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Nearly a quarter of U.S. consumers (23%) have a FICO® ScoreΘ of 800 or higher as of March 2025, according to Experian data. Although not as exclusive as a Manhattan night club, it's still a nice place to be. Even nicer, perhaps.
As part of our review of debt among U.S. consumers, Experian looked at trends of those who had exceptional (800+) credit scores in 2025. There's no big secret to attaining an exceptional credit score, and in this report we'll go over what it looks like in practice.
Even as belts continue to tighten for many consumers, scores for many continue to improve, especially for more seasoned consumers using credit. Close to a quarter of consumers in 2025 have a credit score considered exceptional—a FICO® Score between 800 and 850.
Source: Experian data as of March 2025
The 23% of consumers with a FICO® Score of 800 or higher improves on the 21.2% of consumers with an 800-plus FICO® Score in 2023. Meanwhile, the share of those with fair, good and very good scores fell.
There are five factors that build a consumer's credit score:
Factors such as employment status can play a role in credit approval, but they don't have a direct effect on credit scores.
It's inarguable that most consumers with 800 plus FICO® Scores are older, no matter how elastic one's definition of "older" is. Among consumers with FICO® Scores of 800 or better in 2025, more than half (55.5%) are over the age of 60. Generation X alone accounts for about a quarter (24.3%) of those with exceptional credit.
That leaves only 20% for the younger generations who comprise more than 40% of the total consumer population. The vast majority of consumers in these under-45 generations—millennials and Generation Z—have FICO® Scores somewhere under 800.
Some of this is simply a function of time. There's no magic way to speedrun the length of one's credit history, and that's one component most older consumers have and younger ones don't.
A shorter credit history means improvements must be made in the parts of one's credit score they may have some control over. That includes making credit payments on time, applying for any new credit both sparingly and deliberately and not using too much of the credit you already have.
Learn more: How to Improve Your Credit Score Fast
In most cases, less is more for those with exceptional credit. On average, they have lower credit card balances, owe less on auto loans and only use 6% of the available credit on their credit cards. Any delinquencies can only be seen with a microscope.
Only mortgage balances are higher for those with good credit—perhaps a testament to their credit health. After all, those with higher FICO® Scores will likely receive lower rates from lenders than those closer to an average credit score. If you receive a lower mortgage rate offer from a lender than others, you'll be allowed to borrow more while other borrowers may hit a ceiling.
The exceptional credit map in 2025 remains largely unchanged from prior years.
Remembering that 23% is the overall U.S. percentage of consumers with FICO® Scores of 800 or better, one can broadly see that Northern states have more consumers in these score ranges.
The state where the concentration of exceptional credit score holders is Minnesota once again. In 2025, 32.3% of Minnesotans had FICO® Scores of 800 or higher. They're rivaled by their eastern neighbor, Wisconsin, where 31.4% of consumers had 800 plus FICO® Scores. All other states in the U.S. are still under the 30% mark.
According to FICO, exceptional scores indicate that "your score is well above the average score of U.S. consumers and clearly demonstrates to lenders that you are an exceptional borrower." In practice, consumers with exceptional credit are more likely to receive approval for most types of credit—often with accompanying lower interest rates—than other consumers.
Nonetheless, even consumers with exceptional credit won't necessarily receive approval for big-ticket items, like a new home, if other lender criteria aren't met. With mortgage APRs still hovering close to 7% in 2025, lenders want to be certain that a borrower's income is sufficient to cover monthly homeowner expenses, even if they do have exceptional credit.
Methodology: The analysis results provided are based on an Experian-created statistically relevant aggregate sampling of our consumer credit database that may include use of the FICO® Score 8 version. Different sampling parameters may generate different findings compared with other similar analysis. Analyzed credit data did not contain personal identification information. Metro areas group counties and cities into specific geographic areas for population censuses and compilations of related statistical data.
FICO® is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
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ΘCredit score calculated based on FICO® Score 8 model. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than FICO® Score 8, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more.
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