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387 Credit score: What You Need to Know in 2025
July 1, 2025
TL;DR
While a 387 credit score presents some challenges, it's a foundational step on your financial journey. This score falls within the 'Poor' FICO range, offering a clear opportunity for growth and improvement.
What Does a 387 Credit Score Mean?
A credit score of 387 falls into the "poor" category on the FICO Score range, which spans from 300 to 850. To lenders, this number signals a high-risk borrower, often reflecting a history of significant credit challenges such as late payments, defaults, or collections. It suggests that you have had substantial difficulty managing credit obligations in the past.
Financially, a 387 score presents major hurdles. You'll likely face rejections for new loans and credit cards, and any offers you do receive will come with steep interest rates and unfavorable terms. This can make borrowing very expensive and limit your access to essential financial products. While the situation is serious, it's important to understand that credit scores are not permanent and can change over time.
Who Has a 387 Credit Score?
While age itself isn't a direct factor in calculating your credit score, data shows a clear trend: scores tend to increase as people get older. This is often because older individuals have had more time to build a positive payment history and establish a longer credit track record. According to 2023 data from Experian, here is the average FICO score breakdown by generation:
- Generation Z (ages 18-26): 680
- Millennials (ages 27-42): 690
- Generation X (ages 43-58): 709
- Baby Boomers (ages 59-77): 745
- Silent Generation (ages 78+): 760
Credit Cards With a 387 Credit Score
A credit score of 387 is considered very poor, placing you in the highest-risk category for most lenders. Consequently, obtaining a traditional unsecured credit card will be extremely challenging, as most issuers will likely deny your application outright. Your options will primarily be limited to secured credit cards that require a cash deposit or specific cards designed for rebuilding credit, which often come with high fees and interest rates.
Kudos' personalized recommendation engine can help you find the right card by asking about your preferences to provide tailored suggestions from a database of nearly 3,000 options. The platform provides insights into how different cards may impact your credit, empowering you to compare options and make an informed choice for your financial situation.
Auto Loans and a 387 Credit Score
A 387 credit score places you in the deep subprime category, which can make securing an auto loan challenging. If you are approved, lenders will likely offer you a loan with significantly higher interest rates and less favorable terms due to the perceived risk.
According to Experian data, average interest rates for new and used auto loans break down as follows:
- Super-prime (781-850): 5.25% for new cars and 7.13% for used cars.
- Prime (661-780): 6.87% for new cars and 9.36% for used cars.
- Non-prime (601-660): 9.83% for new cars and 13.92% for used cars.
- Subprime (501-600): 13.18% for new cars and 18.86% for used cars.
- Deep subprime (300-500): 15.77% for new cars and 21.55% for used cars.
Mortgages at a 387 Credit Score
With a 387 credit score, qualifying for a mainstream mortgage is highly improbable. Most lenders have minimum score requirements that are significantly higher. For instance, government-backed FHA loans, one of the most accessible options, require a minimum score of 500 with a 10% down payment. A score of 387 falls well below the threshold for nearly all mortgage products, making it necessary to improve your credit before applying.
In the unlikely event you found a specialty lender, your loan terms would be unfavorable. Expect significantly higher interest rates, which increase your monthly payments and total loan cost. Lenders would also require a larger down payment and charge higher fees to offset their risk. Your borrowing choices would be severely limited, if available at all.
What's in a Credit Score?
Figuring out what goes into your credit score can feel like trying to solve a complex puzzle, but it's primarily based on a handful of key financial habits. The most common factors include:
- Your payment history tracks whether you have paid past credit accounts on time.
- Credit utilization is the percentage of your available credit that you are currently using.
- The length of your credit history considers the age of your oldest account and the average age of all your accounts.
- Having a healthy mix of credit types, such as credit cards and installment loans, can positively impact your score.
- Recent credit inquiries and newly opened accounts can temporarily lower your score.
How to Improve Your 387 Credit Score
While a 387 credit score presents challenges, it is entirely possible to improve it with strategic, consistent actions. By focusing on proven methods, you can begin to rebuild your credit history and work toward better financial health.
- Establish automatic bill payments. Since payment history is the most significant factor in your score, this is the most critical step for rebuilding credit. Setting up automatic payments ensures you never miss a due date, which begins to establish a positive track record with creditors.
- Apply for a secured credit card. A secured card is an excellent tool for those with poor credit because it requires a security deposit, making it easier to get approved. Your responsible usage and on-time payments are reported to the major credit bureaus, helping you build a positive credit history from the ground up.
- Become an authorized user. You can ask a trusted friend or family member with a good credit history to add you as an authorized user on their credit card. This allows their positive payment history and low credit utilization to appear on your credit file, which can give your score a helpful boost.
- Monitor your credit reports. You are entitled to free credit reports from all three bureaus, which you should review for inaccuracies or signs of fraud. Disputing and removing errors that are dragging your score down can be one of the quickest ways to see an improvement.
The Kudos browser extension can also help you manage your cards and make smarter spending decisions on your journey to a better score.
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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are those of Kudos alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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