A good credit score matters. Here’s how to build and improve yours

Photo illustration of a hand pointing to a dial that is pointing to the green section of a credit score report (left to right, the report is red, orange, yellow, green). (Credit: Photo illustration by Fortune; Original photo by Getty Images)

Thanks to record-high inflation and rising interest rates, it’s becoming tougher to keep debt at reasonable levels and maintain good credit. In fact, total consumer debt reached a record $17 trillion in the first quarter of this year.

Even so, the average FICO credit score in the U.S. was 714 as of 2022, according to data from Experian. That’s considered “good” based on FICO’s credit score ranges.