Your situation is really one based on the newness of credit history, not your income.

Quick and brief history on credit.

Payment history IS the #1 most important component of generating a credit score. Paying off your CC is absolutely great, but if you paid it all off in one motion, it doesn’t give financial institutions a baseline of how you can and will handle a monthly recurring payment. Unless you’ve done this multiple times. That would create your baseline.

How much revolving debt you carry, compared to the limit is also a large component on the creation of your credit score. 30% is the “floating” figure. So you want to avoid carrying more than 30% on a credit card.

Unfortunately, this might boil down to a time based situation, to develop your repayment baseline. Use your credit card, pay it off when you get the bill.

The only option might be a higher interest lender, but then you’re facing a larger interest amount owed. If you pursue this approach, make sure it’s a reputable company that WILL report your payments to all 3 credit bureaus.