America's Top 5 Best Banks 2025

It was a scary year for banks in 2023 as five FDIC insured institutions accounting for more than half a trillion dollars in assets collapsed. Thankfully the banking industry emerged from the Panic on solid footing, and those that were positioned to pick up the remnants are stronger than ever.

The stocks of North Carolina based First Citizens Bank, which bought Silicon Valley Bank out of FDIC control, and JP Morgan, which won the auction for First Republic Bank, have never been higher.

Forbes 15th annual list of America's best banks looks at 10 metrics measuring growth, credit quality and profitability for the 2023 calendar year, as well as stock performance in the 12 months through March 18th 2024. The 200 largest publicly traded Banks and Thrifts by assets were eligible for the list and we ranked the top 100.

Led by Charleston, West Virginia based City Holding Company at number one, City Holding, the parent company of West Virginia's City National Bank, is based in the capital city of Charleston. Major banks don't reinvest much in West Virginia and surrounding towns in Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky to compete for customers, and City National has steadily increased its market share thanks to its focus primarily on retail banking rather than catering to businesses.

Just 17.5% of its $5.1 billion in deposits are uninsured, according to its most recent call report, compared with 41% of total deposits at all US Banks. City is also picky with its growth through acquisitions, though last March it closed an acquisition of Kentucky based Citizens Commerce Bank for $62 million, adding $300 million in assets. City National’s stock gained 18% in 2023, an anomaly among small Banks.

Here are the top five banks in 2025: At number five is HBT Financial headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois. At number four is Bank First headquartered in Manad, Wisconsin. At number three is International Bank Shares Corp headquartered in Laredo, Texas. At number two is WestAmerica Bank Corporation headquartered in San Rafael, California. And at number one is City Holding headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.