Credit Utilization Calculator

Credit utilization is a credit card balance divided by its credit limit — the share of the credit you could use that you are using. It is measured two ways at once: per card, and overall (every balance added up, divided by every limit added up). A $1,200 balance on a $5,000 limit is 24% on that card; the same card next to one holding $3,400 of a $6,000 limit and an empty $2,500 card makes $4,600 of $13,500 overall, which is 34.1%. Scoring models read a high share as strain — on the FICO scale it is most of the "amounts owed" category — and the number they commonly quote is 30%: the CFPB's guidance is to keep it at no more than 30% of your total limit. This page treats 30% and 10% as reference lines, because that is what they are: the exact curve is each model's own, and nothing special happens at 29.9%.

What counts is the balance your card reports, which for most issuers is the statement balance — the figure on the day the statement closes — not your average through the month and not what is left after the due date. Two things follow. A card you pay in full every month can still report a high balance if the statement closes before you pay it. And paying some of it down before the closing date lowers the reported number even though the spending never changed. Scoring models keep no history of the ratio: it is recalculated from whatever the reports say now, so it moves as soon as the next statement does.

The pay-down lines on the receipt are plain arithmetic. To bring the overall figure to 30%, the balances have to total 30% of the limits, so the amount is the total balance minus 30% of the total limit; the 10% line works the same way. The per-card line does the same sum on each card above 30% on its own, because a single card that is mostly used can stand out even when the overall number looks fine. Which balance to pay, and whether to time it before a closing date, is your call — this page shows what each choice does to the number.

A worked example

Take the sample cards: $1,200 of $5,000 (24%), $3,400 of $6,000 (56.7%), and $0 of $2,500 (0%). Overall that is $4,600 of $13,500, or 34.1% — above the 30% line, with Card 2 the highest card at 56.7%. Bringing the overall figure to 30% takes $550 of balance off (30% of $13,500 is $4,050), and bringing it to 10% takes $3,250. Card 2 is the only card above 30% on its own, and $1,600 brings that one card to 30% (30% of $6,000 is $1,800). Pay that $1,600 on Card 2 and the whole picture changes: Card 2 reads 30%, and overall drops to $3,000 of $13,500, or 22.2% — so the same dollars aimed at the highest card clear both lines at once.

Common questions

Does closing a card help my utilization? Mechanically, no — it raises it. Closing a card removes its limit from the bottom of the fraction while the balances stay the same. On the sample cards, closing the empty $2,500 card takes the overall figure from 34.1% to 41.8% ($4,600 of $11,000) without a dollar more being owed. A card paid to zero and left open keeps its limit in the total. Whether an old card is worth keeping is a separate question — annual fees, for one — but the ratio only moves one way when a limit leaves.

Does utilization matter if I pay my card in full every month? It can still be high on the report. What gets reported is usually the statement balance, not what you owe after the due date: a card you run to $3,400 during the month and pay in full on the due date still reports $3,400. Paying part of it before the statement closes is what changes the reported number; paying in full by the due date is what keeps you from paying interest. Two different dates, two different effects — and if a balance is being carried rather than cleared, the credit card payoff calculator shows what that costs in interest.

How fast does utilization change once I pay a card down? Usually by the next statement cycle. Most issuers report one balance a month, around the closing date, and scoring models recalculate the ratio from the balances on the report right now — no history. So a lower balance shows up as a lower ratio as soon as the issuer reports it, typically within a month or two, and an old high ratio does not linger the way a late payment does. Our credit utilization article covers the timing in more detail, and what actually moves your score puts the ratio next to the other four factors.

Utilization counts revolving credit — cards and lines of credit — not installment loans. The 30% and 10% lines are scoring models' common guideline and the CFPB's, not a rule of this site; lower generally reads better all the way down, and how much any point of it is worth is each model's own. General information, not personalized financial advice.