PenFed slips again as the credit union power rankings get a year-end shakeup.
New NCUA call report data analyzed by Tyfone shows BECU edging past Pentagon Federal, reshaping the top five by assets even as earnings surge for most.
Year-end call report data for individual U.S. credit unions is now available, and it shows another shakeup among the industry’s top five institutions by assets.
A Tyfone analysis of National Credit Union Administration 2025 data for the largest credit unions in the country revealed that Pentagon Federal Credit Union fell another spot on the asset list by the end of last year.
For years, Pentagon Federal held the third position behind Navy Federal and State Employees Credit Union, but a dip in assets dropped the organization to the number four position last year behind SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union.
Now, Boeing Employees Credit Union, which does business as BECU, has squeaked past PenFed, dropping the McLean, Virginia-based credit union to number five. PenFed had $29.3 billion in assets at the end of 2025 compared to $31 billion at the end of 2024.
The good news for PenFed is that earnings skyrocketed. The company earned $151 million in 2025 compared to $36.3 million in the prior year. Membership for PenFed was flat year over year at 2.8 million members.
Vienna, Virginia-based Navy Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in the world, had $197.2 billion in assets at the end of 2025 compared to $180.8 billion a year earlier. The credit union is likely to surpass the $200 billion mark early this year. Roughly a dozen U.S. banks are larger than that asset size.
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In terms of membership, Navy Federal grew to 15.1 million members from 14.3 million in 2024. It earned $1.9 billion in 2025 after reporting net income of $1.7 billion in the prior year.
The nation’s second-largest credit union by assets – State Employees Credit Union – is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. It had $58.1 billion in assets at the end of 2025 and almost 3 million members. A year earlier, the credit union had almost $53 billion in assets and 2.8 million members.
Its earnings surged to $401.3 million in 2025 compared to $192.5 million in 2024.
SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union is based in Tustin, California and came in at number 3 on the asset list. It had $35.4 billion in assets at the end of 2025 after reaching almost $32 billion in assets a year earlier.
It earned $241.8 million in 2025 after reporting $164.8 million in net income in 2024. Its membership grew to 1.5 million members from 1.4 million at the end of 2024.
Boeing Employees Credit Union in Tukwila, Washington, edged out PenFed for the fourth spot without gaining assets. It had $29.4 billion in assets at the end of 2025 – essentially flat from a year earlier.
It had 1.6 million members, up slightly from 1.5 million in the prior calendar year. BECU earned $173 million in 2025, down from $206.5 million, making it the lone credit union in the top five to see lower earnings last year.
