@Anonymous wrote:Guess I'd ask where the agencies would get my income from. Are they seeing my W2 or 1099?
Also possible that someone earning >100K is considered more responsible/reliable than someone earning minimum wage ~30K in some places. Or more likely location is a factor when considering income. 100K in Mississippi isn't the same as 100K in NY or LA.
The data is "estimated average income." It could come from a variety of sources and may not even be profile-specific. For example, you can find data that shows average income by zip code from the US Census bureau and probably also private research firms. If they had a wide enough marketing sample with voluntary participants who disclosed the data, it could be extrapolated fairly accurately from survey data. If they wanted to look at your personal data, they might be able to estimate an approximate range based on credit spending patterns combined with other factors such as the property value of your home address listed in your profile. That's not to mention other marketing data that is available on the web today that could tie in information on a profile from other sources. If they find your education level reported on LinkedIn and your reported job title, for example, there's another piece of data. There's literally a lot of angles they could estimate without spying on your actual W2.
The scoring correlation has nothing to do with high income earners being more responsible or reliable. You don't need high income to have high FICOs. That would be an insult to responsible but hard working and lower income earners if that were the case. If anything, it is probably related to higher income profiles have more financial stability, more cash reserves, and more cushion in their budget. All that means they would be less likely to carry balances, have sudden expenses they can't pay due to lack of savings, or less reason to push payments up until the due date or after due to limited cash flow which could cause late payments. Also, for many people, income tends to rise over their career as they age, so higher income often means a thicker, more aged profile with more credit experience and likelihood of a higher score. Another consideration is that income levels can generally be tied higher education levels. A 2013 study by Harvard Business School found a correlation between education and FICO scores, which indirectly addresses the significance of income. Again, that's not saying high education is required to have high FICO scores, but it's statistically more likely that you will have higher scores with higher education.
"Smart Money? The Effect of Education on Financial Outcomes."
While it's true that $100K in California versus $100K in Mississippi have highly different valuations, I think the intent was to try to make a general observation that applied regardless of local economic factors. While the same job may pay much higher in one place than another, the "highs" are offset with the "lows" in other places which allows for a rough generalization.
I am not rebuilding credit or have a history of not making payments , or anything but I am a 28 YO male whose goal was to have a 800+ score on all 3 beaureaus , I after 8 years of credit history have made it into the 800 club , no late payments , no delinquent accounts no nothing , a lot of revolving accounts paid off , just made it and I'm super happy
Congrats!!
I suspended my credit report this month and wait until new balance and payments are updated. For now it is.
Mar 3rd, 2021:
EQ Fico 8 792, Fico 9 816 (NFCU)
TU Fico 8 789
EX Fico 8 768
After all the updates, I think they should be low 800s on EQ and TU. Not sure about EX since it is the weird one.
@Anonymous wrote:I am not rebuilding credit or have a history of not making payments , or anything but I am a 28 YO male whose goal was to have a 800+ score on all 3 beaureaus , I after 8 years of credit history have made it into the 800 club , no late payments , no delinquent accounts no nothing , a lot of revolving accounts paid off , just made it and I'm super happy
Got into the 800 club on each bureau right when BK7 dropped off. Biggest jump was Equifax with 135 point increase. Info in signature.
TU - 824
EQ - 840
EX - 808
