The highest commercial real estate exposure at U.S. banks is usually found by comparing a bank’s CRE book to the capital available to absorb losses. That is the point of this ranking. Using local U.S. Call Report data dated 2025-12-31, we ranked active U.S. banks by total CRE divided by total capital. In plain English, the higher the ratio, the more heavily a bank is leaning on commercial real estate relative to its capital base.
This matters because CRE concentration can amplify stress when office, retail, multifamily, or construction markets weaken. A bank can still be profitable and well-run with a high ratio, but the ratio tells you where to look first. For investors, lenders, consultants, and bank strategy teams, it is one of the quickest screens for balance-sheet sensitivity.
If you want to move from a simple list to actual bank-by-bank screening, Banking Intelligence lets you search institutions, use loan analysis to inspect CRE mix, check early-warning signals, and export results for peer work or pipeline building.
Key Takeaways
- The ranking is based on the latest local U.S. Call Report date available in the database: 2025-12-31.
- The metric is total CRE / total capital, where total CRE equals LNRENRES + LNRECONS + LNREMULT + LNRENROW.
- Among 4,340 active U.S. banks with usable data, the average CRE-to-capital ratio was 293.1% and the median was 275.6%.
- 2,000 banks were above 300%, 721 were above 500%, and 59 were above 800%.
- The highest ratio in the dataset was 1,284.8%, or about 12.85x capital.
- Michigan led this top-25 list with four banks, followed by Minnesota and Pennsylvania with three each.
The 25 U.S. Banks With the Highest Commercial Real Estate Exposure in 2026
The table below ranks active U.S. banks by CRE exposure relative to capital using data as of 2025-12-31. Dollar figures are shown in approximate U.S. dollars and reflect Call Report convention, where source values are reported in thousands.
| Rank | Bank | Headquarters | Total Assets | Total CRE | Capital | CRE / Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Bank of the Lake | Osage Beach, MO | $2.27B | $2.01B | $156.2M | 1,284.8% |
| 2 | Beach Cities Commercial Bank | Irvine, CA | $176.7M | $171.2M | $14.7M | 1,167.0% |
| 3 | Metropolitan Commercial Bank | New York, NY | $8.25B | $8.40B | $756.7M | 1,110.4% |
| 4 | Bank Five Nine | Oconomowoc, WI | $2.67B | $2.64B | $241.3M | 1,095.2% |
| 5 | Union National Bank and Trust Company of Elgin | Elgin, IL | $377.1M | $410.2M | $37.9M | 1,082.8% |
| 6 | 1st Advantage Bank | Saint Peters, MO | $215.6M | $191.1M | $19.0M | 1,005.9% |
| 7 | Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank | Philadelphia, PA | $71.4M | $25.3M | $2.6M | 983.4% |
| 8 | Barwick Banking Company | Barwick, GA | $728.2M | $593.0M | $60.6M | 978.4% |
| 9 | Huron Valley State Bank | Milford, MI | $270.4M | $267.0M | $27.6M | 968.4% |
| 10 | Enterprise Bank | Allison Park, PA | $491.7M | $391.1M | $40.6M | 962.5% |
| 11 | Intracoastal Bank | Palm Coast, FL | $550.5M | $528.3M | $55.8M | 946.9% |
| 12 | Quaint Oak Bank | Southampton, PA | $676.8M | $624.3M | $67.0M | 931.5% |
| 13 | Capital Bank | Jacinto City, TX | $673.4M | $661.7M | $71.2M | 929.5% |
| 14 | Wallis Bank | Wallis, TX | $1.39B | $1.23B | $132.8M | 926.3% |
| 15 | Community Bank Mankato | Vernon Center, MN | $542.7M | $457.2M | $49.8M | 917.6% |
| 16 | Key Community Bank | Inver Grove Heights, MN | $121.0M | $95.8M | $10.5M | 911.5% |
| 17 | Alma Bank | Astoria, NY | $1.55B | $1.38B | $154.7M | 890.9% |
| 18 | Poppy Bank | Santa Rosa, CA | $7.59B | $6.08B | $683.2M | 889.9% |
| 19 | First Commerce Bank | Lakewood, NJ | $1.79B | $1.55B | $174.2M | 888.3% |
| 20 | West Michigan Community Bank | Hudsonville, MI | $1.19B | $905.6M | $102.3M | 885.2% |
| 21 | West Valley National Bank | Goodyear, AZ | $78.3M | $66.5M | $7.6M | 879.1% |
| 22 | VisionBank | Saint Louis Park, MN | $257.2M | $220.1M | $25.1M | 877.7% |
| 23 | Citizens State Bank | Royal Oak, MI | $526.6M | $386.4M | $44.5M | 869.0% |
| 24 | First National Bank of Michigan | Kalamazoo, MI | $986.0M | $795.1M | $91.6M | 868.5% |
| 25 | Kendall Bank | Overland Park, KS | $213.4M | $170.2M | $19.6M | 866.3% |
What This Ranking Shows
A few patterns stand out. First, this is not only a small-bank story. Several banks on the list are under $1 billion in assets, but others are much larger. Metropolitan Commercial Bank and Poppy Bank both show that high CRE concentration can appear in multi-billion-dollar institutions too.
