Look at Forbes magazine’s list of America’s Best Banks for 2025, and you’ll see a name that has become familiar throughout the Evansville region.
German American Bancorp is No. 2 on the list of 100 institutions ranked by the magazine, trailing only Southern BancShares of Mount Olive, North Carolina.
“Our being recognized as a top performer across the nation is nothing new to us. But rising to the level of No. 2 is special,” says Neil Dauby, chairman and CEO of Jasper, Indiana-based German American. “We could tell our team members they are doing a great job and give them internal recognition and acknowledgment, but when an independent and prestigious company like Forbes gives you that validation, it takes on a whole different meaning for our team.”
Now 115 years old, German American has about $8.3 billion in assets and $3.7 billion in wealth management assets under management. Its presence is in western, central, and northern Kentucky and central and southwest Ohio, as well as central and southern Indiana.
German American has conducted business at its Downtown Evansville location, at Southeast Third and Locust streets, since 2017.
Bank officials say their success is keyed by local governing within their six geographic regions. Each of those areas has “local people making local decisions,” says John Lamb, chief commercial banking officer and senior president of German American’s Southwest Region.
In its list of America’s Best Banks for 2025, Forbes notes that smaller often is better when it comes to financial institutions.
No banks in the top 10 have more than $25 billion in assets, and JPMorgan Chase is the only trillion-dollar institution on the entire list.
German American officials say they retained the smaller, community bank-style model even as the company has expanded to 46 locations in Indiana and 28 in Kentucky.
In rating institutions for 2025, Forbes looks at 11 metrics measuring growth, credit quality, and profitability for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2024, as well as stock performance in the year through Jan. 10, 2025.
The 200 largest publicly traded banks and thrifts by assets were eligible for the list. Forbes ranked the top 100 of that group. The No. 2 national recognition from Forbes “should instill confidence in those who bank and invest with German American because it demonstrates our financial focus, strength, and stability,” Dauby says.
