Scores 500 520 550 580 600 620 640 650 660 670 680 690 700 720 740 750 760 780 800 820 850

Is 510 a good credit score?

No, 510 is a poor score, with a thin margin over the worst line. It is in FICO's Poor range and VantageScore's Subprime tier. Ten points down sits 500, the last score FHA accepts, so the first job here is keeping that margin.

By the Credit Score Ladder editorial teamReviewed October 14, 2026Car benchmarks: Q2 202610 sources

What reaching 580 is worth

Points to go +70 From 510 to 580
Car financing · quarterly benchmark 13.52% APR New-car average if VantageScore 4.0 is 510 Used car: 19.1% · Experian Q2 2026
Mortgage · FHA down payment 10% down FHA program minimum at this decision score At 580: 3.5% down · See cash example

At 580 the FHA down payment drops from 10% to 3.5%, which cuts the cash you need to put down by about two thirds. The quarterly VantageScore reference band does not change at 580: Experian's averages put every VantageScore from 501 to 600 in one subprime tier, so the next car-price step is at 601.

Car averages use VantageScore 4.0; FHA requirements use the lender’s decision score. These models are not interchangeable. Neither figure guarantees approval.

Make it your loanCompare with your amount and term

What a 510 credit score gets you

Mortgage

Limited

FHA with at least 10% down is open, as long as the score holds above 500 through the application. Veterans have a second route: VA sets no minimum score of its own, though each lender sets one. Conventional loans run through Fannie Mae's automated system have no minimum either, but lenders can keep theirs.

Car loan

Limited

Car financing may be available, subject to lender requirements. If your VantageScore 4.0 is in the 501-600 tier, Experian’s Q2 2026 averages were 13.52% new and 19.1% used. A FICO 510 does not establish that VantageScore; compare actual APR, amount and term.

Credit cards

Limited

Secured cards are the dependable option. If you still have an old card in good standing, keep it open and use it lightly: it carries history that no new card can give you.

Renting

Limited

Expect a landlord who screens credit to ask for more: a larger deposit, a co-signer or extra proof of income. A record of rent paid on time, shown directly to the landlord, can carry more weight than the score.

These are broad credit-score categories, not approval odds. Lenders also assess income, debt, credit history and their own requirements.

What 510 costs you in interest

No one publishes mortgage or car rates by FICO band this far down, so the chart on this page comes from Experian's car-loan averages by VantageScore 4.0 tier. If your VantageScore is near your FICO 510, you are on the subprime step, one up from the bottom.

Car financing · Q2 2026

If your VantageScore 4.0 is 510

Subprime · 501–600. A FICO 510 does not establish this VantageScore.

New car average APR13.52%

$460.40/mo · $7,624 total interest

Used car average APR19.1%

$519.91/mo · $11,195 total interest

Illustration: $20,000 financed over 60 months at the quarterly average APR. Experian averages cover different loan terms; these are payment scenarios, not quotes for a 60-month loan. Compare your amount and another VantageScore →

$35,000 new car, 60 months, by VantageScore tier

16.11%300
13.52%501
9.71%601
6.15%661
4.41%781
VantageScore 4.0 tiers, not a conversion of your FICO score. Experian Q2 2026
Score bandRateMonthlyTotal interestvs. best
781–8504.41%$651$4,064–
661–7806.15%$679$5,746+$1,681
601–6609.71%$739$9,320+$5,255
501–60013.52%$806$13,342+$9,278
300–50016.11%$853$16,191+$12,126

The subprime step is wide: it covers every VantageScore from 501 to 600. Climbing from 510 to 580 does nothing for the average car rate on this chart. The next car step is at 601, so if a car is the purchase that matters most to you, 580 is only a waypoint.

For a home, FHA is the realistic route at 510, with at least 10% down. If the lender underwrites the file by hand, HUD caps housing costs at 31% of income and total debts at 43% for scores from 500 to 579, so income matters as much as the deposit.

For a home purchase

What changes in your down payment?

