Banks are rated by people at Moody's and S&P. You can check the rating for considered institutions and go with the best one.
There is also Bank Rate's rating:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/safesound/ss_home.asp I don't know if Bank Rate's rating is just a gimmic or a solid assesment (never heard of it) but Moody's and S&P data is what you should be looking at.