 TITLE: What Is a Bad Credit Score? CONTENT: What Is a Bad or Poor FICO® Score?\n----------------------------------\nA FICO credit score is a number between 300 and 850 designed to indicate the likelihood that a consumer will repay a loan on time. The higher number, the greater the consumer's creditworthiness. This number is created from account and payment information on a user's credit report. A score between 300 and 579 is considered to be very poor, while one that's between 580 and 669 is considered fair.\nCredit Score\nRating\n% of People\nImpact\n300-579\nVery Poor\n16%\nCredit applicants may be required to pay a fee or deposit, and applicants with this rating may not be approved for credit at all.\n580-669\nFair\n18%\nApplicants with scores in this range are considered to be subprime borrowers.\n670-739\nGood\n21%\nOnly 8% of applicants in this score range are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.\n740-799\nVery Good\n25%\nApplicants with scores here are likely to receive better than average rates from lenders.\n800-850\nExceptional\n20%\nApplicants with scores in this range are at the top of the list for the best rates from lenders. END