Compare the FHA minimum at 510 with 580 using the same home price.

At 510$25,000

10% minimum down payment

At 580$8,750

3.5% minimum down payment

Less down payment required$16,250

Cash requirement changes. This is not an interest saving.

Putting less down means borrowing more for the same home. Compare the monthly payment and cash reserve as well as the upfront requirement. Closing costs, mortgage insurance and lender requirements are additional. These examples assume the price equals the FHA adjusted value; a lower appraisal can change the cash needed.

Source: HUD FHA credit-score and LTV rules →
Your next move, in dollars

What would a different score cost?

Same loan. Two scores. See the difference.

Experian · VantageScore 4.0Q2 2026
Choose your loan

Enter VantageScore 4.0 values. These are not a conversion of your FICO score.

Adjust the figures to match the loan you have in mind.

VantageScore 4.0 scenarios · Experian Q2 2026. A FICO 510 does not establish a VantageScore of 510.

Estimated monthly saving
$38.31/mo

At 601 compared with 510

Full-term interest saving$2,298.62
Estimated principal and interest on $20,000 over 60 months
ScoreReference rateMonthly paymentTotal interest
51013.52%$460.40$7,624.18
6019.71%$422.09$5,325.56

At 601, the estimate is $38.31 less per month and $2,298.62 less interest over the full term.

Car APR averages by VantageScore 4.0 tier, Experian Q2 2026. Both scores use the same quarterly dataset. Terms and amounts are illustrative; the averages are not specific to a 60-month loan. Methodology.

What this estimate includes

Estimates use national average bands, not an offer or approval prediction. Your lender may use a different score. Mortgage payments exclude taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance and fees. Full-term interest assumes no refinancing, early payoff or extra payments.

How to get from 510 to 580

There is no fixed timetable for seventy points, and part of the work is preventing new problems. A ten-point cushion over the FHA floor is small enough to lose to one bad month.

  1. Automate every minimum payment first. Payment history is 35% of a FICO score. Nothing else on this list matters if a new late payment lands while you work on it.
  2. Read all three reports before you pay anything off. If a collection is wrong, dispute it with each bureau that shows it. If it is right, paying it helps under FICO 9, which ignores paid third-party collections, but how much depends on the version the lender uses.
  3. Lower the balances your card issuers report. Amounts owed are 30% of the score. Start with the card closest to its limit.
  4. Open new accounts one at a time, if at all. New credit is 10% of the score and every application adds an inquiry. One secured card is enough.

None of this is quick. What it does is make sure every month from here adds clean history instead of new damage, and that is what eventually outweighs the old marks.

What a Poor score means (300 to 579)

Credit is still possible, but on the lender's terms: deposits, co-signers and high rates. 14.7% of Americans with a FICO score are in this range, according to Experian's 2025 data. What the poor range means in practice.

Questions about a 510 score

Can I get an FHA loan with a 510 credit score?

Yes, if you can put at least 10% down: HUD allows scores from 500 to 579 up to 90% of the home's value. A lender can still decline you, and a file underwritten by hand faces tighter debt limits at this score.

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Sources (10)
  1. HUD Handbook 4000.1 (FHA minimum credit scores) and Mortgagee Letter 2026-11, October 8, 2026
  2. VA Home Loan Buyer's Guide (no VA minimum credit score)
  3. Fannie Mae Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2025-09 (minimum score removed for DU loans), November 5, 2025
  4. Experian: State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q2 2026, August 2026
  5. myFICO: What is a FICO Score? (score ranges and what goes into them)
  6. myFICO: FICO Score versions (base and industry-specific score ranges)
  7. AnnualCreditReport.com (free reports from all three bureaus)
  8. CFPB: How do I dispute an error on my credit report?
  9. Experian: What is the average credit score in the U.S.? (share of consumers in each FICO range), 2025 data, published March 2026
  10. FTC: Credit scores

Written and checked by the Credit Score Ladder editorial team. Reviewed October 14, 2026; rates refresh daily. Found an error? See our editorial guidelines.