Slipping FICO Scores Hint at Consumer Stress
By Reuters | 16 Sep, 2025

The FICO scores of over 4% of Americans slipped into the middle ranges as consumers struggle with inflation and interest rates.

A woman carrying a shopping bag from Staud walks past people queuing for a pop-up shop in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, U.S., September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo

Some U.S. consumers are showing increased signs of stress as inflation and higher interest rates are affecting affordability and leading to financial strain on borrowers, credit scoring company Fair Isaac Corporation, widely known as FICO, said on Tuesday.

The overall national FICO score has dipped slightly by about 2 points. About 38.1% of the population scored between 600 and 749 points in 2021, while only 33.8% of the population ranked in these middle ranges in 2025. 

Gen Z adults in the U.S. - those currently in their teens and 20s - have seen the sharpest decrease in their scores, driven by student loan pressure.

Student loan delinquencies hit a record high this year, the report released by FICO said. More than 10% of 21 million customers that FICO monitors had a student repayment due, and out of this, over 10% were falling behind on their payments, it said.

This comes at a time when some of the nation's largest banks have said that consumers remain in good financial health and there are few signs of credit quality deterioration, despite data showing the job market is cooling off.

"Overall, many consumers’ credit health remains strong as the average credit score of 715 is still near historical highs," the FICO report said. "However, the average FICO Score is a lagging indicator of credit health, and there are certainly many risks to the future average credit score," it added.

(Reporting by Nupur Anand in New YorkEditing by Matthew Lewis)