What Percentage Of Young People (Age 18-24) Have Never Checked Their Credit Score

Picture this: You’re 22, finally moving out, ready to snag that dream downtown apartment. You’ve got the deposit, you’ve got the job—what you don’t have? A decent credit score. Or even the foggiest idea of what your credit score is. Turns out, you’re not alone. Nearly half of young adults aged 18 to 24 haven’t checked their credit score in over a year. That stat isn’t just a random blip—it’s a loud wakeup call that this generation is way behind when it comes to credit awareness.

It’s easy to see why. Credit feels like something for “future me” to worry about. But the truth? That future shows up faster than expected—in the form of rental applications, auto loans, even job background checks. Gen Z might be crushing it on social media and side hustles, but when it comes to knowing their credit score, a surprising number are flying blind. Let’s unwrap the numbers, the risks, and what’s actually keeping so many young folks from peeking at that three-digit score.

Nearly Half Of Gen Z Hasn’t Checked Their Score—Here’s What The Data Says

There’s no sugarcoating it—Gen Z is seriously lagging behind. While about 70% of all Americans can say they know their credit score, only about 53% of 18–25-year-olds are in that boat. Add income into the mix, and it gets worse: Just 66% of people making under $50K (where most young adults land) say they even know what their score is.

Comparison-wise? Older groups are way ahead. Adults 25–64 monitor their credit far more consistently, and seniors—even on fixed incomes—are more likely to know their standing.

This isn’t about blame. It’s a clarity check: Gen Z is at a major disadvantage when it comes to foundational financial literacy.

The Real-World Fallout Of Not Knowing Your Credit Score

So what’s the worst that could happen if someone doesn’t check their score? A lot, actually. That hidden credit number is used way more than most young people realize—and not just by banks.

• Landlords use it to greenlight apartment applications—or jack up security deposits.
• Auto lenders set your interest rate based on it (or reject you altogether).
• Some employers run soft credit checks as part of background screenings.
• Even utility companies might base deposits on credit score data.

Here’s a common story: A student finishes college debt-free, gets a job out of state, and tries to lease a car. No credit history, no score, no deal—unless they cough up a huge deposit or bring on a co-signer. Or take someone who’s been loyal to one debit card, only to get denied for the first credit card and have no idea why.

Bottom line? Not knowing your score doesn’t shield you from consequences. It just means you won’t see those consequences coming.

Why Gen Z Isn’t Just Being Lazy—There’s More To It

It’s not fair—or accurate—to chalk this up to procrastination. There’s a web of reasons why so many Gen Zers haven’t bothered to check their credit.

Start with fear. Plenty of young adults assume their score is bad, or that checking it could “hurt” it (spoiler: it doesn’t if you’re doing a soft check). Anxiety plays a big role here—some people would rather stay in the dark than risk that gut-punch feeling.

Then there’s the education gap. Most schools don’t teach credit basics, and not every family talks openly about money. So unless you’re following a finance TikTok or had a parent who walked you through it, you might not know where to even begin.

Comfort with tech doesn’t solve this either. Sure, Gen Z lives online—but knowing how to curate a killer playlist doesn’t mean you know which credit app to trust, or how to spot a scam. That’s where shame creeps in—the pressure to act like “you’ve got it handled” when you’re actually winging it.

So yeah, it’s not just about motivation. It’s about misinformation, insecurity, and disconnection from a financial system that never really extended a warm welcome in the first place.

Credit 101: What Every Young Adult Should Know

A credit score is like a GPA for your money habits, and it’s built over time. Here’s what really makes up that magic number:

The range runs from 300 to 850. A score over 670 is generally “good,” 740+ is “very good,” and anything 800+ is elite territory. But if someone’s just starting or repairing credit, even getting into the 600s is a big win.

Knowing this stuff early gives you time to make moves—before the world starts demanding that three-digit number every time you blink.

Emotional finance: The shame spiral and avoidance loop

Ask around, and you’ll hear stuff like, “I’m scared to check it,” or “It’s probably trash, so why bother?” That low-key dread is real, and it’s more common than you’d think. For a lot of young adults, checking their credit score feels like facing down a final boss after skipping the tutorial. If it’s bad, they assume it confirms every fear they’ve got about being behind in life.

