Short answer: The median US bank ran a loan-to-deposit ratio of 80.16% in the quarter ending June 30, 2026, across 4,238 banks. The middle half sat between 65.73% and 90.94%; 426 banks (10.1%) were above 100% and 438 (10.3%) were below 50%. For a working range, 70% to 90% is where the median net interest margin peaks, at 3.95%. Above 90%, funding costs rise faster than asset yields. At every level of the ratio, median return on assets stays between 1.15% and 1.26%.
What we count as loans and deposits
We divide net loans and leases by total deposits, both at quarter end and both from Schedule RC, the call report balance sheet. Net means after the allowance for credit losses, and only the held-for-investment book counts, so loans held for sale are left out.
Some sources use gross loans, which lifts every bank's figure a little, or add loans held for sale, which can lift it a lot at a bank that originates mortgages to sell. Others divide by core deposits or use average balances. Compare a board package figure only with peer figures built the same way.
Benchmarks by asset size
These are the 4,238 FDIC-insured banks and savings institutions that filed a call report for the quarter ending June 30, 2026, matching the count in the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile. We leave out 58 non-deposit trust companies that also file; they take no deposits and make almost no loans.
| Bank size (total assets) | Banks | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All banks | 4,238 | 65.73% | 80.16% | 90.94% | 100.03% |
| Under $100M | 543 | 45.12% | 65.63% | 82.79% | 98.49% |
| $100M to $300M | 1,214 | 61.86% | 76.41% | 88.46% | 98.46% |
| $300M to $1B | 1,433 | 69.41% | 81.66% | 91.49% | 100.47% |
| $1B to $3B | 626 | 74.35% | 85.35% | 94.92% | 102.04% |
| $3B to $10B | 264 | 78.70% | 88.31% | 94.63% | 101.11% |
| $10B to $100B | 126 | 75.50% | 84.80% | 90.78% | 97.48% |
| Over $100B | 32 | 59.68% | 74.86% | 82.62% | 88.05% |
Source: BankingLens, computed from FFIEC call reports for the quarter ending June 30, 2026. Percentiles cover every bank in each size band, not a sample.
The median climbs with size, from 65.63% under $100M to a peak of 88.31% at $3B to $10B, then falls to 74.86% for the 32 banks over $100B. A bank between $100M and $300M running at the all-bank median of 80.16% is above its own band's 76.41%; one between $3B and $10B at the same ratio is below its band's median.
Small banks run low ratios for reasons that have little to do with appetite. In a small-town market, deposits often build faster than loan demand, and a bank under $100M reaches its legal lending limit early, so the bigger credits get sold as participations or go to a larger bank (see how much a bank can lend to one borrower). A quarter of banks in that band are below 45.12%. The $3B to $10B peak fits banks big enough to write large commercial credits but still small enough that their deposits come from one region. Past $100B, securities and cash take up more of the balance sheet.
Below $10B, the 90th percentile barely moves, landing between 98.46% and 102.04% in every band. Few banks of any size run far past a dollar of loans per dollar of deposits.
What a higher ratio earns, and what it costs
We grouped the 4,238 banks by ratio and took medians within each group. Every row is a different set of banks, so read it as a snapshot rather than a prediction for any one bank.
| Loan-to-deposit ratio | Banks | Yield on earning assets | Cost of funds | Net interest margin | Return on assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 50% | 438 | 4.53% | 1.86% | 3.32% | 1.15% |
| 50% to 70% | 859 | 5.15% | 1.99% | 3.76% | 1.21% |
| 70% to 90% | 1,790 | 5.68% | 2.35% | 3.95% | 1.26% |
| 90% to 100% | 725 | 5.92% | 2.64% | 3.91% | 1.23% |
| 100% and over | 426 | 6.00% | 2.91% | 3.84% | 1.20% |
Source: BankingLens, computed from FFIEC call reports for the quarter ending June 30, 2026. Medians within each band; income ratios are year to date.
Loans yield more than securities and cash, so yield on earning assets rises in every row, from 4.53% to 6.00%. Cost of funds rises too, from 1.86% to 2.91%; a bank with more deposits than it can lend has no reason to pay up for new ones. Through the 70% to 90% band, yield climbs faster than funding cost and the median net interest margin peaks at 3.95%. Above 90%, each step up adds less to yield than to cost of funds, and margin slips to 3.91% and then 3.84%.
Return on assets hardly notices. Banks under 50% give up a lot of margin, 3.32% against 3.95%, yet their median return on assets is 1.15% against 1.26%. The medians can't show why. Start with expenses, since a smaller loan book needs fewer lenders and a smaller provision for credit losses. Our ROA benchmarks agree. Top and bottom earners differ far more on expenses and margin than on how fully they're lent.
The funding side is where a high ratio gets paid for.
| Loan-to-deposit ratio | Noninterest-bearing share of deposits (median) | Banks reporting any brokered deposits |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50% | 25.40% | 18.7% |
| 50% to 70% | 24.32% | 22.7% |
| 70% to 90% | 21.32% | 48.2% |
| 90% to 100% | 18.31% | 67.0% |
| 100% and over | 15.16% | 71.4% |
Source: BankingLens, computed from FFIEC call reports for the quarter ending June 30, 2026. The brokered column is the share of banks in each band reporting any brokered deposits.
