A FICO Score is a number calculated from a credit report. The report is the file. The score is a formula applied to that file. This article describes the weights and the time windows FICO and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publish. It does not set a target score.
The figures are FICO’s published ingredients and myFICO’s FICO Score 9 examples, as of October 2026. Other scores, including VantageScore, use different weights.
What does payment history record?
myFICO states that payment history is about 35% of a FICO Score. The category records whether reported accounts were paid as agreed, and how late a payment was when it was not.
A 30-day late, a 60-day late, and a charge-off are different records. The score reads the severity and how recent the record is. A current late payment weighs differently from a late payment that is several years old. Payment history accounts for approximately 35% of your credit score in the FICO model, according to myFICO. It is the most significant indicator of future behavior for a lender.
- On-Time Payments: Every month that you make at least the minimum payment by the due date, positive data is reported. Over time, this builds a “thick” credit file that reassures lenders of your reliability.
- Late Payments (30+ days): A single 30-day late payment can cause a significant drop in your score. In myFICO FICO Score 9 examples, a 793 score falls by about 63 to 83 points, and a 607 score falls by about 17 to 37 points. The impact of a late payment decreases over time, but it generally remains on your report for seven years, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
myFICO’s examples for FICO Score 9 put numbers on one case. A 793 score falls about 63 to 83 points after a 30-day late. A 607 score falls about 17 to 37 points after the same event. The point change depends on the rest of the file. It is not one national deduction.
The CFPB says a late payment generally remains on the report for seven years. The score can change before that date, because the formula treats a newer record and an older record differently. The record itself stays until the reporting period ends.
Payment history is the largest published slice of the FICO formula. The point change from one late payment is an example, not a fixed penalty. Credit utilization represents the amount of revolving credit you are using compared to your total available credit limits. Amounts owed, which includes this ratio, accounts for about 30% of a FICO Score, according to myFICO.
How do amounts owed include utilization?
Amounts owed are about 30% of a FICO Score, again from myFICO’s published breakdown. Utilization is one input inside that 30%. It is not the entire 30%.
Utilization is the balance reported on a revolving account divided by the credit limit on that account. A $300 balance on a $1,000 limit is 30% on that card. The formula also reads the balances across revolving accounts, installment balances, and how many accounts have a balance.
myFICO’s amount-of-debt page treats the amount owed as its own category. A card that reports a high balance relative to its limit changes that category. Paying the balance changes the next report only after the issuer sends the new balance to the bureau.
The 30% figure is the weight of the whole amounts-owed category. A single card’s utilization ratio is one measurement inside it.
What do credit age and credit mix record?
Length of credit history is about 15% of a FICO Score in myFICO’s breakdown. The category uses the age of the oldest account, the age of the newest account, and the average age of all accounts. A new account lowers the average age on the day it is reported.
Credit mix is about 10%. The category records whether the file contains more than one type of account, such as a revolving card and an installment loan. The mix is a description of the file. It is not a count of accounts by itself.
New credit is the remaining slice, about 10%. It includes recent inquiries and newly opened accounts. An inquiry is a record that a lender pulled the file. The inquiry and the new account are separate lines.
These three categories together are about 35% of the published FICO breakdown. Payment history plus amounts owed are the other 65%. The credit score mechanics article separates the score from the report it is calculated on.
Age, mix, and new credit are smaller published weights. They still move when an account opens or closes.
How long does a reported item stay on the file?
The CFPB’s time table is a reporting limit, not a score formula. Late payments generally remain seven years from the delinquency. Most bankruptcies remain seven or ten years, depending on the chapter. A tax lien that was reported under older rules followed its own clock. Inquiries generally remain two years.
The score does not wait for the deletion date to change. FICO’s own examples show that a more recent delinquency moves the score by more points than an older one on the same file. The line can still be visible to a person reading the report after the score has already treated it as older.
A paid collection and an unpaid collection can both appear during the reporting window. Payment changes the status. It does not, by itself, erase the history line before the reporting period ends.
The report keeps the item for the statutory window. The score rereads the item’s age at each calculation.
What a score change does not do
A FICO Score does not approve or deny an application. A lender reads the score, the report, and its own rules. Two lenders can receive the same score and return different decisions.
The weights above are FICO’s published shares for its classic models. A FICO Score 8, a FICO Score 9, and an industry-specific auto or bankcard score are different models. myFICO’s 30-day-late examples are labeled as FICO Score 9. They are not the point change for every model.
Monitoring and freezes are different tools. A freeze limits new pulls. A score is a calculation on the file that already exists. The difference is covered in credit reports versus scores.
The formula reads the file it is given. It does not record why a balance rose or fell.
