300 Credit Score: Good or Bad?
At a glance
300 is the lowest credit score you can have. It’s rated as either “poor” or “very poor” by every major credit scoring model. Scores in this range make it difficult (or impossible) to get a mortgage, car loan, or unsecured credit card. We’ll explain how to get financed with a score of 300, and what you can do to improve your credit score.
Table of Contents
What does a 300 credit score mean?
A credit score of 300 is the lowest credit score you can get in both of the main scoring models used by US credit bureaus (FICO and VantageScore).
A score this low can make it hard to open new lines of credit and can damage your quality of life.
Here’s how your score compares to other generations on average:
How a poor credit score can affect your finances
Having a bad credit score makes it nearly impossible to get approved for a loan or a new line of credit. Even if you do qualify, you’ll end up paying more money for your credit or loan because your lender will charge you a much higher interest rate.
A 300 credit score makes it difficult (or impossible) to get any of the following:
- A mortgage
- A car loan
- A student loan
- A personal loan
- An unsecured credit card
- A personal line of credit
- A cell phone contract
A very low credit score can also affect your life in other ways. For instance, it can limit your job prospects and make it hard to find an apartment because many landlords and employers run credit checks. You’ll probably end up paying more for services like insurance, and you may need to pay a deposit for utilities.
That all might seem bleak, but it’s not as bad as it seems. There are several ways you can improve your credit score once you understand how credit scores work and how they’re calculated.
How your 300 credit score was calculated
As mentioned earlier, the two main credit scoring companies are FICO and VantageScore. Although there are some minor differences between FICO and VantageScore, both calculate credit scores based on the following factors:
- Payment history: Late payments lower your credit score. The later the payment, the more damage it will do. Charge-offs, collection accounts, and bankruptcies are even more damaging to your score.
- Credit utilization rate: This refers to the proportion of your available credit that you’re using (also known as your debt-to-credit ratio). A lower utilization rate is better for your credit score. Many experts recommend keeping yours below 30% (meaning you should try not to reach a $3,000 balance on a credit card with a $10,000 limit). VantageScore recommends keeping your credit utilization even lower, under 10% if possible. 1
- Length of credit history: This is determined by the age of your oldest and newest credit accounts as well as the average age of all of your accounts. Old accounts that you’ve had for many years boost your credit score, whereas new accounts lower it.
- Credit mix: Your credit score will be lower if you don’t have a balanced mix of revolving credit accounts (e.g., credit cards and store credit) and installment accounts (e.g., mortgages, car loans, and student loans).
- New accounts: When you apply for a credit card or loan, the lender will conduct a hard inquiry into your credit. Hard inquiries take a few points off your credit score, and the effect lasts for up to 12 months. 2 Actually opening the account can further hurt your score and have even longer-lasting effects.
Your credit score of 300 indicates you’ve struggled with one or more of the items above. Before you try to improve your credit score, it’s important to make sure you don’t do anything that might sabotage your efforts.
To do this, follow these tips:
- Pay all of your bills on time.
- Avoid opening any new credit accounts.
- Avoid closing old accounts (particularly accounts with a low balance).
- Send a debt validation letter demanding proof of any future debts that anyone tries to collect from you according to your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
VantageScore vs. FICO credit score calculation methods
The tables below show how the models weigh your financial decisions to produce your score (300). Note that VantageScore’s Depth of Credit category includes both your credit mix and the length of your credit history.
| Payment History | Amounts Owed | Length of Credit History | Credit Mix | New Credit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FICO | 35% | 30% | 15% | 10% | 10% |
| Payment History | Credit Utilization | Depth of Credit | Recent Credit | Balances | Available Credit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VantageScore 3.0 | 40% | 20% | 21% | 5% | 11% | 3% |
| VantageScore 4.0 | 41% | 20% | 20% | 11% | 6% | 2% |
Putting your 300 score in context: how it compares to other scores
The table below shows the average VantageScore and FICO credit scores among US consumers, as well as your credit rating in each of these models and how far your 300 credit score is from the next scoring category.
| Your Rating | Points to Rating Upgrade | Points to Rating Downgrade | Average Score in US | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FICO | Poor | +280 | N/A | 711 |
| VantageScore | Very Poor | +200 | N/A | 688 |
How to recover from a 300 credit score
If you have a credit score of 300—the lowest score possible—it means that you have multiple serious derogatory marks on your credit report, such as late payments, debts in collection, or bankruptcies. You have a long road ahead of you if you want to repair your credit, but fortunately, no matter how many negative marks you have, you can eventually bring your score back up with the right strategies.
Look into:
Quick fixes for your 300 score
To have a shot at fixing your credit quickly, you need to remove some of those negative marks (as many as possible). To do so:
- Request all three of your credit reports. You can get these for free from AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Dispute any errors you find on your credit reports (e.g., overdue accounts that belong to someone else, maybe someone with a similar name).
