ALEXANDRIA, Va.--Federally insured credit unions posted stronger balance sheet growth in 2025, with median assets rising 3.3% year-over-year in the fourth quarter and median loans outstanding up 0.7%, even as the agency’s latest state-level data show many smaller institutions continue to struggle with membership declines.
The agency’s fourth-quarter 2025 Quarterly U.S. Map Review also found the national median loan-to-share ratio stood at 70% and that 88% of federally insured credit unions reported positive year-to-date net income, up from 86% a year earlier.
In the third quarter of 2025, Alaska posted the strongest median loan growth at 7.1% and also led the nation in median membership growth at 2.8%, while Washington, D.C., saw the steepest median loan decline at -4.5% and the sharpest membership drop at -2.0%.
NCUA noted that membership challenges remain concentrated among smaller credit unions. Nationally, median membership declined 0.5% over the year, and the agency said more than half of credit unions with shrinking membership had less than $50 million in assets. In the third-quarter state data, membership was down at the median in 29 states and Washington, D.C., with North Dakota (-1.6%) and D.C. among the weakest performers.
State Level Data
Median Annual Asset Growth
Highlights
- Nationally, assets in federally insured credit unions increased by 3.3% at the median over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025. In other words, half of all federally insured credit unions had asset growth at or above 3.3% and half had asset growth of 3.3% or less. During the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2024, the median growth rate in assets was 0.9%.
- Over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025, median asset growth was fastest in New Hampshire (6.9%) and Maine (6.5%).
- At the median, assets declined in Washington, D.C. (-0.1%) and grew the least in New Jersey (0.4%) over the year.
Median Annual Share and Deposit Growth
Highlights
- Nationally, shares and deposits increased by 2.9% at the median over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025. During the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2024, the median growth rate in shares and deposits was 0.8%.
- Over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025, median growth in shares and deposits was fastest in New Hampshire (7.0%) and Idaho (6.9%).
- At the median, shares and deposits declined in New Jersey (-0.7%) and Oregon (-0.2%) over the year.
Median Annual Membership Growth
Highlights
- While membership continued to grow in the aggregate over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025, at the median, membership declined by 0.5%. Membership also declined by 0.5% at the median over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2024. Overall, about 55% of federally insured credit unions had fewer members at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 than a year earlier. Credit unions with falling membership tend to be small; over half had less than $50 million in assets in the fourth quarter of 2025.
- Over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025, credit unions headquartered in Alaska (2.0%) and Vermont (1.8%) experienced the strongest median membership growth.
- At the median, membership declined in thirty-three states and Washington, D.C. over the year. Kentucky (-2.1%) saw the largest median decline in membership, followed by Connecticut and New Jersey (both -1.5%).
Median Annual Loan Growth
Highlights
- Nationally, loans outstanding grew by 0.7% at the median over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025. Over the previous year, loans declined by 0.1% at the median.
- Over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2025, median loan growth was strongest in Alaska (6.2%) and New Hampshire (4.9%).
- At the median, loans outstanding declined in Washington, D.C. and fourteen states over the year, led by Washington, D.C. (-4.7%) and West Virginia (‑3.7%).
Median Total Delinquency Rate
Highlights
- At the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the median total delinquency rate among federally insured credit unions was 72 basis points, compared with 69 basis points at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024.
- At the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the median delinquency rate was highest in Delaware (159 basis points) and Louisiana (128 basis points).
- The median delinquency rate was lowest in Rhode Island (43 basis points) and New Hampshire (48 basis points) at that time.
Median Loan-to-Share Ratio
Highlights
Loan-to-share ratios are rounded to the nearest percentage point.
- Nationally, the median ratio of total loans outstanding to total shares and deposits - the loan-to-share ratio - was 70% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median loan-to-share ratio was 71%.
- The median loan-to-share ratio was highest in Idaho (90%) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, followed by Wisconsin and Wyoming (both 84%).
- The median loan-to-share ratio was lowest in Delaware (46%) and New Jersey (51%) at that time.
Median Return on Average Assets
Highlights
- Nationally, the median return on average assets at federally insured credit unions was 72 basis points in 2025, compared with 61 basis points in 2024.
- Wyoming (133 basis points) and South Dakota (108 basis points) had the highest median return on average assets in 2025.
- Delaware (38 basis points) and New Jersey (39 basis points) had the lowest median return on average assets at that time.
Share of Credit Unions with Positive Net Income
Highlights
Shares of credit unions with positive net income are rounded to the nearest percentage point.
- Nationally, 88% of federally insured credit unions had positive year-to-date net income in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with 86% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- In the fourth quarter of 2025, the share of federally insured credit unions with positive year-to-date net income was highest in Hawaii and Wyoming (both 100%), followed by Maine (98%).
- The share was lowest in Washington, D.C. (72%) at that time, followed by Colorado and North Carolina (both 79%).