Second, the list is geographically broad but not evenly distributed. Michigan has four banks in the top 25, while Minnesota and Pennsylvania have three each. California, Missouri, New York, and Texas each have two. That does not mean those states are uniformly riskier. It means individual balance-sheet strategy still matters more than geography alone.
Third, a high CRE-to-capital ratio is a screening signal, not a final verdict. Two banks can post similar ratios but have very different risk profiles depending on borrower quality, sponsor diversification, construction exposure, office concentration, funding mix, and unrealized securities pressure. That is why a list like this is most useful as a first pass rather than a standalone conclusion.
Why CRE Exposure Still Matters in 2026
Commercial real estate remains one of the most important pressure points in U.S. banking because it combines credit risk, refinancing risk, and market-value risk. Office headlines get the most attention, but the bigger issue for many community and regional lenders is broader: how much of the balance sheet is tied to income-producing property and how much capital sits underneath it.
When rates stay higher for longer, cap rates move, debt-service coverage tightens, and refinancing gets harder. That does not automatically create losses, but it does raise the stakes for banks with concentrated CRE books. A bank at 900% CRE-to-capital has less room for error than one at 200%, all else equal.
That is where a platform like Banking Intelligence becomes practical. It lets you move from one headline ratio into the underlying loan mix, capital stack, and peer set instead of relying on generic sector commentary.
How To Use This List
1. Start with concentration, then break down the loan book
A high CRE-to-capital ratio should push you into the bank’s construction, multifamily, and non-owner-occupied components. A bank with a construction-heavy CRE book is usually more cyclical than one dominated by stabilized multifamily or seasoned owner-occupied properties.
2. Compare banks against peers, not just the whole industry
A Texas community bank should not be benchmarked the same way as a New York niche commercial bank. Peer context matters. Using Banking Intelligence bank profiles, you can compare a target bank against similar institutions rather than against the entire system.
3. Pair exposure with early-warning signals
CRE concentration becomes more meaningful when it shows up alongside funding stress, weak profitability, brokered deposit dependence, or rising problem assets. The early warnings workflow is useful here because concentration by itself is only one part of the risk picture.
4. Export and monitor your watchlist
If you are screening banks for investment, sales targeting, M&A research, or credit work, the goal is not to read one article and stop. The goal is to build a repeatable monitor. That is why exportable screening matters. Banking Intelligence supports that through its export tools.
Methodology
This ranking uses the local Banking Intelligence database built from U.S. bank Call Report detail and institution master records.
- Population: active U.S. banks only, using the institution master flag for active status.
- As-of date: 2025-12-31. No fresher Call Report date is implied in this article.
- Total CRE: LNRENRES + LNRECONS + LNREMULT + LNRENROW.
- Capital: CBTOT when available, otherwise RBCT1J from call_report_detail.
- Ranking metric: total CRE divided by total capital.
- Table sorting: descending by CRE / capital ratio.
- Asset figures: financials.total_assets for the same report date when available, otherwise institution asset size as a fallback.
- Units: source values follow Call Report convention and are stored in thousands of U.S. dollars; display values above are rounded for readability.
This methodology is intentionally simple and transparent. It does not adjust for asset quality, collateral values, sponsor strength, or hedging. It is a concentration screen, not a loss forecast.
The most exposed U.S. banks on this measure are those carrying CRE books that are many multiples of capital. As of 2025-12-31, the top names on that list range from very small institutions to banks with several billion dollars in assets, which is why broad assumptions about size do not work well in CRE analysis.
The practical takeaway is straightforward: start with concentration, then validate with deeper bank-level work. If you are screening for risk, opportunities, prospecting, or peer analysis, Banking Intelligence is the operational way to do that work at scale, from initial screens through loan composition review and exports.
FAQ
What is a high CRE-to-capital ratio for a bank?
A common supervisory reference point is 300% for total CRE to capital, with added scrutiny often increasing when construction and land development exposure is also elevated. That does not make 301% unsafe or 250% safe. It is a starting point for analysis.
Why use total CRE divided by capital instead of CRE divided by assets?
CRE divided by assets shows balance-sheet mix. CRE divided by capital shows how large the exposure is relative to the bank’s loss-absorbing cushion. For stress screening, that second view is often more revealing.
Does a high ratio mean a bank is in trouble?
No. It means the bank deserves closer review. Underwriting quality, geographic footprint, borrower mix, funding structure, profitability, and nonperforming asset trends all matter.
Why is the article titled 2026 if the data date is 2025-12-31?
Because the article is a 2026 ranking based on the latest local U.S. Call Report snapshot currently available in the database, which is 2025-12-31. Bank Call Report reporting is backward-looking by design.
How can I screen more than just the top 25?
Use Banking Intelligence to search all covered banks, compare peers, inspect loan books, flag early-warning signals, and export results for your own workflows.