Length of Credit History: How the Age of Your Accounts Affects Scores

Last updated October 7, 2026 · 1,483 words · Credit Scores

Length of credit history is one of the factors most credit scoring models consider, and it carries an approximate weight of 15% in FICO scores. It reflects how long accounts have been open, the age of the oldest and newest accounts, and the average age of the accounts on your credit reports.

This guide is general educational information for U.S. readers. It is not financial advice and does not describe your individual credit file. Figures such as score ranges and timeline estimates are typical examples, not promises.

Key takeaways

Length of credit history makes up about 15% of a FICO score; VantageScore uses its own weighting and does not publish fixed percentages.
The category is built from the age of the oldest account, the age of the newest account, and the average age of accounts.
Every month that passes adds a month of age to open accounts, while each newly opened account enters the calculation with almost no age of its own.
An account closed in good standing generally continues to appear on a credit report with its original opening date attached.
Most negative information stays on a credit report for 7 years, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for 10 years, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy for 7 years, and hard inquiries for 2 years.
Most credit scores, including FICO and VantageScore, use a range of 300 to 850.

Length of credit history is one of the factors most credit scoring models consider, and it carries an approximate weight of 15% in FICO scores. It is built from the age of the oldest account, the age of the newest account, and the average age of the accounts on a credit report. Because it is measured in months and years, this factor moves slowly and is shaped mainly by the passage of time rather than by any single event.

What “length of credit history” measures

Credit reports store dates: when each account was opened, when it was closed if it is closed, and when it was last updated. Scoring models read those dates and derive three related measurements.

Age of the oldest account. The number of years and months since the earliest account still appearing on the file was opened.
Age of the newest account. How recently a new account was added to the file.
Average age of accounts. The mean age of the accounts on the file. Some model designs average every account, while others use open accounts only.

People often treat “age of credit history” and “length of credit history” as interchangeable. In practice, average age of accounts is one input inside the length-of-history category, and the category also reads the oldest and newest accounts. A file with one account opened fifteen years ago and four opened this year produces a different average than a file with five accounts all opened five years ago, even though both files hold five accounts.

Why scoring models include a time-based factor

A scoring model is attempting to summarize how a consumer has handled credit over time. A file with years of reported activity contains more information for the model to read than a file opened two months ago. That is the mechanical role this factor plays: it measures how much history exists, not how any particular person has behaved. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains that credit reports and scores are built from the information in a consumer's file, and that one file can produce different scores under different models.

Experian, one of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies, publishes credit education material that walks through how account dates appear in a credit file and how scoring factors are described to consumers. Reading that kind of explanation alongside your own report makes the dates and categories easier to follow.

How much weight the factor carries

FICO publishes approximate weights for the five categories it uses. VantageScore uses its own weighting and does not publish fixed percentages, so the table below describes FICO only.

FICO score factor	Approximate weight
Payment history	35%
Amounts owed	30%
Length of credit history	15%
New credit	10%
Credit mix	10%

The 15% share is smaller than payment history or amounts owed, and it is spread across the three measurements described above. That has a practical consequence when a score report is read: length of credit history is rarely the single explanation for a score. It sits alongside the other four categories, and the way they combine is covered in how credit scores are calculated.

Most credit scores, including FICO and VantageScore, use a range of 300 to 850. Where a score lands inside that range reflects every factor a model considers, not the age of the file on its own. The credit score ranges guide covers how bands within that range are usually described, and FICO versus VantageScore explains why two models can read the same file differently.

How average age of accounts changes over time

Two forces change this measurement, and they work in opposite directions. Every month that passes adds one month of age to every account currently on the file. Each new account enters the calculation with almost no age of its own. A round of several accounts opened in a short period therefore shifts the average much more than a single new account does.

Closed accounts behave differently than many consumers expect. An account closed in good standing generally continues to appear on a credit report, and the original opening date stays attached to it. The account can no longer be used, but the history of the account is still part of the file. Accounts eventually drop off a report, and negative information follows the separate retention periods described below.

Some model designs also read the age of the newest account and whether a file shows any recent activity at all. A file with no recent activity anywhere may be scored with less information available than an active file, which is one reason a long-standing account that still reports can matter to the overall picture.

