803 Credit Score: Is it Good or Bad?

Your 803 FICO® Score falls in the range of scores, from 800 to 850, that is categorized as Exceptional. Your FICO® Score is well above the average credit score, and you are likely to receive easy approvals when applying for new credit.

21% of all consumers have FICO® Scores in the Exceptional range.

21% of all consumers have Credit Scores in the Exceptional range (800-850)

Less than 1% of consumers with Exceptional FICO® Scores are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.

How to improve your 803 Credit Score

A FICO® Score of 803 is well above the average credit score of 714. It's nearly as good as credit scores can get, but you still may be able to improve it a bit.

More importantly, your score is on the low end of the Exceptional range and fairly close to the Very Good credit score range (740-799). A Very Good score is hardly cause for alarm, but staying in the Exceptional range can mean better chances of approval on the very best credit offers.

Among consumers with FICO® credit scores of 803, the average utilization rate is 11.5%.

The best way to determine how to improve your credit score is to check your FICO® Score. Along with your score, you'll receive a report that uses specific information in your credit report that indicates why your score isn't even higher. (Because your score is extraordinarily good, none of those factors is likely to be a major influence, but you may be able to tweak them to get even closer to perfection.)

Why you should be pleased with an Exceptional FICO® Score

A credit score in the Exceptional range reflects a longstanding history of excellent credit management. Your record of on-time bill payment, and prudent handling of debt is essentially flawless.

Late payments 30 days past due are rare among individuals with Exceptional credit scores. They appear on just 6.0% of the credit reports of people with FICO® Scores of 803.

People like you with Exceptional credit scores are attractive customers to banks and credit card issuers, who typically offer borrowers like you their very best lending terms. These may include opportunities to refinance older loans at better rates than you were able to get in years past, and excellent odds of approval for credit cards with premium rewards programs and the lowest-available interest rates.

Monitor and manage your Exceptional credit score

A FICO® Score of 803 is an accomplishment built up over time. It takes discipline and consistency to build up an Exceptional credit score. Additional care and attention can help you keep hang on to it.

Whether instinctively or on purpose, you're doing a remarkable job navigating the factors that determine credit scores:

Utilization rate on revolving credit. Utilization, or usage rate, is a measure of how close you are to “maxing out” credit card accounts. You can calculate it for each of your credit card accounts by dividing the outstanding balance by the card's borrowing limit, and then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage. You can also figure your total utilization rate by dividing the sum of all your card balances by the sum of all their spending limits (including the limits on cards with no outstanding balances).

BalanceSpending limitUtilization rate (%)
MasterCard$1,200$4,00030%
VISA$1,000$6,00017%
American Express$3,000$10,00030%
Total$5,200$20,00026%

If you keep your utilization rates at or below 30%— on all accounts in total and on each individual account—most experts agree you'll avoid lowering your credit scores. Letting utilization creep higher will depress your score, and approaching 100% can seriously drive down your credit score. Utilization rate is responsible for nearly one-third (30%) of your credit score.

Late and missed payments matter a lot. If late or missed payments played a major part in your credit history, you wouldn't have an Exceptional credit score. But keep on mind that no single factor helps your credit score more significantly than prompt payment behavior, and few things can torpedo a near-perfect score quicker than missing a payment.

Time is on your side. Length of credit history is responsible for as much as 15% of your credit score.If all other score influences hold constant, a longer credit history will yield a higher credit score than a shorter one.

Credit applications and new credit accounts typically have short-term negative effects on your credit score. When you apply for new credit or take on additional debt, credit-scoring systems flag you as being at greater risk of being able to pay your bills. Credit scores drop a small amount when that happens, but typically rebound within a few months, as long as you keep up with all your payments. New credit activity can contribute up to 10% of your overall credit score.

Debt composition. The FICO® credit scoring system tends to favor multiple credit accounts, with a mix of revolving credit (accounts such as credit cards that enable you to borrow against a spending limit and make monthly payments of varying amounts) and installment loans (e.g., car loans, mortgages and student loans, with set monthly payments and fixed payback periods). Credit mix is responsible for about 10% of your credit score.

When public records appear on your credit report they can have severe negative impacts on your credit score. Entries such as bankruptcies do not appear in every credit report, so they cannot be compared to other credit-score influences in percentage terms, but they can overshadow all other factors and severely lower your credit score.

