Credit scores are holding steady, according to data released this week by Credit Karma Inc.
The San Francisco online credit-tracking company said the average score for U.S. consumers was 670 in April, up a point from January.
The average consumer's credit card balance was $7,701, down 2.8% from January. The average mortgage balance was $177,186 in April; home equity loans, $50,889; auto loans, $14,873, and student loans, $27,777.
Consumers with credit scores of 800 or above had total outstanding debt of $55,442 and a 99.99% record of on-time payments. Those with credit scores between 700 and 799 had total debt of $126,646 and an average 99.47% record of on-time payments.
Consumers with credit scores of 600 to 699 had total debt of $92,029 and a 95.72% record of on-time payments.
Those with credit scores of 500 to 599 had total debt of $42,883 and a 74.19% record of on-time payments. Consumers with credit scores below 500 had debt of $40,652 and a 59.55% record of on-time payments.
"While many people assume you have to get into debt to have good credit, the reality is that only people with good credit can get loans, and you see it in this data," Ken Lin, Credit Karma's chief executive, said in a press release.
"People with credit scores lower than 500 often have debt that is either delinquent or in collections," he said. "People with scores above 800 have less total debt than those at 600 or 700, illustrating that you don't need debt to have perfect credit."
