800 Credit Score: What It Gets You, How to Keep It

An 800 credit score is firmly in the excellent range of scores. Lenders use your credit score to decide if you qualify for financial products like credit cards and loans and to set your interest rate.

For context, the average FICO 8 credit score is 714 and the average VantageScore 3.0 score is 698. If you're at 800, you're clearly above average.

Here’s how an 800 credit score can affect your financial life.

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You can get the best rates on credit cards and loans

With an 800 credit score, you can breathe easy — you will typically qualify for most financial products and get among the very best rates on credit cards and loans.

That may not be the case if you are relatively new to credit, however, because lenders look for more than a high score. The length of time you've had credit, and how much debt you carry relative to your income, also are considered.

» Learn more about what makes up your credit score

How to work toward (or safeguard) an 800 credit score

If your score is 800 now, you already practice excellent credit habits, but these tips will help you preserve your score. If you're close to 800 but not there yet, these habits can help you strengthen your number.

If you like the challenge of going for 850, the top score on non-specialty credit scoring models.

• Never miss a payment. A single late payment can shave as much as 100 points off your credit score. Set up automatic payments for at least the minimum due on every account. It costs nothing and protects the score you've built.

• Watch credit utilization. It's better for your score to use less of your credit limits. You can make multiple payments throughout a single billing cycle to keep utilization consistently low.

• Check your reports for errors. Mistakes on credit reports are common, and they may prevent your score from going higher. Keep an eye on your reports at all three major credit bureaus and dispute any errors you find.

Watch: From bad credit to excellent credit, 1 step at a time