The average mortgage loan amount for consumers with Exceptional credit scores is $208,977. People with FICO® Scores of 803 have an average auto-loan debt of $18,764.

Protect your Exceptional credit score

People with Exceptional credit scores can be prime targets for identity theft, one of the fastest-growing criminal activities.

85% of identity theft incidents involve fraudulent use of credit cards and account information.

A credit score monitoring service is like a home security system for your score. It can alert you if your score starts to slip and, if it starts to dip below the Exceptional range of 800-850, you can act quickly to try to help it recover.

An identity theft protection service can alert you if there is suspicious activity detected on your credit report, so you can react before fraudulent activity threatens your Exceptional FICO® Score.

Learn more about your credit score

An 803 credit score is Exceptional. Get your free credit report from Experian and check your credit score to better understand why it's so good, and how to keep it that way. Read more about score ranges and what a good credit score is.

How Good Is Your Credit Score?

300 credit score301 credit score302 credit score303 credit score304 credit score305 credit score306 credit score307 credit score308 credit score309 credit score310 credit score311 credit score312 credit score313 credit score314 credit score315 credit score316 credit score317 credit score318 credit score319 credit score320 credit score321 credit score322 credit score323 credit score324 credit score325 credit score326 credit score327 credit score328 credit score329 credit score330 credit score331 credit score332 credit score333 credit score334 credit score335 credit score336 credit score337 credit score338 credit score339 credit score340 credit score341 credit score342 credit score343 credit score344 credit score345 credit score346 credit score347 credit score348 credit score349 credit score350 credit score351 credit score352 credit score353 credit score354 credit score355 credit score356 credit score357 credit score358 credit score359 credit score360 credit score361 credit score362 credit score363 credit score364 credit score365 credit score366 credit score367 credit score368 credit score369 credit score370 credit score371 credit score372 credit score373 credit score374 credit score375 credit score376 credit score377 credit score378 credit score379 credit score380 credit score381 credit score382 credit score383 credit score384 credit score385 credit score386 credit score387 credit score388 credit score389 credit score390 credit score391 credit score392 credit score393 credit score394 credit score395 credit score396 credit score397 credit score398 credit score399 credit score400 credit score401 credit score402 credit score403 credit score404 credit score405 credit score406 credit score407 credit score408 credit score409 credit score410 credit score411 credit score412 credit score413 credit score414 credit score415 credit score416 credit score417 credit score418 credit score419 credit score420 credit score421 credit score422 credit score423 credit score424 credit score425 credit score426 credit score427 credit score428 credit score429 credit score430 credit score431 credit score432 credit score433 credit score434 credit score435 credit score436 credit score437 credit score438 credit score439 credit score440 credit score441 credit score442 credit score443 credit score444 credit score445 credit score446 credit score447 credit score448 credit score449 credit score450 credit score451 credit score452 credit score453 credit score454 credit score455 credit score456 credit score457 credit score458 credit score459 credit score460 credit score461 credit score462 credit score463 credit score464 credit score465 credit score466 credit score467 credit score468 credit score469 credit score470 credit score471 credit score472 credit score473 credit score474 credit score475 credit score476 credit score477 credit score478 credit score479 credit score480 credit score481 credit score482 credit score483 credit score484 credit score485 credit score486 credit score487 credit score488 credit score489 credit score490 credit score491 credit score492 credit score493 credit score494 credit score495 credit score496 credit score497 credit score498 credit score499 credit score500 credit score501 credit score502 credit score503 credit score504 credit score505 credit score506 credit score507 credit score508 credit score509 credit score510 credit score511 credit score512 credit score513 credit score514 credit score515 credit score516 credit score517 credit score518 credit score519 credit score520 credit score521 credit score522 credit score523 credit score524 credit score525 credit score526 credit score527 credit score528 credit score529 credit score530 credit score531 credit score532 credit score533 credit score534 credit score535 credit score536 credit score537 credit score538 credit score539 credit score540 credit score541 credit score542 credit score543 credit score544 credit score545 credit score546 credit score547 credit score548 credit score549 credit score550 credit score551 credit score552 credit score553 credit score554 credit score555 credit score556 credit score557 credit score558 credit score559 credit score560 credit score561 credit score562 credit score563 credit score564 credit score565 credit score566 credit score567 credit score568 credit score569 credit score570 credit score571 credit score572 credit score573 credit score574 credit score575 credit score576 credit score577 credit score578 credit score579 credit score