handy in WalletHub’s guide on how to never miss due dates.
Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt is extremely costly, and we collectively owe way too much of it right now. Having a lot of debt puts pressure on your finances, making missed payments more likely. It also makes you a riskier candidate to borrow because you will have less income and fewer assets available to afford a new loan or line of credit, and that is exactly what credit scores measure.
Paying off credit card debt will also reduce your credit utilization, which is a key ingredient in your credit score. You can get a better idea of how to actually go about this from WalletHub’s guide on paying off credit card debt.
Take Advantage of Free Credit Monitoring
You don’t want fraud or credit report errors to derail your pursuit of a 798 credit score. While free credit monitoring won’t prevent such things from happening, it will make sure you know about them immediately. That will give you the chance to sort out any problems before they do much, if any, damage.
On that note, you should probably review your latest credit report for anything fishy, too, just to be safe.
There’s no secret to getting a 798 credit score. Rather, it simply requires consistency and commitment. You need to pay your bills on time, use only a portion of the credit made available to you, and generally work to make any mistakes you’ve made look like freak occurrences rather than standard practice.
You also need to know exactly where you’re starting from and then actually track your progress over time to hold yourself accountable. So make sure to regularly check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub as you work your way to a 798 credit score and beyond.
How to Improve Your Credit Score From 798 to 800+
A credit score of 798 is on the brink of perfection, and you probably won’t have to change much to join the 800+ credit score club. Your personalized credit analysis from WalletHub will tell you what needs improvement and exactly how to fix it.
Get Your Personalized Credit Analysis – 100% Free
A few things in particular tend to stand between a credit score of 798 and perfect credit, though. If you do nothing else, make sure to take the following steps.
Reduce Your Credit Utilization
People with credit scores in the 800s use around 7% of their credit limits on average, according to Experian, while people with scores from 740 to 799 have an average credit utilization ratio of 15%. You definitely want to keep your credit utilization below 30% on all of your credit card accounts, and the lower it is, the better.
There are a few ways to improve your credit utilization. You can charge less to your credit cards, and you can make bigger monthly payments if you don’t always pay in full already. You can also pay your bill multiple times per month to reduce the balance listed on your monthly statement, which is what’s used to calculate credit utilization.
Pay Down Debt
The average American household has roughly $11,000 in credit card debt. That type of burden can quickly become unmanageable, leading to missed payments, default, collections accounts and other types of negative information being added to your credit report.
The more debt you have relative to your income, the riskier you’ll seem to lenders. Since the likelihood of failing to pay back debt is exactly what a credit score measures, paying off debt generally leads to credit score gains.
Avoid Hard Inquiries
Each time you apply for a loan or line of credit, there’s a hard inquiry on your credit report, when the lender reviews your credit history to see if you qualify. That hard inquiry can lower your credit score slightly for about three months. So if an 850 credit score is your aim, take note that applying for credit could affect your timeline.
Of course, you’ll also need to pay all your bills on time every month and otherwise manage your finances responsibly if you want to maintain your 798 credit score, let alone improve it. You can track your progress for free here on WalletHub, the first site with free credit scores and reports that are updated every day. You can also try out our credit score simulator to see what changes you could make to reach an 800 credit score.
The credit score shown on WalletHub is based on your TransUnion credit report as well as the VantageScore 3.0 model, and it may differ from what your lender or insurer uses. WalletHub’s assessment of what constitutes limited, bad, fair, good, and excellent credit may also differ from your lender’s assessment. In addition to your credit score, lenders may consider other factors, such as your income and your debt.