- Do your best to negotiate with your creditors and debt collectors to delete the negative marks you weren’t able to dispute. You can do this by asking for a goodwill deletion or proposing pay for delete.
To dispute negative information on your credit report, create a dispute letter using the downloadable template below.
If any of your disputes are successful, you may be able to significantly improve your 300 score in just a few months.
Long-term strategies to rebuild your credit
Given that 300 is the lowest possible credit score, you’ll probably need more than quick fixes to raise it to a decent level. 300 is a full 280 points away from the point at which a bad score becomes a fair credit score (which is also the point at which your options for credit significantly open up).
You need to familiarize yourself with long-term strategies for rebuilding your credit. Try to:
- Add positive information to your credit reports to counterbalance the negative information. Even with a score of 300, you can qualify for certain credit accounts, like secured credit cards and credit-builder loans, which will allow you to do this.
- Practice good credit habits in the future; use your credit regularly but responsibly, and be sure to pay off your credit cards in full every month. (If you can’t do this, it’s best to just avoid using your cards for now.)
- Take steps to get out of debt (and stay out of it).
- Add alternative data to your credit report with Experian Boost or a third-party rent-reporting service, such as PayYourRent or eCredable.
These strategies aren’t quick fixes. Be prepared to follow them for several years (even after your score improves). It’s a long journey, but if you stick to these strategies, you can be confident that your score of 300 will recover in time.
How long will it take for your score of 300 to fully recover?
Derogatory marks stay on your credit reports for a maximum of 7 years (with the sole exception of some bankruptcies, which can remain on your report for 10 years). The upshot is that in 7 to 10 years, your score of 300 is certain to make a full recovery (assuming, of course, that you don’t make any further mistakes with your credit in the meantime).
In practice, your score is likely to recover much sooner than that. If you’re successful with the quick fixes above, you may see a small improvement in a matter of several months, and by sticking to the best practices for rebuilding damaged credit, you can be confident of significant gains within 1 to 2 years.
Life with a 300 credit score
Unless your low credit score is a mistake caused by major errors on your credit report, you can expect to remain in the “very poor” range for months to years.
Until your score improves, avoid taking out any loans that aren’t absolutely necessary to ensure that you won’t sabotage your progress by accumulating more debt.
Getting auto loans with a 300 credit score
There is no credit score too low to get an auto loan, but it’ll be difficult to get one with a 300 credit score. You may be able to get a bad-credit car loan, but the interest rate will be relatively high, meaning that the toll it’ll take on your finances and credit score probably won’t be worth it.
According to a 2020 quarterly report by Experian, people with credit scores in the range of 300–500 had an average interest rate of 20.3% on their used car loans, whereas people with credit scores between 781–850 received an average rate of 3.8%. 3 Waiting until your score improves could save you hundreds of dollars each month and thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.
If you need to buy a car before your credit improves, avoid getting one that requires an auto loan. Instead, buy a used car and pay for it in cash. Get the car inspected by a mechanic before you buy it to make sure that you won’t end up facing car repair fees that could further damage your finances.
Getting a mortgage with a 300 credit score
Unfortunately, it’s very unlikely that you’ll qualify for a mortgage with a credit score of 300. The minimum credit score to get a mortgage backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is 500. Until your credit score improves, you’ll need to rent a house or apartment instead.
Renting with a 300 credit score
You often need a credit score to rent a house or apartment since many landlords run credit checks on prospective tenants. There’s no universal minimum credit score for tenants, but many landlords look for a score of at least 620–650.
If you’re looking for a rental and the landlord plans on doing a credit check, it’s best to be upfront with them about your low score. Remember that there are ways you can rent an apartment with a low credit score. For example, you may be able to get the landlord to look past your score if you can convince them that you’ll reliably pay your rent on time each month.
Getting a credit account with a 300 credit score
Despite having the lowest possible credit score of 300, it’s possible for you to get a credit card. However, any card you can get will likely have significant drawbacks like high interest rates and fees. If you’re not careful with how you use it, you’ll end up in more debt. And though your credit score can’t fall any further, you’ll seriously damage your ability to recover financially.
When getting a credit card for bad credit, you should think of it as a tool to help develop a positive payment history on your credit report and refrain from overspending. Consider some of the options below:
The subprime credit cards above fall into two categories:
- Secured credit cards: As mentioned above, with these cards, creditors mitigate their risk by requiring you to pay a security deposit, which they’ll keep if you default on your debt.
- Unsecured cards with high interest rates: With these cards, creditors compensate for the lack of a security deposit by charging very high interest rates and additional fees (e.g., inactivity fees).
Given the choice between those two options, it’s always better to go with a secured credit card. Unsecured subprime credit cards are dangerous because their high interest rates and fees can further jeopardize your finances.
Don’t apply for a credit card if you know your credit score doesn’t meet the company’s requirements. Most applications will trigger a “hard inquiry,” which will cause your score to temporarily drop. To find out if the card issuer has a minimum credit score, check their website or give them a call.
