Most consumers are aware that their payment history has a direct effect on their credit rating, but there are a number of other factors that credit bureaus use to calculate your credit score.

Here are 5 rather surprising facts about credit scores:

1. Income: Your level of income has no bearing whatsoever on your credit score. A person that earns less than the minimum wage could have a great score while a millionaire that earns six figures each year might have a poor credit score. The scoring system is used to determine whether or not a person is responsible with the money they have, not how much they earn.

2. Age of Accounts: When the credit bureaus calculate your score, they study the type of accounts you have and the age of your accounts. An account with some age shows potential lenders that you have never negotiated or consolidated your old debts. Instead you have been able to maintain them a high level of responsibility. If you need to pay off some of your debts, pay the newer ones and leave the older ones alone if at all possible.

3. Don’t Pay the Collection Agencies: If you pay off collection agencies or any debts that are more than two years old your credit score will not be improved. The credit score is calculated using the last date of activity, so if that date is more than two years ago it starts to lose it negative power.

Keep in mind that if you speak to a collection agency and set up a payment plan this may be looked at as an agreement and the date may be listed as the date of the conversation. This type of contact can reset the time period on the date that you have the conversation.

4. Debt/Limit Ratio: The people that can show the reporting bureaus that they have their spending habits well controlled will be rewarded. When a person is able to keep their balances well below their allowed limit, the score will be increased. It is best to keep all card balances below 30% of the credit limit.

Remember that when you are in debt, the banks are profiting. It won’t hurt to increase your credit limit it you are able to act responsibly and only use the amount that you can comfortably handle with your current income.

5. Frequency of Credit Applications: 10% of your credit score is based on the number of times you have applied for credit. When a potential lender pulls your credit history, the inquiry shows up on your credit report. The more inquires that you have the lower your score will be.

If you’ve recently filled out a bunch of credit applications you should spend some time paying down your balances before applying for anything further. By not applying for new accounts you will be able to increase your score as the older applications drop off.