What's Actually Hurting Your FICO Score?
Your FICO score is calculated from five factors, each weighted differently. Payment history (35%) is the single biggest factor — one missed payment can drop a good score by 60–110 points and stays on your report for 7 years. Amounts owed (30%) considers both your total debt and credit utilization ratio. Keeping utilization below 10% is one of the fastest ways to push a score higher.
Length of credit history (15%) rewards long-standing accounts. Avoid closing your oldest cards, even if you rarely use them. New credit (10%) includes hard inquiries from loan or card applications — these fade within 12 months. Credit mix (10%) benefits from having both revolving (cards) and installment (loans) accounts, though you shouldn't open new credit just for this reason.
You can check your full credit reports for free once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion). Dispute any errors you find — mistakes are common and correcting them can raise your score quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
The impact varies by your current score and how long ago it happened. A single 30-day late payment can drop an 800 score by 60–110 points. Scores below 600 see a smaller absolute drop but are already in the poor range.
Monthly monitoring catches errors and identity theft early. Use free tools like Credit Karma, your bank's app, or the free bureau reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. None of these are hard inquiries.