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There is money moving to Lawrence, a new report finds.

I can make a neighborhood suggestion: My wallet. But no, it is moving to bank accounts, and the latest report from the FDIC — the entity that insures bank deposits — shows Lawrence is gaining bank deposits at a greater rate than most.

This year’s report — which measured deposits for the year ending June 30 — shows the Lawrence metro area has had the fastest rate of deposit growth of any metro area in the state since 2019.

While there are some parts of our society that haven’t fully bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, bank deposits are not one of them. The amount of bank deposits in the Lawrence metro — which includes all of Douglas County — has grown by more than 47% since 2019, and that is the best growth rate among the five metro areas in the state. Here’s a look at the complete list:

• Kansas City, Kan-Mo.: $88.5 billion in deposits, up 44.3% since 2019;

• Wichita: $21.9 billion, up 37.7%

• Topeka: $5.9 billion, up 9.8%

• Manhattan: $4.1 billion, up 28.5%

• Lawrence: $3.4 billion, up 47.4%

While the growth percentage is clearly good news, some of you may be wondering whether Lawrence is a little light on total deposits compared to other Kansas metro areas. Well, Lawrence does have the smallest population of all the Kansas metro areas. While the city of Lawrence is larger than the city of Manhattan, the Manhattan metro area also includes Junction City and is much larger in geographic size.

But still, when you look at Lawrence’s deposits on a per capita basis, we are closer to the bottom of the list. Here’s a look:

• Kansas City: $37,003 deposits per capita

• Wichita: $33,823

• Manhattan: $31,219

• Lawrence: $28,425

• Topeka: $25,454

As a reminder, the deposits aren’t all held by individuals. The totals also include deposits held by businesses and other entities, thus the size of each metro’s business community is also playing a role in this.

What does it all mean? I would argue the numbers show Lawrence still has room to increase its wealth. There probably isn’t a strong reason why the Manhattan metro should have per capita deposit levels that are about 10% greater than those in Lawrence. But, importantly, the figures show Lawrence has some strong momentum.

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The annual FDIC report also provides a snapshot of which banks are the biggest — as measured by deposits — in each metro area.

In Lawrence, the answer continues to be Topeka-based Capitol Federal Savings, but the question is becoming closer all the time.

As of June 30, Capital Federal had $592 million of deposits in the Lawrence metro. That accounted for 17.3% of all deposits in the metro. In 2019, Capitol Federal had just more than 22% of all deposits in the Lawrence metro.

In 2024, the Lawrence metro area had 22 bank companies operating here. That’s the same number as in 2019, although the list of companies has changed some. The University National Bank of Lawrence no longer exists. It merged with Lawrence-based Great American Bank. But since 2019, De Soto-based TriCentury Bank has entered the market, thus keeping the total list at 22. Here’s a rundown of all 22, with their local deposit totals and their percent of market share. The number in parenthesis at the end is where the bank ranks among the 22 in terms of total deposits held within the entire banking company. This gives you an idea of which banks are large overall, even if they don’t have a lot of deposits in the Lawrence market.

• Capital Federal: $592 million, 17.30% (9)

• US Bank: $492 million, 14.36% (2)

• Bank of America: $491 million, 14.34% (1)

• Intrust Bank: $305 million, 8.9% (8)

• Commerce Bank: $288 million, 8.43% (4)

• Central Bank of the Midwest: $267 million, 7.8% (5)

• Mid-America Bank: $207 million, 6.05% (17)

• Great American Bank: $202 million, 5.91% (16)

• Baldwin State Bank: $93 million, 2.71% (21)

• Kaw Valley State Bank: $68 million, 2% (22)

• Central National Bank: $59 million, 1.73% (13)

• First State Bank and Trust: $55 million, 1.62% (14)

• Sunflower Bank: $54 million, 1.59% (7)

• NBH Bank: $50 million, 1.48% (6)

• Landmark National Bank: $44 million, 1.29% (12)

• UMB Bank: $37 million, 1.11% (3)

• Emprise Bank: $37 million, 1.10% (11)

• The Kansas State Bank: $20 million, 0.59% (19)

• Silver Lake Bank: $18 million, 0.53% (15)

• Mutual Savings Association: $13 million, 0.39% (18)

• TriCentury Bank: $12 million, 0.38% (20)

• RCB Bank: $12 million, 0.37% (10)

That is a list full of numbers, but one stands out to me: Bank of America has made a major move in the Lawrence market since 2019. In 2019, it had $138 million of deposits in the Lawrence metro. In 2024, it had $491 million. Its market share in Lawrence increased from about 6% to more than 14%.

Bank of America is generally regarded as the second largest bank in the U.S.. As we reported earlier this month, the largest bank in the U.S. — Chase — has filed plans to open its first branch in Lawrence. It will be interesting to see what this list looks like five years from now.