For community and regional banks
Bank compensation survey and community bank salary survey prices compared
A bank compensation survey costs $225 to $5,000 where the publisher prints a price. The spread is almost entirely membership and participation: the ABA report is $760 for members and $5,000 for everyone else, and it is free to members who fill in the survey. Most community banks under $2 billion get what they need from one state association survey and one national report for roughly $900 to $2,200.
Posting a teller, a credit analyst or a BSA role this month? Price it on the right and get a band and a range you can put in the job ad, without waiting for next summer's survey cycle.
- P25
- $0
- P50 ยท Median
- $0
- P75
- $0
Suggested posted range
Built from public U.S. BLS OES wage data (May 2025 release), adjusted for market, seniority and company stage by the multipliers published in our methodology.
Get bands for your whole team
Get startedPublished prices, checked October 2026
The same survey can cost six times more depending on who buys it
Each bar runs from the cheapest published route (member, participant) to the most expensive one (non-member, non-participant). A lone marigold line means the publisher prints one price. Scale $0 to $5,000.
ABA Compensation & Benefits Survey Report
Member $760, non-member $5,000. Free to members who complete both sections
ICBA Compensation & Benefits Report
Member participant $650 up to non-member $1,450
Milliman Northwest Financial Industry
Participant $970, non-participant $1,790
California Bankers Association
Participant $1,099, non-participant $1,999
Minnesota Bankers Association
Member $1,199, non-member $1,999
Blanchard national report
One price, $1,100 for 2026
Alabama Bankers Association
Participant $595, non-participant $1,475
Oklahoma Bankers Association
Member participant $450, member non-participant $1,050
Pearl Meyer National Banking
Participant price $550
Nebraska Bankers Association
Participating member $225, non-participating $395
Marigold line marks the cheapest published route. Sources are the publisher and association product pages listed in the table below.
Which bank compensation survey a community bank should actually buy
Decide by membership first, then participate. An ABA member that completes both sections gets the ABA report free. An ICBA member that participates pays $650. A bank in neither association should not pay $5,000 for the ABA report: the ICBA non-member participant price ($950), the Blanchard national report ($1,100) and Blanchard's director survey ($750) together come to $2,800.
Then add the one thing a national report does badly, which is your own state. State bankers association surveys are where community banks report in numbers: 94 banks in Minnesota, 99 institutions in the Texas survey Pearl Meyer runs, 31 Alabama banks inside a Southeast sample of 203. For tellers, universal bankers and loan assistants, local pay moves more than national pay does, and a state survey is the closest you will get to the bank across the street.
The timing problem is the same for every survey on this page. Data is collected in spring, results arrive in late summer or autumn, and the report is then used for twelve months. Pearl Meyer's 2026 national survey took data effective April 1 and published on September 14. A teller range set from it in August 2027 is sixteen months old, which is why most banks keep a current source for the roles they post most often.
Quick guide
- ABA member
- Participate, report free
- ICBA member
- Participate, $650
- Neither
- ICBA or Blanchard, not ABA
- Board fees
- A director survey
- Range for a job ad
- Current metro data
Bank salary survey prices and coverage by publisher
Every price below is quoted from the publisher's or the association's own product page, prospectus or fee schedule. Where a page prints no price, the table says so instead of guessing. State surveys are often run by one of three firms (Pearl Meyer, Blanchard or Industry Insights) and sold under the association's name.
