Not all community banks are risk free. Some of them got involved in the same risky behavior that took down some of the biggest banks.
We suggest two options for looking into the small and community banks in your area:

OPTION ONE:

BANKS

Thanks to the volunteer services of a group called Institutional Risk Analytics (IRA), you can get a listing of the most sound community banks near you. IRA lists only banks that, according to its rating system, which is based on government data, get a grade of “B” or better.

Enter your zip code below to find the community banks near you.

CREDIT UNIONS

Thanks to FindACreditUnion.com, we now have this search tool to find credit unions in your area. Enter your address below to search the database of state credit union leagues, which is the largest collection of credit unions in the nation.

Enter your address or zip code to find nearby credit unions.

OPTION TWO:

Go to the Independent Community Bankers of America site and do a zip-code search. Or, if you’re interested in credit unions, go to the National Credit Union Administration or the Credit Union National Association and do a search. To search the database of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, a trade organization, go to CULookUp.com. To find credit unions that offers credit cards determined to be fair and ethical go to CreditCardConnection.org.

Then go to BankRate.com or Bauer Financial and see how it rates the banks or credit unions you’re interested in.

You can also search at FindABetterBank.com, which will compare estimated fees based on your banking practices (note: FindABetterBank is expanding its list of community banks. Bankers can go here to submit a bank or credit union) or Bankfox.com, which will compare savings, checking and CD accounts at different banks. These services also include large banks in their results, so you should keep that in mind when comparing options.