Boston Fed · District 1

Bank fees in New England

The NSF median is $0.75 below the national median; overdraft is about the same.

of 423 banks and credit unions have verified fee schedules: 278
fee medians sit within the national middle range: 14 of 14

Data refreshed Nov 2, 2026Get the free district report

Against the U.S.

0 of 14 district medians sit above the U.S. median

Other notable differences from the U.S.

Deposited item return: $10 median, versus $15 nationally ($5 lower, 33%).
Outgoing international wire: $40 median, versus $50 nationally ($10 lower, 20%).
Minimum balance: $5.25 median, versus $6.50 nationally ($1.25 lower, 19%).

Overdraft (OD)

$30

Median of 171 Boston district institutions. U.S. $30.

Boston district institutionsNational middle range

Garnishment/Levy178 institutionsIn Hamilton
Dormant Account174 institutionsIn Hamilton
Money Order170 institutionsIn Hamilton
Check Image/Copy158 institutionsIn Hamilton
Document Reproduction158 institutionsIn Hamilton

Plus 29 more Boston district fees. See them in Hamilton

Method: Findings rank only fees with at least 10 Boston district institutions. Fees with fewer appear in the list, unranked. The national middle range runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile of U.S. institutions.

Banks and credit unions

Credit unions have lower medians on 9 of 14 fees

Each tile is one fee. Pick one to see both medians.

lower at credit unions: 9
lower at banks: 1
about the same: 4

14 fees with both a bank and a credit union median in the Boston district.

Lower at credit unions

Lower at banks

About the same

Fee

Overdraft (OD)

Credit unions $2 lower in the Boston district.

$32

Banks

median of 65

$30

Credit unions

median of 106

One fee with a lower bank median

Deposited Item Return

$7.06

Banks

median of 54

$15

Credit unions

median of 101

Every fee, banks against credit unions

Bank and credit union medians in the Boston district; the lower median is shaded.
Fee	Banks	Credit unions	Difference
Overdraft (OD)	$32	$30	$2
NSF / Returned Item	$30	$28.50	$1.50
Monthly Maintenance	$9	$5	$4
Non-Network ATM	$2	$1	$1
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)	$25	$25	Same
Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)	$45	$40	$5
Stop Payment	$30	$25	$5
Cashier's Check	$5	$5	Same
Debit Card Replacement	$10	$10	Same
Deposited Item Return	$7.06	$15	$7.94
Wire Transfer (Domestic In)	$15	$10	$5
OD Protection Transfer	$5	$5	Same
Paper Statement	$3	$2	$1
Minimum Balance	$11.25	$5	$6.25

State by state

Overdraft medians run from $27 in Vermont to $32 in Rhode Island

Each card shows the same fee on one scale; the short upright line marks the district median. Pick a state for its detail.

Boston district median, $30

Massachusetts

Massachusetts fee report →

Banks 89 · Credit unions 121: 210
With verified fees: 69%
Bank deposit service charges, latest quarter: $56.3M
Credit union fee income, latest quarter: $33.6M
Branches: 2,341
Unemployment, Sep 2026: 4.3%
Median household income: $104K

Massachusetts median Boston district

Overdraft$30 vs $30
NSF$29 vs $29.25
Maintenance$7 vs $6
Out-of-network ATM$1.50 vs $1.50
Outgoing wire$25 vs $25

Compare all six states


71	65%	$32	$30	$6.50	$7.4M	5.1%
210	69%	$30	$29	$7	$56.3M	4.3%
70	64%	$28	$28	$5	$10.3M	3.3%
29	59%	$30	$30	$6.25	$2.5M	2.6%
19	53%	$32	$30	$10	$112.2M	3.6%
24	67%	$27	$25	$4.45	$2.3M	2.6%

Source: Fee medians from verified published fee schedules, one value per institution; a median needs 5 institutions. Fee income from FDIC and NCUA call reports, branches from the FDIC Summary of Deposits and NCUA, unemployment from BLS, income from the Census ACS. Fee medians, institution counts and fee income in each state count only institutions inside the Boston district; unemployment, income and branches cover the whole state.

