As Forbes names the Best-In-State Credit Unions of 2025, Valley Strong rises to the top with unbeatable service and deep community roots.
When people think about opening a new checking or savings account, they often instinctively look for a bank. But for many individuals and small businesses, it’s worth considering a credit union. Unlike banks, which are for-profit institutions owned by shareholders, credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives that are owned and run by their community members.
At credit unions, “you will typically find that fees are lower and interest rates are better, both on savings and loans, so that structure does lend itself to a stronger financial offering for members,” says Tansley Stearns, leader of Backbone, a first-of-its-kind coalition of credit unions. But beyond that, members have a stake and a say in how the credit union runs, she adds.
This community ownership “puts the members at the center of everything we do,” says Stearns, who is also president and CEO of Community Financial Credit Union in Michigan. “We are not thinking about quarter-to-quarter earnings pressures. We are thinking about our members and what their needs are, and in these unique times, how do we continue to iteratively solve new problems on their behalf?”
The credit unions that are at the forefront of answering these questions have landed on our eighth annual list of the Best-In-State Credit Unions 2025.
To create this ranking along with the Best-In-State Banks 2025, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista and surveyed approximately 26,000 U.S. residents. Respondents were asked how satisfied they were and how likely they were to recommend the U.S.-based banks and credit unions at which they have a checking or savings account, those at which they had an account within the last three years, and those they knew through friends and family. (Online-only banks and credit unions were excluded, as well as larger institutions with branches in 15 or more states.) Participants were also asked to rate their financial institutions on factors including trust, customer service, digital tools, the quality of financial advice given and whether fees were transparent and reasonable.
Additionally, Statista gathered more than 500,000 publicly available text reviews and ratings about each bank and credit union written between February 2022 and March 2025. This research was incorporated into the analysis, accounting for 20% of each financial institution’s score, while the surveys accounted for 80%. Ultimately, the institutions with the highest overall scores made our rankings—with 222 credit unions and 191 banks recognized in one or more states.
VALLEY STRONG CREDIT UNION Rated #2 in California behind the largest credit union in America.
That makes us #1 in the Valley since #1 is not available in our area!