| Survey | Published price | Covers | Sample | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABA Compensation & Benefits Survey Report (2025) | $760 member, $5,000 non-member. Free to members who complete both sections, 50% off for participating non-members | 250 positions by region, ownership type and asset size, with board chair retainers | 514 banks | ABA members, who should participate |
| ICBA Compensation & Benefits Report (2026, with Avannis) | Member $1,150 or $650 participating. Non-member $1,450 or $950 participating | 246+ full-time and 30 part-time roles, board pay and incentives, PDF, Excel and dashboard | Community banks nationally, by region and asset size | ICBA members and non-members who will participate |
| Blanchard Salary & Cash Compensation Survey (2026) | $1,100 national report. Lender incentive survey $700, salary budget survey $100 | 200+ banking positions, salary, cash incentives and commissions by asset size | 420 community and regional banks | Banks in neither association, and lender incentive design |
| Blanchard Director Compensation Survey (2025) | $750 | Meeting fees, committee fees, retainers, equity grants and total board pay, by asset size and public or private | Not stated on the product page | Setting board fees |
| Pearl Meyer National Banking Compensation Survey | $550 participant price (2025 fee schedule) | 300+ jobs, institutions from $60 million to over $110 billion in assets | 625 institutions in 2025 | Large peer groups at a low participant price |
| Pearl Meyer Bank Director Compensation & Governance Practices | $695 participating, $1,495 non-participating | Director pay and governance practices, every other year | 181 institutions in 2025 | Board pay with governance context |
| California Bankers Association (Pearl Meyer, 2026) | $1,099 participant, $1,999 non-participant. With the national benefits survey $1,849 / $3,499 | California positions with director compensation | California banks | California banks |
| Minnesota Bankers Association (2026) | $1,199 member, $1,999 non-member | 79 jobs plus policies and benefits | 94 banks, over 5,400 employees | Minnesota banks |
| Alabama Bankers Association (Pearl Meyer, 2025) | $595 participant, $1,475 non-participant (single report). Dual $975 / $1,995 | 87 Alabama and 295 Southeast positions | 31 Alabama and 203 Southeast institutions | Southeast banks |
| Oklahoma Bankers Association (Blanchard, 2026) | Member participant $450, member non-participant $1,050 | Executive and staff positions | Oklahoma banks | Oklahoma banks |
| Louisiana Bankers Association (Blanchard) | Member participant $300, member non-participant $550 | About 20 executive and over 100 staff positions, by asset size and region | Louisiana banks | Louisiana banks |
| Nebraska Bankers Association (Industry Insights, 2026) | Participating member $225, non-participating member $395 | About 100 positions, region of KS, IL, IA, MO, NE and OH | Midwest banks | The cheapest priced bank survey we found |
| IBAT Salary Survey Report (Texas, 2025) | $695 non-participant | 41 job titles with director compensation, filters for deposits, assets, region and market | Texas independent banks | Small Texas banks |
| Milliman Northwest Financial Industry (2026) | $970 participant ($895 early), $1,790 non-participant, $5,370 consultants | Teller through CEO | Northwest financial institutions | Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska |
| CompData Banking & Financial Services | $995 participant, non-participant price not shown | Banks, credit unions and mortgage companies | Mixed financial services | A wider financial services peer group |
| New York, Texas (TBA) and Wisconsin associations | Not published. Participants only or contact the publisher | NY 275+ positions in four regions, Texas 300+, Wisconsin 115 jobs with board members | State banks | Banks willing to participate |
| WageList | $99 a month, or $588 a year | Staff roles by market, with a band and a postable range | Built on the federal wage survey | Staff bands and job ad ranges all year, no survey cycle |
Honest caveats. Our own row has no asset-size cut and no director fees, so it does not replace a bank survey when the board sets the CEO's package or its own retainers. Pearl Meyer's state reports for Texas, Georgia, Florida, New York, the Carolinas and others are listed as contact-only, so their price is not public. Milliman's Northwest survey may include non-bank institutions. And CompData blends banks with credit unions and mortgage companies, which matters for exactly the roles discussed in section 04.
What three community banks would actually spend
The same two needs (a national report with asset-size cuts and a local survey for staff roles) cost very different amounts depending on state and memberships. Three realistic banks, priced from the table above.
$180 million, Nebraska
ICBA member, 45 staff
- Nebraska survey, participating
- $225
- ICBA report, participating
- $650
- Total
- $875
Two survey submissions a year. The ICBA report brings board pay, so no separate director survey.
$400 million, Minnesota
State member only, 110 staff
- Minnesota Bankers, member
- $1,199
- ICBA, non-member participating
- $950
- Total
- $2,149
Buying the ABA report as a non-member instead would cost $5,000 on its own.
$900 million, California
ABA member, 190 staff
- ABA report, both sections done
- $0
- California Bankers, participant
- $1,099
- Total
- $1,099
California also requires a pay scale in every posting at 15 or more employees, so ranges are needed per job, not per year.
The pattern holds across states: participation is worth more than any discount code. The real cost of participating is the staff time to match your jobs to the survey and submit data once a year. How the general-market publishers compare is on our salary survey providers page, and the credit union equivalents are on the credit union salary survey comparison.
