n the past few months, three midsize banks—Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank—with combined total assets of more than $500 billion failed due to a combination of rising interest rates, inflation and mismanagement. “To put that in perspective, all the banks that failed back during the financial crisis of 2008 did not have that kind of value,” says Bob G. Wood, Ph.D., professor of finance at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell College of Business, noting that the recent bank closures are three of the largest bank failures in U.S. history.
But, says Dr. Wood, bank failures are “so uncommon” that there is no need to worry if you’re currently banking with a local or regional bank as long as it’s insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In fact, there are many advantages to choosing smaller banks, including their personalized service and emphasis on investing in local businesses and causes.
So if you’re looking for a community-based banking experience, check out our sixth annual ranking of the Best Banks In Each State 2023. To create the list, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista and surveyed approximately 31,000 U.S. residents. Participants were asked to name all the banks and credit unions where they have a checking or savings account and evaluate these institutions based on criteria such as customer service, the quality of the financial advice representatives offer, whether fees are transparent and reasonable, ease of navigating the company website, on-location branch services and the overall level of trust the companies inspired.
Large nationwide banks and credit unions with branches in 15 or more U.S. states—like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Navy Federal Credit Union—were excluded so that the lists reflect the best of the smaller, regional institutions.
Online reviews and ratings posted on Google Reviews between March 2020 and April 2023 were also evaluated for each bank and credit union. These reviews and ratings accounted for 20% of the scoring, while the surveys accounted for 80%.
In total, there were 164 awards given to 137 unique banks across all U.S. states.
