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                              North Valley Bancorp


North Valley Bancorp Ranked 15th in U.S. Banker's Top 200 Community Banks
Nationwide


July 12, 2005 - REDDING, CA - U.S. Banker magazine's July 2005 edition has
ranked North Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ: NOVB) 15th in their "Top 200 Publicly
Traded Community Banks" list. U.S. Banker's annual performance ranking lists the
top 200 banks and thrifts with assets under one billion dollars and ranks them
based on each company's three-year average rate of return on equity. North
Valley Bancorp was recognized by producing an average return on equity to
shareholders of 16.8% over the past three year period.

North Valley Bancorp is a multi-bank holding company headquartered in Redding,
California. North Valley Bank ("NVB") operates twenty commercial banking offices
in Shasta, Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino and Trinity Counties in Northern
California including two in-store supermarket branches and two Business Banking
Centers. NVB Business Bank operates five commercial banking offices in Yolo,
Solano, Sonoma, Placer and Mendocino Counties in Northern California. North
Valley Bancorp, through its subsidiary banks, offers a wide range of consumer
and business banking deposit products and services including internet banking
and cash management services. In addition to these depository services, North
Valley Bank and NVB Business Bank engage in a full complement of lending
activities including consumer, commercial and real estate loans. NVB has SBA
Preferred Lender status and provides investment services to its customers
through an affiliated relationship. Visit the Company's website address at
www.novb.com.

Cautionary Statement: This release contains certain forward-looking statements
that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those stated herein. Management's assumptions and
projections are based on their anticipation of future events and actual
performance may differ materially from those projected. Risks and uncertainties
which could impact future financial performance include, among others, (a)
competitive pressures in the banking industry; (b) changes in the interest rate
environment; (c) general economic conditions, either nationally or regionally or
locally, including fluctuations in real estate values; (d) changes in the
regulatory environment; (e) changes in business conditions or the securities
markets and inflation; (f) possible shortages of gas and electricity at utility
companies operating in the State of California, and (g) the effects of
terrorism, including the events of September 11, 2001, and thereafter, and the
conduct of war on terrorism by the United States and its allies. Therefore, the
information set forth herein, together with other information contained in the
periodic reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, should be carefully considered when evaluating the business
prospects of the Company. North Valley Bancorp undertakes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statements contained in this release.

For further information contact:
Michael J. Cushman
President & Chief Executive Officer
(530) 226-2900    Fax: (530) 221-4877