Where nondepository lenders outbid banks for staff
The federal wage survey does not publish a bank-only cut. Ask its data service for depository credit intermediation and it answers that the series does not exist. What it does publish is the whole credit sector (NAICS 522) and, inside it, nondepository lenders (NAICS 5222): mortgage companies, consumer finance companies, sales finance and online lenders. That second group is who recruits your people.
The comparison splits cleanly. On branch and lending roles, nondepository lenders pay the same or less: loan officers are 15.1 percent below the sector median, new accounts clerks 17.6 percent below. On risk, finance and security, they pay more: financial managers 21.7 percent above, financial risk specialists 11.0 percent above, information security analysts 4.0 percent above. A community bank that loses a lender to a mortgage company probably lost on commission structure, not base pay. A bank that loses its risk analyst lost on the number.
+21.7%
What financial managers earn at nondepository lenders over the credit sector median, May 2025. The sector figure is pulled down by branch managers, who share the occupation code. Your CFO is not paid like either.
| Role | All industries | Credit sector (522) | Nondepository lenders (5222) | Nondepository vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tellers | $43,030 | $42,920 | $42,650 | -0.6% |
| New accounts clerks | $47,670 | $47,540 | $39,190 | -17.6% |
| Customer service representatives | $44,770 | $48,270 | $47,060 | -2.5% |
| Loan interviewers and clerks | $50,020 | $49,860 | $49,150 | -1.4% |
| Loan officers | $76,690 | $76,070 | $64,610 | -15.1% |
| Credit analysts | $83,510 | $82,240 | $80,880 | -1.7% |
| Compliance officers | $80,730 | $83,650 | $78,520 | -6.1% |
| Financial risk specialists | $117,330 | $112,060 | $124,360 | +11.0% |
| Information security analysts | $129,180 | $131,220 | $136,530 | +4.0% |
| General and operations managers | $105,770 | $119,980 | $105,640 | -12.0% |
| Financial managers | $166,570 | $135,760 | $165,210 | +21.7% |
| Chief executives | $213,990 | $260,760 | $288,250 | +10.5% |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national industry and cross-industry estimates, read from the BLS public data API. Wages include commissions and production bonuses and exclude overtime premiums.
34.5%
Share of the credit sector's 222,090 loan officers who work at nondepository lenders (76,670). Their lower median drags the sector figure down, so a bank's own loan officers usually sit at or above it.
0.8%
Share of the sector's 317,340 tellers at nondepository lenders (2,690). For tellers, the sector median is effectively a bank and credit union number.
23.8%
Share of the sector's 19,850 compliance officers at nondepository lenders (4,720), who pay them 6.1 percent less. Your BSA officer is most at risk from other banks, not fintechs.
Salary bands for bank roles from the 25th to the 75th percentile
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile in the credit sector, with the median marked. A teller band is tight, about 26 percent from floor to ceiling, which is a normal support grade. A loan officer band is 102 percent wide because salaried consumer lenders and commissioned mortgage originators share the code, so split it by pay plan before you post it.
Scale $0 to $180,000. Marigold line is the median. Credit intermediation, May 2025.
Turning percentiles into grades with midpoints and overlap is covered in how to create salary bands, and where each employee sits inside a range is a one-minute check on the range penetration calculator. How the federal survey is built and where it falls short is on our BLS salary data page.
What examiners and posting laws expect from bank pay
Incentive pay guidance
The 2010 interagency Guidance on Sound Incentive Compensation Policies (75 FR 36395) from the OCC, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and the OTS still applies. Its three principles are balanced risk-taking incentives, compatibility with risk controls and strong board oversight. Lender incentive plans are where examiners look first, which is why Blanchard sells a separate lender incentive survey.
Section 956 is still not final
Dodd-Frank section 956 required incentive compensation rules by April 21, 2011. GAO reported in February 2025 that they were still not final. Four agencies reproposed them in May 2024 without the Federal Reserve or the SEC, and on March 3, 2025 the FDIC said it no longer intends to issue final rules.
Posting laws reach branches
State pay transparency laws do not exempt banks or branch roles. They count employees and look at where the work is done. Our pay transparency laws by state guide covers each state, and salary ranges in job postings shows what a compliant range looks like.
Bank boards are also spending more. In Bank Director's 2026 Compensation and Talent Survey, a free editorial report with 292 respondents, the median bank raised compensation expense 8 percent in 2025, 91 percent paid the CEO a bonus, and the median CEO bonus was $168,000. That report is useful context for a board, but it is a survey of opinions and practices, not a job-matched benchmark you can build a band from.
