Oregon Business, June 11, 2024, Banks Keep Shedding Branches + Power List
Bank branches continue to close around the state, leaving many communities in Oregon with fewer options.
Around the country, the nation’s largest banks — Bank of America, US Bank, Capital One, Wells Fargo — are rapidly closing locations. In 2023, 2,454 branches closed, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Since 2009 the number of branches in the U.S. has shrunk by more than one-fifth. This year more than 400 have closed in the U.S. Wells Fargo is moving the fastest, with 88 closure filings so far in 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In May The Oregonian analyzed federal bank data, finding that across the state, 350 branches closed between 2013 and 2023, leaving around 747. Grant and Klamath counties lost the most, around 40% of their branches in that time. Not far behind were Multnomah, Josephine and Lane counties, which lost 39%.
Oregon consistently ranks near the top of states in bank-branch closures, and between 2017 and 2021, the Portland metro area saw the most branch closures of any metro area, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
