America’s Super-Prime Credit Club Expands as Gen Z Outpaces Older Americans on FICO

Turns out the kids are alright — at least according to their credit reports. The number of Americans with super-prime credit scores above 780 has swelled by 15M over the past six years, with Gen Z leading the charge. The surge was fueled by pandemic stimulus, rising wages, and booming stock and home values.

• Super prime borrowers now make up over 41% of consumers carrying a balance, up from 37% six years ago, per TransUnion data.
• According to Experian, ~23% of US consumers had a FICO score of 800+ as of Mar. 2025 — up from 21.2% in 2023.

The credit elite playbook: Per LendingTree, borrowers with 800+ credit scores consistently paid bills on time and kept credit utilization at just 5.5% — though a 760 score usually qualifies for the same top-tier loan terms. Since payment history and utilization make up 65% of FICO scores, autopay and low balances drive the biggest gains. Still, with credit card debt at a record high and delinquencies rising, Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf noted that “the US consumer remains resilient in the aggregate but increasingly bifurcated beneath the surface.”