Knowing your credit score can give you the power to make better decisions. For example, higher credit scores may give you access to lower mortgage or car loan rates or make it easier to apply for an apartment if the leasing company considers creditworthiness. A higher score may also help you access lines of credit or personal loans to help pay for home repairs, credit consolidation, or even a startup loan for a new business.
In 2024, over 70% of Americans had a good or better credit score, with an average score of 715 nationwide. However, younger generations typically reported lower scores than the older generations, and while 30-year-olds had lower scores than Generation X and Baby Boomers, there's still a lot this group can do to improve their credit scores.
Read on to learn how your credit score compares to your peers and for actionable tips on how to improve your credit score to reach your financial goals.
What's a good credit score for a 30-year-old?
What credit scores do most 30-year-olds have? Data from 2024 shows that Millennials (the generation with today's 30-year-olds) have an average score of 691. Experian, the organization behind the FICO score, defines a "good" score as one in the range of 670 to 739. So, 30-year-olds with this score can safely say they have good credit and are on target compared to their peers.
Here's how each of the FICO scoring categories breaks down:
- Excellent: 800-850
- Very Good: 740-799
- Good: 670-739
- Fair: 580-669
- Poor: 300-579
The same data shows that the average credit score by age increases with each older generation. Gen X has an average score of 709 (good), and Baby Boomers have scores around 746 (very good).
Age affects credit scores for a few reasons, but mainly because life gives you more opportunities to build credit and the experience to make good decisions. While a very young person can have excellent credit, it's certainly more difficult. You can't even get a loan or credit card in most states until you reach age 18 to 21 in some cases, so this puts the younger generations at a disadvantage from the start.
How to improve your credit score for a 30-year-old
What happens if you need to boost your credit score right now? There can be all kinds of reasons to want a higher score, and not everyone has the years or even decades to let it rise over time.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do right away to improve your score, especially if you only need to boost it a few points higher to reach your goals.
1. Report your on-time payments
If you're making on-time payments on credit cards and loans, continue doing so. Your credit score is greatly affected by on-time payments, as 35% of a FICO score comes from the payment history on your credit report. With more young people reportedly falling behind on their credit card and vehicle payments, it's especially important to stay current with your bill payments and not miss any.
You can also ask for additional bills and payments to show up on your credit report. Bills like utilities or rent don't usually get reported, but you can ask if the utility company or property manager can report it. If they do, and you continue paying on time, it can affect your score positively — possibly even raising it a few points within the first few months of asking. For someone looking to build credit even without a credit card, this method may be one of the most promising.
2. Pay down debt
Another big factor in determining your credit score is your debt-to-credit ratio, sometimes called a utilization ratio or utilization score. This number takes into account the amount of available credit you can use and compares it to how much you actually use. If you use just $100 on a $1,000 credit card, you would be using 10% of the card's available credit. This would appear more favorably on your credit report than if you used $500 or even $700 — which shows a much higher utilization rate. To improve your utilization ratio, plan to pay down debt as much as you can and be mindful of how much you use each month.
Another way to improve your credit is to improve your debt-to-income ratio, which compares the amount of debt you have with the amount of income you make each month or year.
What's a good debt-to-income ratio? It depends. However, keeping your total debt payments below 35% of your monthly income can help you appear responsible and may help you get approved for loans in the future. (Note: If your ratio isn't at 35%, paying down debt can help, and it's one way to quickly boost your credit score by a few points.)
3. Hold off on new credit cards and loans (for now)
Eventually, you may want to use your improved credit score to apply for a loan. For now, you should focus on boosting your credit and hold off on applying for any new loans or credit cards.
Every time you apply for credit, the lender will request a copy of your credit report, and the mere act of doing this can cause your score to drop a few points for a limited time.
The type of credit pull that can lower your score is called a "hard inquiry." It's different from the various credit checks that banks, insurance companies, and your landlord may do from time to time to ensure you're on the right track with your credit.
If you're working on boosting your score, it's wise to avoid applying for new credit for now — to keep your current score in place.
4. Ask for a credit limit increase
One of the quickest ways to bump up your credit score is to get access to more credit. It can reduce your utilization and your debt-to-income ratios without having to make any new payments.
You should only ask for more credit if you can be responsible with what you have, since the point is to get access to the credit and not use it. You may be able to do this from your credit card company's dashboard, as some cards have a "request credit increase" link directly in the services menu.
Once you've made the request, you should hear back about the decision from the bank or lender within a few days or weeks. If they say "yes," your credit line will go up, and your credit score could go up, too.
If you're not sure about your bank's policies for credit limit increases, check your account terms. Some banks check every six months or so automatically and may ask you to verify your income or other details upon logging into your online account. Others require you to initiate the process. In either case, have your employment information and updated annual income amount handy to make the process go smoothly.
Other impacts on credit scores for a 30-year-old
For the most part, 30-year-olds have the same credit concerns as other age groups and can share challenges with 20-year-olds. However, you've also had more time to put good credit behaviors into practice and may have even been making regular payments on a loan or credit card. That longer credit history can be a big benefit, as the length of your credit history makes up 15% of your credit score. You should keep older accounts open as long as you can, even if you no longer use the card or line of credit.
Keep in mind that banks and lenders may close out credit accounts they consider "inactive," and this can negatively affect your credit utilization ratio. Watch for notices or emails from your bank that warn you of a possible account closing. You may need to use the card at least once to keep it active and hold on to that credit line.
It's also important to work on your credit in light of your goals for the next few months or years. Do you want to buy a home? Are you thinking about buying a car? The actions you take now, even just to improve your credit, can have a big effect on whether the bank approves you for future credit and offers you a rate you can afford. The credit score impact on interest rates is significant and can mean hundreds of dollars in savings on your monthly mortgage payments!
Little changes for big credit score benefits
No matter your age, you probably have an ideal credit score in mind. You may even be asking questions like, "How long does it take to get to a 700 credit score?" While there's no one-size-fits-all answer for how long it will take, the steps to get there are the same.
Pay down debt, avoid taking new credit unless necessary, and make sure your on-time payments get reported. These activities can help you achieve your ideal score faster than doing nothing and can get you within reach of the home or car for you.
