Credit Utilization Calculator

What is a credit utilization ratio?

Your credit utilization ratio is how much of your available credit you are using. It compares what you owe on revolving accounts, such as credit cards, with the credit limits on those accounts. It is written as a percentage.

If your card has a 5,000 limit and you owe 1,200, you are using 24% of it. That is the whole idea. People also call it credit usage, the credit utilization rate, or, in British English, credit utilisation.

Lenders and scoring models look at this number because it shows how close you are to your limits. FICO says the more of your available credit you use, the greater the risk it sees. But the ratio is only one part of a credit score, and it is not a score on its own.

Credit utilization calculator

The calculator above works in two ways. Card by card lets you add up to 20 cards, each with a balance and a limit. It shows the utilization of each card, the overall figure, and the card with the highest percentage. Totals only is quicker if you already know your total balance and total limit.

Both modes also work out the paydown to a target. Choose 10%, 20%, 30% or your own figure. You will see the balance that matches that target and how much you would need to pay to get there. Enter a planned payment to see your utilization before and after it.

It is free, needs no sign-up, and runs only in your browser. It does not ask for card numbers or log-ins, and it does not save or send what you type.

How the calculation works

There are only three steps. Take the balance. Divide it by the credit limit. Multiply by 100. The answer is the percentage of the limit you are using.

For the target, the calculator runs the same idea backwards. The limit times the target percentage gives the balance you would have at that target. The gap between your balance and that figure is the paydown.

Amounts are worked out to the cent. The balance at a target is rounded down to the cent, so paying the amount shown always gets you to the target or just below it, never a cent above.

Credit utilization formula

These are the exact formulas the calculator uses:

• Per card: utilization = balance ÷ credit limit × 100
• Overall: overall utilization = sum of revolving balances ÷ sum of revolving credit limits × 100
• Target balance: credit limit × target utilization ÷ 100
• Paydown: max(0, current balance − target balance)
• Extra limit to reach a target without paying: balance × 100 ÷ target − current limit

Example: 4,500 owed on 10,000 of limits is 4,500 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 45%. At a 30% target the balance would be 10,000 × 30 ÷ 100 = 3,000, so the paydown is 4,500 − 3,000 = 1,500.

Per-card vs overall utilization

Overall utilization comes from the totals. It is not the average of your card percentages. The two can be quite different.

Take three cards: 500 on a 2,000 limit (25%), 1,500 on a 5,000 limit (30%) and 0 on a 3,000 limit (0%). The average of 25, 30 and 0 is about 18.33%. But the real overall figure is 2,000 ÷ 10,000 = 20%. Bigger limits count for more in the total, which is why the calculator never averages.

One card can also be high while the total is low. With 900 on a 1,000 limit (90%) and 100 on a 9,000 limit (about 1.11%), the overall figure is 1,000 ÷ 10,000 = 10%. FICO and Experian both say individual cards are looked at as well as the total, so the calculator shows each card and names the highest one.

How to calculate credit utilization

1. List every credit card and other revolving account you have open.
2. For each one, write down the balance. Use the balance on your latest statement if you want to match what is likely to be reported.
3. Write down each credit limit.
4. Divide each balance by its limit and multiply by 100. That is per-card utilization.
5. Add up all the balances and all the limits. Divide the first total by the second and multiply by 100. That is your overall utilization.

Leave out installment loans such as car loans, student loans and mortgages. They are not part of the usual utilization ratio.

Credit utilization targets

How much of your credit should you use? Sources do not agree on a single number, and none of them promises a score. Here is what each one actually says:

• CFPB (US): keeping utilization under 30 percent shows lenders you are responsible, and paying the whole balance is best.
• FICO (US): below 10% can help you build and keep a good FICO Score. FICO also says the data does not support a sudden drop at 30%.
• Experian (US): 30% is where utilization starts to have a more pronounced negative effect, and lower is better.
• Experian (UK): try to keep credit utilisation below 25%.
• FCAC (Canada): try to use less than 30% of your total credit limit.
• TransUnion CIBIL (India): keeping overall card spending to 30 percent of your limit is considered a healthy ratio.

So the calculator does not label any percentage as good or bad. It shows the target you choose and the maths to reach it. Utilization is one factor among several, including payment history and the length of your credit history.

The 30% rule explained carefully

The “30% rule” says to use less than 30% of your available credit. It is common advice and a useful ceiling. But it is a rule of thumb, not a law of scoring.

FICO says its data does not show scores dropping once you cross 30%. Lower utilization tends to be better, and FICO points to under 10%. On the other hand, FICO also says a small reported balance can count slightly better than 0%. So “lower is better” does not mean “zero is best”.

To use the 30% rule as a 30 percent credit utilization calculator, leave the target on 30%. The paydown shows how much to pay to get the reported balance to 30% of your limit or below.

Does paying in full matter?

