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What is a bad credit score?

On the FICO scale, a score below 580 is usually considered poor, and 580–669 is fair. Here is what those labels mean when you apply for credit.

By the NetCreditScore editors · Updated October 21, 2026

There is no single legal definition of a “bad” credit score in the United States. Each lender sets its own cut-offs. But the two scoring companies that produce almost every score lenders see — FICO and VantageScore — publish their own bands, and most lenders use something close to them.

The ranges

Both FICO and the current VantageScore models run from 300 to 850. The labels differ slightly:

FICO ScoreLabelVantageScore 3.0 / 4.0Label
300–579Poor300–499Very poor
580–669Fair500–600Poor
670–739Good601–660Fair
740–799Very good661–780Good
800–850Exceptional781–850Excellent

So “bad credit” usually means a FICO Score under 580, and many lenders treat anything under about 620–640 as subprime.

Prime, near-prime and subprime

Lenders rarely use the words “poor” or “fair” internally. They sort applicants into risk tiers. The exact numbers vary, but a common split looks like this:

  • Super-prime: roughly 720 and up — the best advertised rates.
  • Prime: roughly 660–719.
  • Near-prime: roughly 620–659.
  • Subprime: roughly 580–619.
  • Deep subprime: below 580.

The tier you land in matters more than the exact number: a 659 and a 661 may be priced very differently, while 700 and 715 may get the same offer.

What a low score costs

A low score rarely means a flat “no” everywhere. More often it means paying more:

  • Higher interest rates on car loans, personal loans and credit cards. On a car loan, the gap between the top and bottom tiers can be ten percentage points or more.
  • Deposits for utilities, phone contracts and rental apartments.
  • Smaller limits and fewer choices of card.
  • Higher insurance premiums in most states, where insurers may use a credit-based insurance score.
A low score is a snapshot, not a verdict. Most of the negative items that drag it down lose weight every month and drop off your report entirely after seven years.

Why scores end up low

Most low scores come from a short list of causes:

  1. Payments 30 days or more late, especially recent ones.
  2. Accounts sent to collections or charged off.
  3. Credit cards used close to their limits.
  4. Bankruptcy, which stays for up to ten years (Chapter 7) or seven years (Chapter 13).
  5. A “thin file” — too little history for a model to score with confidence.

The last one is different from the others: a thin file is not bad credit, just not enough credit. It is fixed by adding history rather than by repairing anything.

What to do next

Start by pulling your three credit reports (free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com) and checking them for errors. Then read how scores are calculated so you know which changes will matter most, and work through our rebuilding guide.

This guide is general information about US credit scoring and is not financial, credit or legal advice. Lenders set their own criteria.