<prompt> Human: Im 26 years old and I have been working hard to build my credit up since getting out on my own. I have 0 latemissed payments in my credit history and Ive verified that the only recent change in my credit history is paying off that auto loan. I recently entered the excellent credit range and to see it plummet over 40 points after doing something right is beyond disheartening. Does anybody know why in the hell this happened?  <response>: One thing that may help answering your question is knowing what goes into a credit score: 35 is payment history. Paying on time and the payment amount. Even if its just the minimum. 30 amounts oweddebt usage. An example would be having 3,000 worth of debt on a credit card with a 10,000 limit. This means youre using 30 debt usage. You dont want to exceed this 30 rule at any one time. 15 credit history length. To get a really good score youll need to have a credit history of at least 15 years. 10 types of credit. This is a mix of things like unsecured Credit cards and secured home or car loans. 10 new creditNow lets try and answer your question, which may be hard without having all the information and even the it can be hard to pinpoint exactly why.My guess again this could be wrong as I dont have this information is that maybe you went over your 30 rule item two. I havent really heard of a score decreasing or increasing from paying off a loan, but you never know.Are you apply for a big loan item, like a home, anytime soon? If you arent planning on getting any new credit within the new 3 months your current credit score drop doesnt matter.In the end, I wouldnt be overly concerned about short term drops in your credit score as long as youre doing everything else right aka paying on time and for at least the minimum amount. As you continue to use your credit wisely your score will return to its former glory. 