What changes the measurement

Opening a new account. A newly opened account enters the calculation with almost no age of its own and becomes the newest account on the file.
Closing an account with a zero balance. The account and its original opening date generally remain on the report, so the history it represents is not removed right away.
Long-standing accounts that still report. An older account in good standing contributes both age and a long payment record to the file.
Authorized-user accounts. When an issuer reports an authorized user to the credit reporting agencies, the account can appear on that person's file with its original opening date.
Time. Each month adds a month of age to every open account, with no activity required.

How length of credit history interacts with the other factors

The categories are read together rather than in isolation. A short file with an unblemished payment record is not evaluated the same way as a long file with the same payment record, because the model has less to read. A long file carrying high balances has a different profile than a long file carrying low balances, which is the subject of credit utilization. The number of recently opened accounts is measured separately under new credit, and the variety of account types is measured under credit mix. Payment history carries the largest FICO weight at 35%, and its mechanics are covered in payment history and credit scores.

Because the categories overlap in this way, the age of a file alone does not describe the file. What a model reads is the whole composition of the report: accounts, balances, dates, and inquiries. That same set of information is what a credit profile summarizes, and it is the reason two consumers with the same number of accounts can receive different scores.

How the reporting system supplies the dates

Credit reports are compiled by the three nationwide credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA, 15 U.S.C. section 1681), consumers have the right to a free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months, and the three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com. Those reports show the opening dates that scoring models read.

If a date or an account on a report is inaccurate, the FCRA provides a dispute process. A credit reporting agency generally must investigate a dispute within 30 days, and that period can extend to 45 days if the consumer provides additional information during the initial 30-day window. The credit reports section covers how reports are structured and how disputes move through the system.

How long items stay on a credit report

The dates on a report are not permanent, and retention periods differ by item type.

Item	Typical retention on a credit report
Most negative information, including late payments	7 years
Chapter 7 bankruptcy	10 years
Chapter 13 bankruptcy	7 years
Hard inquiries	2 years

These periods matter to the length-of-history calculation because a file's contents change over time. As older items age off and newer accounts mature, both the composition of the file and the average age of its accounts change with them.

Reading the numbers on a credit file

The dates behind this factor are visible on a credit report, which lists an opening date for each account. Adding those dates up is not the same as running a scoring model, because models weight and combine inputs in ways that are not fully public. Comparing the oldest account, the newest account, and the general spread of ages still gives a working sense of where the length-of-history category comes from.

A score is a snapshot produced at one moment. Because the underlying dates change only as months pass and accounts are opened or closed, the length-of-history portion of a score is one of the slower-moving parts of the picture. Ongoing monitoring shows how a file changes as accounts age, new accounts appear, and older items drop off. The credit monitoring overview and the credit score hub describe how that information is typically presented, and the credit check page explains the difference between reading your own reports and a lender pulling them.

This page is for education only and is not financial advice.

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Frequently asked questions

How long is a credit history?

A credit history spans from the opening date of the oldest account still appearing on your credit reports to the present. Scoring models also read the age of the newest account and the average age of all accounts, so a single file has more than one age attached to it.

How much does length of credit history affect a FICO score?

FICO lists length of credit history at approximately 15% of its score, behind payment history at 35% and amounts owed at 30%. VantageScore uses its own weighting and does not publish fixed percentages, so the two models can read the same file differently.

Does closing an old account remove its age from the history?

Generally not right away. An account closed in good standing usually continues to appear on a credit report with its original opening date attached. Accounts eventually drop off a report, and the timing depends on the item type and the agency's reporting rules.

How is average age of accounts calculated?

It is the mean age of the accounts on the file. Some model designs average every account, while others use open accounts only. Because a newly opened account enters the calculation with almost no age, the number of accounts added in a short period affects the average more than a single new account.

Can an authorized-user account count toward length of credit history?

When an issuer reports an authorized user to the nationwide credit reporting agencies, the account can appear on that person's file with the original opening date. Whether an account is reported this way varies by issuer, so the details on the report itself are the reliable source.

Where can the account dates used in scoring be seen?

On your credit reports. Under the FCRA, consumers have the right to a free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months, and the three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com. Each report lists an opening date for every account.