Exhibit 99.1     Press Release




PRESS RELEASE
May 24, 2001           For further information contact:
                                David M. Bradley
                                Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer
                                North Central Bancshares, Inc.
                                825 Central Avenue
                                Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501
                                515-576-7531


                NORTH CENTRAL BANCSHARES, INC. DECLARES DIVIDEND

David M. Bradley, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of North
Central Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company") announced today that the Company
declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share on the Company's
common stock for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2001. The dividend will be
payable to all stockholders of record as of June 15, 2001 and will be paid on
July 6, 2001.

Recently, the Company commenced a new stock repurchase program for 100,000
shares, of which 67,100 shares remain to be repurchased. The Company has
1,838,480 shares of common stock currently outstanding.

North Central Bancshares, Inc. serves north central and southeastern Iowa at 8
full service locations in Fort Dodge, Nevada, Ames, Burlington, Mount Pleasant
and Perry, Iowa through its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Federal Savings Bank
of Iowa, headquartered in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The Bank's deposits are insured by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Company's stock is traded on The
Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "FFFD".