What Credit Score Do You Start With?

You start out with no credit score at all. Credit scores are based on the information in your major credit reports, and such reports aren’t even created until you’ve had credit (e.g., a credit card or loan) in your name for one to six months. Once your credit score has been established, it will likely be somewhere in the 500 to 700 range, as long as you pay your bills on time and avoid overspending. The average starting credit score is 645, according to the Federal Reserve.

Key Things to Know About Credit Scores

• Credit scores range from 300 to 850 with the most popular credit scoring models.
• You’ll typically receive a credit score after having a credit account open for one to six months.
• Factors like your payment history and credit utilization ratio will help determine your first credit score.
• You can build your credit by getting a credit card or a credit-builder loan and making on-time payments.
• If you've been an authorized user on a parent's credit card, you could already have a credit score despite never having your own credit account.
• The average credit score that people start with once their credit is established is 645, according to the Federal Reserve.

When Do You Get Your First Credit Score?

You should get your first credit score in the weeks or months after opening a credit account, like a credit card or loan. This gives the creditor or lender time to report enough of your account activity to the credit bureaus to generate a credit report and score.

You won’t automatically get a credit score when you turn 18 years old (the age at which you first become eligible to apply for credit). In fact, there is no specific age at which you will just get a credit score. You need credit history to generate a credit score.

Learn more about how long it takes to build credit.

Does Everyone Start With the Same Credit Score?

Your credit score is based on the information in your credit report, so not everyone starts with the same number. Even though there’s no specific starting credit score everyone begins with, there are some common trends that can give you insight into your first score.

You won’t start at zero.

The most common credit-scoring models start at 300, so 0 isn’t even possible. Your first score is unlikely to be as low as 300, either. Ratings at the lowest end of the credit score range reflect the most serious credit score damage, and it’s nearly impossible to get into that much trouble when you’re just starting out.

Expect a score in the 500 to 700 range.

Your first score could range anywhere from under 500 to “well into the 700s,” depending on your initial performance, according to credit expert John Ulzheimer, who has worked at both FICO and Equifax. “The only correlation between your first score and the scoring metrics would be the age of your credit file,” he said. “But that category is only worth about 15% of the points in your score, so even if you bombed that category and did well in the others you'd still score well above 640.”

Below, we’ll tell you a bit more about what information you can glean from your starting credit score as well as how you can improve it over time. After all, it’s not where you start that really matters, but rather where you’re going.

How Is Your Credit Score Calculated?

Your first credit score will be calculated using the information in your credit report. Different credit score models, such as FICO and VantageScore, use different formulas to calculate your credit score, but the factors they focus on include:

• Payment history
• Amounts owed
• Length/depth of credit
• Types of credit used
• New/recent credit

Learn more about the factors that affect your credit score.

What Your First Credit Score Means

Simply having a credit score to begin with tells you a lot. For starters, it indicates that you have enough credit history to actually generate a score. Your first credit score will also clue you in to the following:

• Your financial habits. Your credit score can provide insight into whether the way you manage money is helping or hurting your credit standing. Since your credit history is short, mistakes are going to be magnified. So if you start with a “bad” score, it will be obvious that some measure of habit change is in order.
• The financial products you’ll be approved for. Lenders and creditors typically have credit score requirements that you need to meet to get approved. For instance, if your first credit score is 650, then you’ll have a good chance at getting a credit card for limited or fair credit but not an offer that requires good or excellent credit for approval.
• Potential identity theft. If you’ve yet to intentionally kick off your credit career, the mere presence of a credit score could be an indication that someone applied for credit in your name. Don’t jump to any conclusions, though, as you could have built a bit of credit as an authorized user on a parent’s account, for instance.

You can sign up for WalletHub to get your free credit score and learn more about what it means. We update our scores on a daily basis, provide in-depth analysis of your credit standing, and offer customized credit-improvement advice.

How to Build a Good Credit Score

Figuring out whether you have a credit score and determining what it is are great first steps, putting you ahead of the game compared to the 28% of Americans who don’t know their own scores, according to Experian. But stopping there would be a mistake.

There are a few additional steps that you should take if you want to truly enable your starting credit score to blossom into excellence.

Use Your Card Regularly & Responsibly

Charging a small amount to your credit card and paying the full balance each month will expedite the credit-building process. It indicates that you can actually use the credit extended to you in a responsible fashion and reflects modest credit utilization.

However, the corresponding credit score gains are not worth the risk if you doubt your ability to spend within your means. That’s because you can still build credit without spending a thing if you just keep your account in good standing. Locking your card in a drawer is certainly better for your score than racking up a huge, unsustainable balance. Just make sure the card doesn’t charge an annual fee or have a provision for the account to be closed after a certain period of inactivity. 

Don’t Apply for Multiple Credit Cards at Once

Try to apply strategically for a card that you are likely to get approved for, rather than haphazardly en masse. This will enable you to minimize the number of hard inquiries into your delicate credit report as well as avoid taking on more responsibility than you are prepared for at this point.

Always Pay on Time

Payment history accounts for 35% to 40% of your credit score and is one of the most controllable components from your perspective. Perhaps the easiest way to avoid credit score damage stemming from missed due dates is to establish automatic monthly payments from a bank account. You just need to make sure to have enough cash on hand.

For additional pointers on avoiding missed payments, check out our 8 tips for always paying on time.

Watch Your Credit Utilization

It can be hard to keep your credit utilization — the ratio between your available credit and the portion you use each month — below recommended levels when you’re just starting out, considering that your spending limit is likely to be quite low. But you should try to avoid maxing out any of your credit cards, as creditors perceive this to be risky behavior. You can find some tips for doing so in our credit utilization improvement guide.

Build an Emergency Fund  

A stout emergency fund is essential to long-term credit-score stability. After all, you’re far less likely to rack up serious debts or to miss payments if you have a sturdy safety net — even if you’re surprised by emergency expenses or job loss.

You should have three to six months’ worth of your living expenses in an emergency fund, though it’s better to have roughly 12 months’ worth stashed away if you can swing it. You’ll obviously want to build that gradually over time.

Enroll in Credit Monitoring  

Identity theft, fraud and credit report errors are all threats to your credit score, but it can be difficult to stay on top of all such obstacles even with access to your full credit report, which WalletHub provides and updates on a daily basis. That’s where credit monitoring comes into play. WalletHub also offers this 24/7 service for free and will alert you to any important changes to your credit report. Not only will this provide some much-needed peace of mind, but it will also give you more control over your financial life.

Review Your Credit Report Regularly

Credit monitoring definitely saves you a lot of time, but you’ll also want to review the actual contents of your credit reports on a regular basis. Credit reports are the foundation for all credit scores, after all, so keeping tabs on their contents is integral to credit health. 

Credit building can be a long and confusing process, but understanding why you’ll start from nothing — rather than zero — as well as how to lay the foundation for a solid rating early on will position you for resilience and make the path to credit excellence appear more obvious. If you’ve yet to begin this journey, your clean slate represents an amazing opportunity. To learn more about the best credit cards with which to kick-start your credit career, check out our editors’ picks.