Full Ranking – The Best and Worst States for Banking 2015

Written by Richard Barrington

Financial Expert

Edited by Kristin Marino

Managing Editor

It’s easy to hate banks. Impersonal service, lack of hours and meager returns on savings accounts are all common complaints.

But that’s not the full picture. Some banks have fantastic customer service. The latest apps let you deposit a check without getting up from the couch. And let’s face it, you have to park at least some of your hard-earned cash in a safe, sound and easily accessible account, most likely with an FDIC-insured bank.

Now how do you know if you’ve found the right bank?

MoneyRates set out to answer that question. We analyzed quality, security and other metrics for banks across the U.S., discovering that the consumer experience varies greatly from state to state, from the rates of return on common banking products such as savings accounts and CDs to overall satisfaction and stability.

How did your state fare? Here’s our full ranking in alphabetical order by state plus links to our best/worst analysis:

Worst States for Banking 2015

Best States for Banking 2015

Sources: FDIC, JD Power, MoneyRates research

Methodology

To understand the banking landscape in each state, MoneyRates looked at four criteria:

1. Availability of choice. This was based on the number of banks based in each state.
2. Stability. This was determined by the percentage of a state’s banks that failed during 2014.
3. Customer satisfaction. MoneyRates calculated the average scores from the most recent JD Power Retail Banking survey for the banks with locations in the state.
4. Competitiveness of interest rates. The MoneyRates America’s Best Rates study identified a few banks that are bucking the low interest rate trend. MoneyRates then ranked the states based on how many leading banks from that study have locations there.

Tell us how you feel about your bank in the comments below.