Credit Scores Across the Country: Which Third are You In?

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Credit Karma.com recently released a report that concluded about a third of consumer's credit scores have increased (that's good) during a period of October 2008 until January 2009. Suprisingly, one third also took a dive, while the other third remained relatively unchanged. Where do you stand in this U.S. Statistic? And how can you increase your score for free? 

Here are the details from the report, obtained from Credit Karma.com (a pro-consumer credit score tracking and management service that has delivered more than 850,000 free credit scores and counts more than 250,000 registered users.) It just announced the launch of it's U.S. Credit Score Climate Report with trend data for January 2009. Here are some of the more interesting points of the report:  

• "During the October 2008 to January 2009 time period, 37% of consumer credit scores have gone up, 31% have gone down, and 32% remained the same.  Of the scores that increased, the average credit score rose 13 points during the time period.  Of the scores that decreased, the average credit score dropped 15 points.  Here are some additional points revealed in the Report:

• Average credit score with no change is 693 whereas 673 and 662 are the respective credit score averages for those with an increase and decrease. This would suggest that people with higher credit scores maintain more stable credit scores while those with marginal credit scores tend to be in flux.

• Age is one key factor. Younger consumers, age 18-24, saw the biggest increase in their credit scores. This is caused by a few factors. First, younger people have a shorter credit history and therefore lower scores (Average score: 670). As a result, we see a higher percent of younger consumer’s credit scores on the increase. Secondly, older consumers, age 65+, tend to have a longer and more stable credit history (Average score: 736)

• Location is another key factor. As states experience economic changes such as massive layoffs, foreclosure, bankruptcy or impacts of the economic stimulus initiatives, credit scores may be impacted. Currently, we don’t see major differences between the states highlighted in this report.”

Want to know more about Credit Karma and how it works? We interview Ken Lin, CEO of CreditKarma.com tonight on our live Blog Talk Radio show! Tune in at 8pm CST to hear how you can get your credit score for free, what actions might help to increase your score, and what you should be doing now to get a handle on future credit opportunities.

Report data courtesy of CreditKarma.com

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