FICO Data: A Tale of Two Borrowers
The Spring 2026 FICO Score Credit Insights report highlights a U.S. credit landscape marked by both relative stabilization and growing segmentation.
The average national FICO score slipped to 714 in October 2025, down from 715 in April 2025 and continuing a shallow decline from its peak of 718 in April 2023. But the average is becoming less meaningful as a K-shaped dynamic takes hold: more consumers are clustering in the highest and lowest score bands, while the middle tier continues contracts.
The FICO report also shows how delinquency patterns are varying by credit type. Auto, credit card, and personal loan delinquencies leveled off or improved in the last one to two years, while mortgage delinquencies are slowly rising to pre‑pandemic levels. Although the increase in severe student loan delinquencies has slowed sharply after surging in early 2025 when reporting resumed after a long pandemic-induced hiatus, they remain at historic highs.
FICO also provides an updated analysis of the loan payment hierarchy. Auto loans topped the list of consumer loan repayment priorities as of October 2025. Mortgage loans held the second position, followed by personal loans, credit cards, and student loans. The report noted that auto and mortgage loans rank highly because they are secured by vital household assets.
Auto loans, in particular, have held the top repayment position for most of the period dating back to 2002. The report notes that the consistently high payment priority is in part due to “collaborative efforts lenders make to help [borrowers] remain in their vehicles.” This reinforces what AFSA and vehicle finance providers have stated to policymakers: lenders view repossession as an unappealing last resort taken when only when all other options to reach a mutually acceptable outcome have been exhausted.
March 26th, 2026
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