How Many Americans Have a Perfect 850 Credit Score? The Number Might Surprise You

Image source: The Motley Fool/Upsplash

Nobody's perfect, as they say. And yet when it comes to credit scores, a small percentage of Americans actually are.

Roughly 1.54% of U.S. consumers had a FICO® Score of 850 , according to Experian data from the third quarter of 2023. Since FICO® Scores range from 300 to 850, that's as perfect as you can get. While it's a rare feat to accomplish no matter who you are, perfect credit scores are more common among baby boomers and older consumers, as well as those who live in the Western states.

Featured offer: save money while you pay off debt with one of these top-rated balance transfer credit cards

As far as how many Americans that 1.54% represents, there were about 232 million or so U.S. consumers who were credit-eligible in 2021, according to calculations by FICO data scientists in that year. Assuming this number has stayed roughly the same, around 3.57 million Americans have perfect credit.

How much debt do consumers with perfect credit scores have?

Unsurprisingly, those with perfect credit have lower credit card and loan balances than those with the average FICO® Score of 715.

For instance, consumers with an 850 FICO® Score had an average:

• $3,028 credit card balance
• $19,296 auto loan balance
• $17,545 non-mortgage loan balance

Meanwhile, those with an average credit score of 715 carried a:

• $6,501 credit card balance
• $23,792 auto loan balance
• $23,964 non-mortgage loan balance

Having lower debt balances gave the average 850 consumers a supremely low credit utilization ratio of 4%. Since credit utilization makes up 30% of your FICO® Score, carrying smaller balances surely gives these consumers an extra boost to perfection.

Consumers with an average credit score of 715, on the other hand, had a credit utilization ratio of 29%. While that's below the recommended ratio of 30%, it was still high enough to make their credit score less than perfect.

Do you need a perfect credit score?

You don't. While having a perfect credit score might give you bragging rights and an ego boost, you're likely not going to get special treatment for having perfect credit.

Truth be told, a FICO® Score of 760 is about as high as you need to get the full benefits of a high credit score. At that point, you'll meet the score requirements for nearly all rewards credit cards (including those designed for excellent credit), qualify for low-interest mortgages and personal loans, and possibly get discounts on insurance.

Of course, credit scores aren't the only factor lenders look at when approving your applications or determining your interest rate. It's entirely possible to be denied a credit card or loan with perfect credit. That said, when your score is in the ballpark of 760, you at least don't have to worry about meeting credit score requirements.

How can you get perfect credit?

While there's no secret ingredient to getting a perfect 850 FICO® Score, the following tips could point you in the right direction.

• Pay your bills on time. Consumers with a perfect FICO® Score had zero delinquencies on their records. If you're aspiring to the best score possible, make sure you're never late on your payments.
• Keep your credit utilization low. Credit utilization measures how much credit you're using versus how much you have in total. If your total credit limit is $10,000, having a balance of $1,000 would mean you're using 10%. Since credit utilization makes up a whopping 30% of your FICO® Score, the lower this ratio, the more your score benefits.
• Maintain a variety of credit accounts. In other words, maintain a healthy payment history of credit cards, mortgages, and loans. Credit mix makes up 10% of your FICO® Score, so the more diverse your credit selection, the more this part of your score will improve.
• Don't close old accounts. Closing old credit cards will shorten your credit history. Given that the length of your credit history makes up 15% of your FICO® Score, the older your credit history, the better your score is likely to be.

Most importantly, don't obsess over having perfect credit. As long as you're paying your credit cards and loans in full and on time, your score will reflect your good habits. Follow these tips to improve your score, but don't let the quest for perfect credit stop you from other important tasks, like applying for new credit cards or getting a loan.

We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .