Credit Utilization
Find your credit utilization ratio against your available limits.
About Credit Utilization
Credit utilization is the ratio of card balances to total limits. Keeping it below roughly 30 percent is widely considered a healthy range. Utilization is one of the most controllable credit-score factors, so lowering balances is a fast way to improve a score.
Formula
Credit Utilization
Utilization = total balances / total credit limit x 100
- utilization
- share of available credit in use
Worked example
With the default values below, Credit Utilization returns Utilization of 35.00%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Total balances
- 3,500
- Total credit limit
- 10,000
Results
- Utilization
- 35.00%
- Score Impact
- Watch it: above 30%
- Headroom
- $6,500.00
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Credit Utilization
- 3Utilization= 35.00
- 4Score Impact= Watch it: above 30%
- 5Headroom= 6,500.00
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
- This is an estimate for general information and not professional financial, tax or legal advice. See the full disclaimer for the limits that apply to this kind of calculator.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Credit Utilization calculated?
Utilization = total balances / total credit limit x 100 Credit utilization is the ratio of card balances to total limits. Keeping it below roughly 30 percent is widely considered a healthy range.
Why does Credit Utilization matter?
Utilization is one of the most controllable credit-score factors, so lowering balances is a fast way to improve a score.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 2 inputs: Total balances, Total credit limit. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.