Down the table, the median noninterest-bearing share falls from 25.40% to 15.16% of deposits and the share of banks with brokered deposits climbs from 18.7% to 71.4%. The sharpest break comes at 70%: 22.7% of banks in the 50% to 70% band report brokered deposits, against 48.2% one band up. Once loans outgrow core deposits, the next loan gets funded with wholesale money or with deposit specials priced to pull balances from competitors. Both cost more than a checking account and reprice sooner.
The same ratio can describe two very different banks. One in the 90% to 100% band that still holds 25.40% of its deposits in noninterest-bearing accounts (the median for banks under 50%) is lending out a strong core franchise; another that leans on brokered CDs and Federal Home Loan Bank advances to stay there is lending out money it rented. Schedule RC shows noninterest-bearing deposits and other borrowed money, and the Schedule RC-E memoranda show brokered deposits (see our guide to reading a call report).
How the median has moved since 2023
The median rose from 73.43% in Q1 2023 to 80.16% in Q2 2026. Most of that came in 2023, when it reached 77.93% by year end; it has stayed between 77.78% and 80.16% since.
| Year | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 73.43% | 75.99% | 77.32% | 77.93% |
| 2024 | 77.78% | 79.10% | 79.19% | 78.68% |
| 2025 | 78.02% | 79.38% | 79.33% | 79.75% |
| 2026 | 79.05% | 80.16% |
Source: BankingLens, computed from FFIEC call reports. Median across FDIC-insured filers at each quarter end.
The bottom of the distribution did most of the moving. The lower quartile rose from 57.24% to 65.73%, the upper quartile only from 88.12% to 90.94%. A median can't separate banks that lent more from banks that lost deposits; your own call report history can. The count of banks also fell from 4,672 to 4,238, so some of any move can come from a change in who is being measured.
Compare like quarters. The median fell in the first quarter of 2024, 2025 and 2026 and recovered in the second each time, so read down the Q2 column: 79.38% at June 30, 2025, and 80.16% now.
What examiners look at instead
There is no hard regulatory cap on the loan-to-deposit ratio for US banks. Examiners judge liquidity by the funding behind the loans and by what a bank could raise under stress, so a bank above 100% with granular core deposits and tested borrowing lines can look better in a liquidity review than a median bank that depends on a handful of large depositors.
Section 109 of the Riegle-Neal Act, which bars a bank from using interstate branches mainly to gather deposits, is one place the ratio does matter: if a bank's ratio in a host state is under half the host state ratio the agencies publish each year (latest release May 1, 2026), regulators review whether it is helping meet local credit needs.
Frost Bank and the price of a low ratio
Frost Bank, the San Antonio bank on our public sample scorecard, reported a loan-to-deposit ratio of 51.96% at June 30. The median for its size band, $10B to $100B, is 84.80%, and Frost sits below the band's 10th percentile of 62.83%.
At a bank with a large deposit franchise, a ratio that low is a choice with a margin cost, not a problem by itself. What the lower ratio buys is room. Loans can grow without waiting on deposits, and there's no need to bid for balances. The second cost sits in the bond portfolio. A bank that holds more of its balance sheet in securities carries more interest rate exposure there (see how much bank capital is still underwater). The sample scorecard shows Frost's ratio next to its margin and funding mix, ranked against the 116 banks in its FFIEC peer group.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good loan-to-deposit ratio for a bank?
There is no single right number. The median US bank ran 80.16% in the quarter ending June 30, 2026, with the middle half between 65.73% and 90.94%. Banks between 70% and 90% had the highest median net interest margin, 3.95%. Above 90%, funding costs rose faster than asset yields and median return on assets did not improve.
What does a loan-to-deposit ratio over 100% mean?
Net loans exceed deposits, so part of the loan book is funded with borrowings, such as Federal Home Loan Bank advances, or with capital. At June 30, 2026, 426 banks (10.1%) were above 100%; their median cost of funds was 2.91% and 71.4% used brokered deposits, against 1.86% and 18.7% for banks below 50%.
Is a low loan-to-deposit ratio bad?
Not by itself. A low ratio usually means more of the balance sheet sits in lower-yielding securities and cash. Banks below 50% had a median net interest margin of 3.32% against 3.95% for banks between 70% and 90%, yet their median return on assets was 1.15% against 1.26%.
What is the average loan-to-deposit ratio for community banks?
It rises with size. At June 30, 2026, the median was 65.63% for banks under $100M in assets, 76.41% for $100M to $300M, 81.66% for $300M to $1B, 85.35% for $1B to $3B and 88.31% for $3B to $10B, against 80.16% for all banks.
How is the loan-to-deposit ratio calculated?
Divide net loans and leases by total deposits at quarter end and multiply by 100. BankingLens uses loans held for investment net of the allowance for credit losses, both from Schedule RC, the call report balance sheet. Some sources use gross loans or include loans held for sale, so check the definition before comparing two banks.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page is computed from FFIEC call reports for the quarter ending June 30, 2026, or for earlier quarters in the trend table. Nothing is modeled or sampled. You can see these ratios for a real bank, ranked against its FFIEC peer group, on the sample scorecard for Frost Bank. Plans that cover your state or every bank start at $29 a month (pricing).