2 MI Banks Among America’s 100 Best In New Ranking

Two banks in Michigan are among the 100 best in the country, according to a report on Wednesday by Forbes that showed strong performance by smaller regional institutions over big banks.

The business media company said small regional institutions, which are often run more efficiently than trillion-dollar money center banks, dominate its 17th annual America’s Best Banks ranking. There was one notable exception, JPMorgan Chase, America’s largest bank, which ranked 40th.

The 200 largest publicly traded banks and thrifts by assets were eligible for the list. Banks that are subsidiaries of larger institutions were excluded, as were banks where the top-level parent is based outside the U.S.

Banks in Michigan that made the cut are:

No. 39 Mercantile Bank

Total assets: $6.31 billion
Return on equity: 15.2 percent
Non-performing assets: 0.3 percent
Common equity tier: 11.3 percent
Operating revenue growth: 7.7 percent

No. 63 Independent Bank

Total assets: $5.49 billion
Return on equity: 15.8 percent
Non-performing assets: 0.4 percent
Common equity tier: 11.5 percent
Operating revenue growth: 11.2 percent

Forbes said America’s banking system is in good health, with the panic that led to five failures in 2023 now a distant memory today. Although the Federal Reserve has begun cutting interest rates, average net interest margins inched higher to 3.27 percent in 2025, up from 3.22 percent in 2024.

Banks are profiting by raising interest on matured, low-interest pandemic-era loans and by lowering deposit interest rates faster than loan interest, maintaining high margins, Forbes said.

The banks were ranked by 11 metrics measuring growth, credit quality, and profitability for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2025, as well as stock performance in the 12 months through Jan. 23, 2025. S&P Global Market Intelligence provided the data; the rankings were done separately by Forbes.