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:

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: Many folks have written us suggesting that people should examine credit unions. Like the FDIC for banks and thrifts, the National Credit Union Administration insures the deposits of credit unions and is a good resource for financial data on specific institutions. Credit unions do not disclose financial data in the same way as FDIC-insured banks. As a result, credit unions are not presently included in the IRA ratings database, which covers over 8,000 federally insured banks and thrifts. IRA is developing a method to rate credit unions in a way that is comparable to the IRA bank stress ratings. Until then you can search for a nearby credit union at the website of the National Credit Union Administration.

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 and do a search. 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.