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6 min read · Last updated September 9, 2026

A FICO Score is built from five weighted categories of a credit report, payment history (35%) and amounts owed (30%) most heavily. The exact number a lender pulls can still vary, because the three consumer reporting bureaus don’t always hold identical data and lenders can choose between different scoring models.

In this article

• The five factors, and how much each one counts
• Why three bureaus can produce three different numbers
• What’s changing: FICO 10T, VantageScore 4.0, and rent payment history
• Frequently asked questions

A credit score is a prediction, built from the information in a credit report, of how likely someone is to repay a loan as agreed, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). But there is no single, universal number. The same person’s credit history can produce noticeably different scores on the same day, depending on which of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies a lender pulls from and which scoring model that lender uses.

The five factors, and how much each one counts

According to myFICO, the consumer-facing arm of the company that built the FICO Score, a FICO Score is calculated from five categories of information in a credit report. Each category carries a different weight for the general population:

Factor	Weight	What it measures
Payment history	35%	Whether past credit accounts were paid on time
Amounts owed	30%	How much of available credit is currently being used
Length of credit history	15%	How long accounts have been open
New credit	10%	Recently opened accounts and recent credit inquiries
Credit mix	10%	The variety of account types, such as cards and installment loans

Payment history and amounts owed together account for 65% of a traditional FICO Score, more than the other three categories combined. myFICO notes that these weightings are calculated for the general population and can shift for individual credit profiles. That’s particularly true for people with a short credit history, where there isn’t yet enough data to weigh every category the same way.

Why three bureaus can produce three different numbers

The five-factor formula only works on the data actually sitting in a given credit report, and that data isn’t identical across the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. A lender that doesn’t report to all three bureaus can leave one bureau’s file looking different from another’s for the same person. So can a recently closed account that hasn’t updated everywhere yet, or a dispute resolved with one bureau but not another. A FICO Score only scores what’s actually on the report it’s calculated from. Three different underlying reports can therefore generate three different scores, even on the same day, using the same formula.

What’s changing: FICO 10T, VantageScore 4.0, and rent payment history

For decades, mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac relied on a single scoring model, known as Classic FICO. That’s changing. In 2022, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) validated two newer models, FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0, for use on loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both models pull in additional sources of data that Classic FICO never used, including rental payment history. That means a renter with no credit cards or loans, but a consistent record of on-time rent payments, can now build a credit profile that the older model would have mostly ignored. FHFA is currently directing the two mortgage giants to let approved lenders choose between Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0 on an interim basis. FICO 10T’s historical scores are expected to be published in summer 2026, with adoption to follow later. To help lenders prepare, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released historical VantageScore 4.0 scores covering a decade’s worth of loan acquisitions, spanning tens of millions of loans, according to FHFA.

Beyond the added data sources, the newer models also look at how a balance has moved over roughly the past two years. That’s different from judging it only by where it sits on the day the report is pulled. Two borrowers can have the identical balance on the day the score is calculated and still score differently. One steadily paid the balance down; the other let it climb to that same level over the same stretch of time.

Since a FICO Score only reflects what’s actually recorded on a credit report, the accuracy of that underlying report matters as much as the formula itself. Related guides on this topic cover checking a score without a hard inquiry, building credit without a credit card, and handling a case where someone else’s debt shows up on a credit report.

Frequently asked questions

What are the five factors in a FICO Score? Payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of credit history (15%), new credit (10%), and credit mix (10%). Payment history and amounts owed together make up 65% of the standard weighting.

Why do I have different credit scores from different bureaus? Because a FICO Score is calculated only from the information in a specific credit report, and Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion don’t always hold identical data on the same person. Different underlying reports can generate different scores from the same formula.

What is FICO 10T? FICO 10T is a newer credit scoring model, validated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2022 for use on mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It adds data sources like rent payment history and weighs the trend of a borrower’s balances over time.

What is VantageScore 4.0, and how is it different from FICO? VantageScore 4.0 is a separate scoring model built by the three major credit bureaus jointly, also validated by FHFA in 2022 for use on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. Like FICO 10T, it factors in rent payment history and balance trends over time.

Does opening a new credit account hurt my score? New credit makes up 10% of a standard FICO Score. A recently opened account or a new credit inquiry can have a modest, temporary effect, but it’s a smaller factor than payment history or amounts owed.