Paying your card in full every month is good practice. You pay no interest, and the CFPB says you do not need to carry a balance to build credit.

But it does not always mean your reported utilization is 0%. Card issuers usually report the balance around the end of each statement period. You pay that statement balance after it has been made. So the balance on your credit report can be the full statement amount, even though you then pay it off.

Example: you spend 2,000 on a card with an 8,000 limit and pay it in full after the statement. The reported utilization is 25%. If you pay the 2,000 before the statement closes, the reported figure can be 0%. Try it in the calculator with a planned payment of 2,000: before 25%, after 0%, a change of 25 percentage points.

Is credit utilization calculated monthly?

In practice, mostly yes. Issuers usually send balances to the credit bureaus about once a month, around the statement date. Your utilization on the report can change each time.

Many scoring models look only at the latest balances, which is why a high month can pass once the balance is paid down. Experian notes that some newer models, such as FICO 10 T and VantageScore 4.0, also look at how your balances have moved over time.

Reported balance vs current balance

Your current balance is what you owe right now in your banking app. Your reported balance is the figure your issuer last sent to the credit bureaus. They are often different.

Experian UK notes that the balances on a credit report can be several weeks behind. If you want to match what a lender might see, use your last statement balance. If you want to plan ahead, use the balance you expect on your next statement date.

How to lower utilization

• Pay down balances. This lowers the top of the division. The paydown figure shows how much reaches your target.
• Pay before the statement date. This lowers the balance that gets reported.
• Pay more than once a month. Smaller balances between statements keep the reported figure lower.
• Spread spending. One card near its limit shows up in per-card utilization even when your total is low.
• Keep older cards open where it makes sense. Their limits count toward your total.

How increasing a credit limit changes utilization

A higher limit lowers utilization if your balance stays the same. Owing 3,000 on a 6,000 limit is 50%. With a 10,000 limit, the same 3,000 is 30%.

The calculator shows this as “Extra limit to reach target”. For 3,000 owed on 6,000 and a 30% target, that is 3,000 × 100 ÷ 30 − 6,000 = 4,000 of extra limit. It only helps if the new room is not spent. Asking for a higher limit may also lead to a credit check.

What happens when you close a credit card

Closing a card removes its limit from your total. Your other balances stay the same, so your overall utilization goes up. The CFPB warns that this could lower your scores.

Example: you owe 2,000 across cards with 10,000 of limits, which is 20%. Close a card with a 3,000 limit and a 0 balance, and it becomes 2,000 ÷ 7,000, or about 28.57%. Remove that card in the calculator to see the change.

Credit utilization in the US

In the US, credit card issuers report to the three national bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. FICO says amounts owed make up 30% of a FICO Score, and utilization on revolving accounts is an important part of that. VantageScore is another widely used model. Each model weighs utilization in its own way.

Credit utilisation in the UK

In the UK the usual spelling is credit utilisation. Credit reference agencies such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion each work out their own scores. Experian UK says credit utilisation covers revolving credit such as credit cards, overdrafts and lines of credit, and does not include loans or mortgages. It suggests keeping credit utilisation below 25%.

If you are using this as a credit card utilisation calculator in the UK, choose the £ symbol. The maths is the same.

Credit utilization in Canada

In Canada the two main credit bureaus are Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) suggests trying to use less than 30% of your total credit limit. Its own example is a 5,000 limit with 1,000 used, which is 20%. Pick C$ to see amounts in Canadian dollars.

Credit utilization in India

In India, TransUnion CIBIL is one of the credit bureaus that produce a credit score. CIBIL's own guidance says keeping overall credit card spending to 30 percent of your limit is considered a healthy ratio. It also warns that over-using your limit affects your credit score. Pick ₹ to show amounts in rupees. You can type Indian-style grouping such as 1,50,000 and it will be read correctly.

This calculator does not ask for a PAN, a CIBIL log-in or any account details, and you should never type them into any calculator.

Excel / Google Sheets formula

You can use this calculator with Excel or Google Sheets. Press Download CSV to get the table as a file that both open, or Copy table data and paste it into a sheet. Amounts are exported as plain numbers, so the sheet can do maths with them.

To build your own credit utilization spreadsheet, put the balance in column B and the limit in column C, starting on row 2. Then use:

• Per-card utilization (D2): =IF(C2>0, B2/C2*100, "")
• Overall utilization: =IF(SUM(C2:C10)>0, SUM(B2:B10)/SUM(C2:C10)*100, "")
• Balance at a target in F1 (E2): =ROUNDDOWN(C2*$F$1/100, 2)
• Paydown (G2): =MAX(0, B2-E2)

These match the calculator. The utilization cell stays blank when the limit is 0 instead of showing an error, and the target balance is rounded down to the cent. For a credit utilization chart in Excel or Google Sheets, select the card names and the utilization column and insert a bar chart.

Common mistakes

Limitations

Frequently asked questions