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Fee income

Bank service charges rose 10.7% in a year

Credit union fee income is a wider measure than bank service charges, so the two charts stay separate and are never added together.

Banks: service charges on deposit accounts

$191.0MQ2 2026

+10.7% from Q2 2025

Credit unions: all fee income

$102.4MQ2 2026

+8.3% from Q2 2025

Source: Banks: service charges on deposit accounts, FDIC call reports. Credit unions: all fee income, NCUA call reports. Credit union year-to-date income is split into quarters; a quarter shows once most institutions have filed.

Who serves the district

The five largest banks hold 39% of bank deposits in the district's six states

423 banks and credit unions, with 4,037 bank branches and 1,247 credit union branches.

Bank of America, National Association16.2% · $159.9B across 279 branches
Citizens Bank, National Association9.0% · $89.1B across 311 branches
TD Bank, National Association5.2% · $50.8B across 261 branches
Webster Bank, National Association4.6% · $45.3B across 118 branches
Santander Bank, N.A.4.3% · $42.3B across 157 branches
Every other bank60.7% · $598.6B

49% of the 161 banks hold $1B to $10B in assets

FDIC asset-size groups

32% of the 262 credit unions hold $100M to $500M in assets

NCUA asset-size groups

Source: Institutions tracked by Fee Insight. Total assets from FDIC and NCUA data, grouped the way each regulator reports them: the FDIC asset-size groups for banks and the NCUA groups for credit unions. Bank deposits from the FDIC Summary of Deposits, 2026, counted for each whole state, even where the district line splits one; credit union branches from NCUA. Leading banks count banks with 10 or more branches here.

Economic context

U.S. prices for bank services rose 1.0% in a year

Bank services prices, 12 months to Sep 2026: +1.0%
U.S. unemployment, Sep 2026: 4.2%

“Economic activity expanded slightly, with mixed results across sectors.”

Federal Reserve Beige Book, Boston district, October 2026 Read it beside your fees in Hamilton

Bank services prices, change over 12 months

Sep 2021 to Sep 2026

Unemployment and income by state

State	Unemployment	Median household income
Connecticut	5.1%	$96K
Massachusetts	4.3%	$104K
Maine	3.3%	$75K
New Hampshire	2.6%	$99K
Rhode Island	3.6%	$88K
Vermont	2.6%	$81K

Source: BLS CPI for checking accounts and other bank services and BLS unemployment; Census ACS 2024 median household income; Federal Reserve Beige Book.

More district data: fee complaints and fee changes

Fee complaints to the CFPB, 2025

Per $1 billion of deposits.

U.S.1.1

5 district institutions are matched to CFPB records, under the 10 a rate needs.

Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, fee-related issues. Only institutions matched to their CFPB company record count, and a rate needs 10 of them.

Where does your institution sit?

Hamilton, the Fee Insight workspace, sets every fee you charge against institutions your size and in your district.

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From 278 Boston district banks and credit unions' own published fee schedules, one value per institution; a median needs at least 5 institutions. Data as of Nov 2, 2026. How we build it

Fee

Banks

Credit unions

Difference

Overdraft (OD)

$32

$30

NSF / Returned Item

$30

$28.50

$1.50

Monthly Maintenance

Non-Network ATM

Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)

$25

Same

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)

$45

$40

Stop Payment

$30

$25

Cashier's Check

Same

Debit Card Replacement

$10

Same

Deposited Item Return

$7.06

$15

$7.94

Wire Transfer (Domestic In)

$15

$10

OD Protection Transfer

Same

Paper Statement

Minimum Balance

$11.25

$6.25

State

$32

210

$30

$28

$30

$32

$27

State

Unemployment

Median household income

Connecticut

5.1%

$96K

Massachusetts

4.3%

$104K

Maine

3.3%

$75K

New Hampshire

2.6%

$99K

Rhode Island

3.6%

$88K

Vermont

2.6%

$81K