The exact thresholds — and what each tier costs you over 30 years.
The question isn't just "can I qualify?" It's "what will this score cost me?" The difference between a 620 and a 740 on a $400K loan is $47,000 over 30 years. Here's the complete breakdown.
The 760+ vs 580 difference on a $400K loan: $104,000 in extra interest. That's not a small number. It's a car. It's a college fund. It's 5 years of retirement savings.
30-day wins: Pay credit card balances to below 10% utilization. This single change can add 20-40 points.
60-90 day wins: Dispute errors on your credit report. 1 in 3 reports has a verifiable error. Each removed negative item can add 10-30 points.
6-month wins: Become an authorized user on a family member's old, clean account. Their history becomes yours.
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🔍 Also explore: All FRC Tools · Lender Comparison · FHA by State · Lender Stress Index
Credit-score thresholds are the visible half of qualifying. The other half is which lender receives your file — and that half is measurable. In the complete 2025 federal HMDA record (1,187,606 FHA applications that reached a credit decision), denial rates across the 100 largest FHA lenders ranged from 1.8% to 78.7%. Same federal program, same year: a 44× spread.
And it is not simply a matter of who applies where. Holding state, loan amount, income, debt-to-income and loan-to-value constant across 24,933 borrower-profile cells, applicant mix explains only a 2.9× range — while the observed spread stays 44×.
CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc · decisioned = actions 1,2,3 · rates partly reflect applicant mix · historical observation, not a prediction about any individual application · free, CC BY 4.0.