The system at a glance
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Credit unions in the panel | 4,336 |
| Total assets | $2.5T |
| Total members | 147,047,527 |
| Median institution size | $66.5M |
| Mean institution size | $578.3M |
The panel in the first row is our quarterly dataset of credit-union financials. The gap between the median and the mean is the industry's defining fact. The median is the credit union in the middle when all are ranked by size. The mean is the plain average. A handful of credit unions hold a large share of the assets, while most are small. So an average across the system describes almost none of it.
Concentration
| Cohort | Institutions | Assets held | Share of system assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largest 1% | 43 | $854.6B | 34.1% |
| Largest 10% | 434 | $1.9T | 77.2% |
| Smallest 50% | 2,168 | $47.7B | 1.9% |
Growth, credit quality and capital
| Measure | Median | 25th percentile | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset growth YoY | 2.8% | -0.8% | 6.3% |
| Loan growth YoY | 0.6% | -5.0% | 6.2% |
| Deposit growth YoY | 2.4% | -1.5% | 6.0% |
| Member growth YoY | -0.5% | -3.1% | 2.0% |
| Return on assets | 0.65% | 0.23% | 1.12% |
| Delinquency ratio | 0.63% | 0.25% | 1.19% |
| Net worth ratio | 12.4% | 10.2% | 16.2% |
YoY means year over year. Return on assets is profit as a share of assets. The delinquency ratio is the share of loans behind on payments. The net worth ratio is capital as a share of assets.
The 25th and 75th percentile columns are the point. A quarter of credit unions sit below the 25th percentile, and a quarter sit above the 75th. The median return on assets says what a typical credit union earned. The spread between the two percentiles shows how much of the system is nowhere near typical. The credit unions out at the edges are the ones that merge, borrow and buy.
The size distribution
- <$10M18.2%0.1%
- $10M-$50M26.3%1.2%
- $50M-$100M13.3%1.7%
- $100M-$500M24.7%9.9%
- $500M-$1B6.5%8.2%
- $1B-$10B10.4%52.0%
- >$10B0.6%26.9%
| Asset tier | Institutions | Share of count | Assets held | Share of assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <$10M | 789 | 18.2% | $3.3B | 0.1% |
| $10M-$50M | 1,142 | 26.3% | $30.6B | 1.2% |
| $50M-$100M | 577 | 13.3% | $41.8B | 1.7% |
| $100M-$500M | 1,070 | 24.7% | $247.9B | 9.9% |
| $500M-$1B | 284 | 6.5% | $204.8B | 8.2% |
| $1B-$10B | 450 | 10.4% | $1.3T | 52.0% |
| >$10B | 24 | 0.6% | $675.7B | 26.9% |
Method
These figures cover all 4,336 credit unions in the panel as of Q1 2026, with 6 quarters of history. The panel holds one record per credit union per quarter, built from several data sources. Each input is matched to the right credit union, and duplicates are removed. Figures are then put on a common basis using a verified dictionary of account codes. The specific sources and the processing are proprietary. What we disclose is the process described here.
This post reports on the system as a whole. By design, it names no credit union. The counts and distributions here are the free half. The ranked list of named credit unions behind them, ready to export, is what a subscription opens.
Caveats
Every figure above is a model estimate computed from the quarterly panel as of the quarter named at the top of this post. Scores are not investment, credit or merger advice, and nothing here is a recommendation about any institution. The scorecards, their published weights and their known limitations are set out in the disclosures.