The biggest banks in the United States continue to get bigger every year. But just how big they've gotten depends on how you measure size. For this ranking, the Motley Fool uses the amount of capital on their balance sheets.

Traditionally, bank size is measured by the value of assets on bank balance sheets. This is why so many authors often refer to the, say, 10 biggest banks by assets. Using this measure, JPMorgan Chase is #1, with $2.5 trillion worth of assets on its balance sheet; and it’s followed by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, whose respective assets range from $1.8 trillion (Citigroup) to $2.2 trillion (Bank of America). But using assets to measure a bank's size can be misleading. This is because banks are highly leveraged companies. That is, they borrow a lot of money - indeed, pound for pound more than any another industry.

That said, here are the 10 biggest bank stocks by capital:

Bank of America  -  $270,083 (Million in Capital)

JPMorgan Chase  -  $254,331

Citigroup               -  $231,575

Wells Fargo          -  $203,028

Capital One          -  $48,213

U.S. Bancorp        -  $47,759

PNC Fincl Svcs      -  $45,707

BNY Mellon           -  $39,695

BB&T                      -  $30,052

SunTrust Banks    -  $24,449