Credit score range

The FICO credit score range is 550:

850 - 300 = 550

(Its lowest and highest values are 300 and 850.)

Experian used to have a credit score with a range that made sense— 1000— but changed it, ill-advisedly.

Definition of Range

Math.com

"In statistics, the difference between the largest and the smallest numbers in a data set."

Dictionary.com

Statistics. the difference between the largest and smallest values in a statistical distribution."

Encyclopedia Britannica

"The range, the difference between the largest value and the smallest value, is the simplest measure of variability in the data." (categorizes the term "range" as a numerical measure of descriptive statistics)

For confusion, see: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Range.html

And, count on Wikipedia to provide an inaccurate definition of range with an entire section of its Credit score (United States) article called Range of scores. It never mentions a score range, and even conflicts with its own definition in Range (statistics).

Other scoring systems' ranges

50 (50 to 100) is the range of the Wine Advocate Rating System devised by Robert Parker. You get 50 for just showing up. That could be the idea behind most of the credit scoring systems: To avoid having people jump off ledges due to a score of 27 out of 1000, or obsessing over getting a perfect 1,000 (VantageScore curiously stops at 990).

• Wine Advocate: 50 (50-100)
• Batting average: 1 (0-1)
• SAT: 600 (200-800)
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale (an IQ (intelligence quotient))(practical range): 120 (40-160)
• Mobil Travel Guide: 4 (1-5 stars)

Also, see:

Fun with numbers
What is a credit score?