Four things a bank survey gives you that public data does not
Asset-size peers
Executive pay follows assets more than title. Every national bank survey cuts by asset size, and Pearl Meyer's runs from $60 million to over $110 billion.
Bank job titles
BSA officer, universal banker, credit administration officer, chief lending officer. Federal codes fold these into broader occupations, and bank surveys match them one to one.
Incentive design
Lender commission plans, bonus targets and payout timing. The federal survey records what was paid, not how the plan works.
Director fees
Retainers, meeting fees and committee chair pay. Nothing public reports them for private community banks.
Price every branch and back-office role between survey cycles
Market data by metro, a band per role, and a range you can paste into the job ad. No sales call to find out what it costs.
Who buys bank salary data and what they need from it
The HR officer
At a $150 million to $1.5 billion bank with 40 to 200 staff, hiring tellers and universal bankers every month and needing ranges that hold up when two employees compare notes.
The CEO of a small bank
Running HR alongside lending and the board, wanting each offer documented before the budget meeting. See WageList for small teams.
The compensation committee
Setting executive pay and board fees once a year. They need an asset-size report and a director survey, plus a staff structure underneath that makes sense end to end.
The HR lead in a posting state
Hiring in Colorado, Washington, New York, Illinois or California, where every ad needs a range, and needing a current band per role rather than one report a year.
Bank compensation survey questions buyers ask
How much does the ABA compensation survey cost?
The ABA Compensation & Benefits Survey Report costs $760 for American Bankers Association members and $5,000 for non-members, and the Midwest and Northeast regional versions carry the same two prices. ABA members that complete both sections of the survey get the results free, and non-members that participate get 50 percent off.
What is the best bank compensation survey for a community bank?
For most banks under $2 billion in assets, the best value is a state bankers association survey for staff roles plus one national report with asset-size cuts. ICBA members who participate pay $650 for the ICBA report, ABA members who participate pay nothing, and Blanchard sells its national report to anyone for $1,100.
How much does the ICBA compensation and benefits survey cost?
The 2026 ICBA Compensation & Benefits Report, produced with Avannis, costs $1,150 for ICBA members and $1,450 for non-members. Participants pay $650 as members and $950 as non-members. It covers more than 246 full-time and 30 part-time roles plus board of director pay, with national, regional and asset-size cuts.
Which bank salary surveys include director fees?
Blanchard sells a separate Director Compensation Survey for $750, and Pearl Meyer's Bank Director Compensation and Governance Practices Survey costs $695 for participants and $1,495 otherwise. The ICBA report, the California Bankers survey, the IBAT report and the ABA report (board chair retainers) also carry some board pay data.
Does Crowe still publish a bank compensation survey?
No current edition is on sale. Crowe's bank compensation survey last appeared as its 42nd annual edition in 2023, with 388 organizations and 272 positions. Some bankers association pages still describe a Crowe partnership, so check the edition year before you pay. ICBA's report is now produced with Avannis.
How much do bank tellers make?
The federal wage survey puts the median teller in credit intermediation at $42,920 a year for May 2025, with the middle half of tellers between $37,010 and $46,520. That is within 0.3 percent of the all-industry teller median, because almost every teller in the country works at a bank or credit union.
Do banks have to post salary ranges in job ads?
Yes, wherever a state pay transparency law covers the job. These laws count employees and look at where the work is done, and none of them exempts banks. A community bank hiring a teller in Colorado, Washington, New York, Illinois or California posts a good faith range like any other employer.
Is there a bank salary survey for small banks under $500 million?
Yes. State association surveys are built around community banks and sell from $225 to $1,199 for members, and the ABA, ICBA, Blanchard and Pearl Meyer reports all cut results by asset size. Pearl Meyer's national survey starts at $60 million in assets, and the Indiana survey groups banks under $300 million together.
Start with the role you are hiring this month
Pick the job, pick the market, get a band and a postable range in under a minute.
Keep going
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Credit union salary survey
America's Credit Unions, CUES, Pearl Meyer and others, priced.
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Salary survey providers
The general-market publishers and what each one charges.
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Salary survey cost
What a salary survey costs across industries, and what moves the price.
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Salary bands
Turning percentiles into grades the whole bank shares.