Young Americans have higher credit scores today than before Covid

Kelly Klein graduated from college with $100,000 in student loans that she feared would haunt her forever.

"I expected I'd never pay off my student debt," said Klein, who is 31 years old.

But flash forward 10 years and Klein is now debt-free, her retirement account is flush and her credit score is pristine.

"Every commission check I earned for the first six years went to paying off my debt. Every single penny," said Klein, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and works as a loan officer at a community development financial institution.

While millions of Americans are hurting from high prices and low hiring, new research suggests the finances of younger generations are displaying surprising resilience.

Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 have higher credit scores today than they did just before Covid-19, according to FICO research shared first with CNN.

Not only that, but that youngest generation's 17-point increase in average credit scores since 2019 is the biggest among any age group FICO measured. The second biggest increase in credit scores over that timeframe was for the 30-to-44 cohort, otherwise known as Millennials.

Most of the gains occurred during the initial stages of the health emergency when student loan payments were paused.

Experts say younger Americans have benefited from access to better education about the importance of protecting credit scores to hold down payments later in life.

"Gen Z is pretty savvy about credit. And they are more aware of credit scores, in part because there have been so many economic headwinds during their lives," said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

Overall FICO scores fell slightly between April 2025 and April 2026. However, credit scores for Gen Z are up by one point over that timeframe and roughly half have a very strong FICO score of 700 or above.

Klein, who is a Millennial, said she learned valuable lessons about finance and investing from experts on social media. Klein also said she joined a free webinar on opening a brokerage account and familiarized herself with tax strategies and how to maximize credit card rewards.

"We have a lot more knowledge than previous generations did. A lot of it was gate-kept, especially from women, and tailored toward men. Luckily, I feel like financial education is more available," she said.

Another factor: Younger borrowers are at or near the beginning of their credit journeys, giving them the most room to grow their credit scores. FICO said it doesn't take into consideration age when scoring borrowers, but it does evaluate how long someone has been able to successfully make payments on time.