This avoidance pattern is the same one you see with unopened medical bills, 100+ unread emails, or doctor appointments that keep getting pushed. It’s the old “what I don’t see can’t hurt me” defense. But ignoring your credit score doesn’t make that number freeze in time. In fact, it moves behind the scenes—and usually not in your favor.

Here’s what happens when you don’t check:

• Credit errors? They sit there, untouched, hurting your score without you realizing.
• No credit history? Zero checks means no plan in motion to build it.
• Fraud or ID theft? You won’t spot it until your card suddenly declines or you get denied for an apartment.

By the time many people finally look, it’s not just a bad score—it’s a missed credit card, a high-rate loan, or a lost opportunity they can’t reverse overnight.

It’s not apathy—it’s fear. But staying blind doesn’t offer protection. It delays the fix until you’re forced into a corner.

Financial education: Or lack thereof

Let’s be real—school barely scratched the surface of taxes, rent, or credit. Most schools didn’t include anything deeper than a junior-year budgeting worksheet and a dusty video on not bouncing checks. Compound that with families who didn’t talk about money at home, and a lot of young people are entering adulthood flying solo.

They’re expected to make massive decisions—applying for student loans, swiping credit cards, signing leases—with zero strategy or background. And when the info’s missing, decision paralysis creeps in.

Guess what happens then? No action. Credit doesn’t get touched. The whole thing feels like a test they never studied for.

Between myths like “checking your score brings it down” and no idea what that 680 vs. 740 really means, the learning curve never even starts for a lot of 18–24-year-olds. They don’t ask because they don’t know what to ask.

Access ≠ Awareness: Why free tools aren’t enough

If Gen Z has phones glued to their hands and free credit score apps at their fingertips, why aren’t they checking? That question gets asked a lot. Here’s the tea: access isn’t the same as engagement.

Yeah, there’s Credit Karma, bank apps, free FICO scores—plenty of places yelling “check me” with zero-cost promises. But the problem isn’t availability. The problem is feeling lost in a sea of options, making none of them feel trustworthy or worth the mental load.

Add that to a steady stream of adulting apps—budget trackers, investing platforms, buy-now-pay-later alerts—and suddenly “credit monitoring” feels like just another chore in the stack.

Here’s why many folks freeze instead of log in:

• Tool overload: Too many options, not enough clarity on which ones are real or safe.
• No shock factor: The number shows up, but there’s no breakdown or context to explain what it means.
• Lack of trust: With stories about phishing scams or identities stolen from apps, it’s tough to know who’s legit.

The technology’s there—but if no one’s showing young adults where to start or how to actually use the info, that popular score-checking tool might as well be invisible.

Money trauma and household history

Think about someone who grew up watching their parents drown in credit card debt. Every talk about money ended in tension, fights, or silent shame. That stuff sticks—and it rewires how someone behaves with their own finances.

For some folks, credit equals stress. They associate it with failure, overdraft fees, and “we can’t afford that” growing up. That emotional imprint doesn’t just disappear after they turn 18.

And if a household never talked about money—no budgeting, no savings goals, no mention of credit lines—it leaves major blind spots. Checking your score feels almost like entering a foreign world, and shame can creep in fast.

Credit isn’t just a number. It’s a mirror. And not everyone’s ready to look into it, especially when past experiences make that mirror feel more like a magnifying glass on every screw-up or thing beyond your control.

The influence of income, gender, and race

Credit knowledge doesn’t live in a vacuum—your environment shapes what you know and how much headspace you’ve got for managing it.

Lower income means more stress just staying afloat. Less wiggle room for mistakes. If you’re stretching every dollar, checking your score might feel like a luxury.

There’s nuance here too:

• Women often face earlier gaps in financial independence, and that can slow confidence in money moves.
• BIPOC communities have long dealt with barriers to fair credit access, which leaves scars and skepticism around financial systems.

So yeah, it’s not just an “awareness” issue. It’s generational, systemic, and harder to shift with just a “hey, check your score!” alert.