@KeenAura wrote:
Is there a simple chart that is available or that I can compile from data that I can look up what percentile any given FICO score is? This is important to me because I want to understand how the 20 points from 600 to 620 are a lot easier to get than the 20 points from 830 to 850, to use an extreme example. They are both 20 points, but there are at least several percentile points separating 600 from 620, but 830 and 850 are both 99th percentile. Does that make sense?
Would the percentile be the same for each FICO score regardless of which of the Big Three it was based on?
There's a similar chart within your FICO report, but that wouldn't fully explain why changing 20 pts from 600 to 620 is easier than 830 to 850. First off, the FICO score advertises to 850, but in reality it varies by FICO version and CRA with caps into the 830s and 840s. But for argument sake, let's say it does top at 850. Someone with an 830 is 100% baddie-free, has uber low util, and has a long history under his/her belt. Someone with a 600 has baddies reporting, probably poor util and/or a insufficient mix of credit, and likely a younger history. Gaining 20 from 600 is a lot easier because it is easier to improve util, remove baddies, and/or add a needed CC. When I started repair many years ago I started at the low to mid-500s and within 3 months I was in the mid 600s. I was very easy to hit that with letters, calls, added credit, debt paydown, etc. Someone who is at 830 and wants to hit 850 is cursed by time. It's time that is the remaining factor. With perfect util and no baddies, I hit 777 on EQ FICO and the only thing stopping my score from increasing was time. I needed a few more years of history under my belt before I hit into the low 800s.
That percetile would differ because FICO scores differ across all 3 and all 3 reports will differ individually and as a collective.
