SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Credit scores inspire anxiety in many consumers. We can’t easily see them, and we don’t always know what’s lurking behind them. Perhaps that’s why there seem to be so many myths and misperceptions about exactly what’s in a credit score.

In a recent national survey by Visa Inc. that asked U.S. consumers what factors negatively affect a credit score, plenty of answers were flat-out wrong.

About 25 percent mistakenly thought that where you live can ding your credit score. Others said — erroneously — that your job, your ethnicity or even your age could affect a credit score.

The findings are “dismaying,” said Jason Alderman, Visa’s global financial education director. But, he added, they aren’t altogether surprising.

A credit score is that magical, somewhat mysterious, number that determines so much of your financial life, from what you’ll pay on a car loan or mortgage to, in some cases, whether you’ll get hired. Typically ranging from a low 300 to a perfect 850, the higher your score the better terms you’ll get from lenders and creditors.

Gerri Detweiler, a personal finance expert for Credit.com in San Francisco, says people carry a lot of misinformation about credit scores.

One myth: A short sale is better for your credit score than a foreclosure.

“That’s not necessarily true. They’re both very negative and, depending on how the lender reports them, can have a significant impact on credit scores.”

But even the negative factors on a credit score eventually get dropped from your credit history. Things like Chapter 11 bankruptcies, foreclosures, late payments and other hits generally fall off after seven years. And the older a negative citation is, the less impact it’ll have on your credit score. As credit score site MyFico.com notes, a 5-year-old debt collection will hurt far less than one that’s 5 months old.

Credit scores are based on credit reports, the financial history on you as compiled by the nation’s three credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.

By law, every consumer is entitled to a free, annual credit report from each of the three bureaus. To request your copies, call 877-322-8228 or go to AnnualCreditReport.com.

It’s a good way to spot any errors that need correcting and to get a snapshot of how you look to lenders, whether it’s for a car, a mortgage or a credit card.

Why does a credit score matter so much? Money. On a loan, a higher score can save you thousands of dollars. For instance, on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for a $250,000 house, a buyer with a credit score below 640 will pay about $258,700 in interest, according to MyFico.com. The buyer with a credit score of 760 or higher will pay only $170,800 in interest over the life of the loan. That’s a difference of almost $250 a month.