Stand up and salute
Our country owes a lot to its veterans. The military is an important part of our freedoms. And sadly, we haven’t always made it easy for the people who serve to re-enter society once they complete their duty. Fortunately, that is changing. WalletHub, a company offering free credit reports and scores, as well as financial information, crunched the data on the best and worst places for veterans to live. Overall, Texas is very supportive of veterans.
The survey looks at 21 different factors for veteran-friendliness, including health, homelessness, military skill-related jobs and quality of life. Let’s take a look at some of the information from their survey.
Best places for veterans
According to the survey, these are the top ten cities where veterans have the greatest opportunities:
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Laredo, TX
- Irvine, CA
- Plano, TX
- Austin, TX
- El Paso, TX
- Colorado Springs, CO
- San Diego, CA
- Tampa, FL
- Orlando, FL.
San Antonio, Arlington, Lubbock, Fort Worth, and Dallas all made it into the top 31 cities. Oklahoma City and Tulsa are also good locations for veterans. Plano and Arlington have the lowest veteran unemployment rates, along with Anchorage, AK, Honolulu, HI, Lincoln, NE, and Tampa. Plano and Garland had the lowest percentage of veterans living in poverty. The cities with the highest veteran populations are Virginia Beach, VA, Colorado Springs, CO, Norfolk, VA, and Chesapeake, VA.
The worst places for veterans
The lowest ranking cities, starting with number 100 and going down are:
- Detroit, MI
- Newark, NJ
- Cleveland, OH
- Memphis, TN
- Boston, MA
- Jersey, City, NJ
- Cincinnati, OH
- Baltimore, MD
- Chicago, IL
- Fort Wayne, IN
Cities with the highest unemployment rates for veterans included Detroit, Memphis, Bakersfield, CA, Santa Ana, CA, St. Paul, MN and Cincinnati. Detroit and Hialeah, FL had the highest rates of veterans living in poverty, and Hialeah also had the lowest number of veterans.
Gone to Texas
As a whole, Texas takes care of those who served, but other places haven’t caught up. If you or someone you know is considering leaving the military, tell them that they’ll have a lot of opportunities in our great state.
#Veterans
Dawn Brotherton is a Sr. Staff Writer at The American Genius with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is an experienced business writer with over 10 years of experience in SEO and content creation. Since 2017, she has earned $60K+ in grant writing for a local community center, which assists disadvantaged adults in the area.
