5 Items You Think Affect Your Credit Score (That Don’t)

Your credit score is an important piece of your financial puzzle. Using your credit score, lenders and other financial services providers make decisions about you — from whether to lend you money to what sort of interest rate you’ll get. A low credit score might even cause you to pay a higher security deposit to your landlord or a higher premium to your auto insurer.

While there’s a lot included in your credit score, there are some things you probably think have an effect on it that don’t.

Here are five things that aren’t included in your credit score:

1. Location

Where you live doesn’t influence your credit score (even though the geographic breakout makes for interesting reading on various reports). Even if you live in an area that, statistically, tends toward poor credit scores, don’t worry. All that matters is whether you yourself have been responsible with your credit.

2. Employment Information

In some cases, it’s true that information about an employer might be included on your credit report. In fact, a job I had a decade ago is still listed on my credit report — but subsequent jobs aren’t. It all depends on who reports what to each credit bureau.

Even though that information might appear on your credit report, the information isn’t used in calculating your score. Information about your current employment status isn’t used in the algorithm either. So, if you’re unemployed, it won’t change your credit score (unless that situation causes you to start missing payments).

3. Income

Though lenders might ask you for income information as part of your loan application, it doesn’t factor into your credit score. Lenders and credit bureaus may also estimate your income, using information about the size of your mortgage or other clues found in your credit report.

4. Age

Age doesn’t matter when it comes to your credit score, though the length of your credit history will be considered. It follows that the older you are, the longer your credit history is likely to be — but that doesn’t mean your age is an official part of the score.

5. Marital Status

Your credit score is kept separate from your spouse’s credit score. Unless you apply for a joint line of credit, your credit score is looked at individually. On the other hand, adding an “authorized” user on a credit card or co-signing on a loan can impact your credit.

Did any of these surprise you?