The envelope, please.

The award for the top-performing credit union in the U.S. in 2024 goes to…$126 million-asset WCLA Credit Union.

The Olympia-Washington based institution came in at number one in the annual rankings compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. WCLA placed at number four on last year’s list.

S&P based its rankings on six weighted financial metrics: member growth (20%), shares and deposits per member (20%), net worth as a percentage of total assets (20%), return on average assets (20%), delinquent loans as a percentage of total loans (10%) and net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans (10%).

To be included in the list, a credit union needed at least $100 million in total assets and a net worth ratio of at least 7% as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Based on that criteria, 1,798 credit unions of the 4,455 in the U.S. qualified for the ranking.

WCLA CU, which serves the forest products industry, saw almost 82% of its loan book at the end of 2024 made up of commercial loans and lines of credit not secured by real estate, S&P found.

WCLA CU’s approximately $64,336 shares-and-deposits per member ratio was the highest among the top 100 credit unions in 2024. Its net worth ratio rose 102 basis points year over year to 16.92%, compared to the top 100 median of 15.09%.

The credit union has 1,400 members and earned roughly $2.1 million in 2024, a 20% increase compared to a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.

Coming in at number two on S&P’s list was Libby, Montana-based Lincoln County Credit Union, which climbed from the eighth spot in 2023.

The $164 million-asset company reported a net worth ratio of 21.51% in 2024 — the sixth highest among the top 100 credit unions. Its return on average assets rose 46 basis points year over year to 1.58% — the 11th-biggest increase among the top 100.

Rounding out the top five were the $422 million-asset Cascade Community FCU in Roseburg, Oregon, the $117 million-asset Utica Gas & Electric Employees FCU in New Hartford, New York and the $283 million-asset Greater Community CU in Dawson, Minnesota.

The largest credit union in the U.S., Vienna, Virginia-based Navy Federal, came in at number 1,078 on the list, up from number 1,113 in 2023.

The credit union’s ROAA improved 14 basis points year over year to 0.96%, compared to the 0.61% median for the 1,798 credit unions in the analysis. Its net charge-off ratio increased 51 basis points year over year to 2.54%, compared to the top 100 median of 0.41%.

California and Michigan led the nation with 10 credit unions each in the top 100, followed by Texas with eight.

S&P Global Market Intelligence is a division of S&P Global, a provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets.