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Posted on 05/23/2015 3:16:27 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A newly released analysis ranks “2015’s Best and Worst States for Military Retirees” based on a state’s ability to support retired veterans. WalletHub looked at 20 key factors when determining the rankings.
The three major categories in the ranking included economic environment, quality of life and healthcare. However, WalletHub took other factors into consideration as well, such as job opportunities, housing prices, veteran-owned businesses and veteran homelessness.
Top 5 States for Military Retirees:
1. Wyoming
2. Montana
3. South Dakota
4. Maine
5. Florida
Bottom 5 States for Military Retirees:
51. Indiana
40. Rhode Island
49. District of Columbia
48. Utah
47. New York
WalletHub’s survey of “Best and Worst States for Military Retirees” includes the rankings for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Ranked as the No. 1 state in the country for retired military, Wyoming’s numbers show it placed fourth in economic environment and healthcare, and seventh in the quality of life category.
In contrast, Wyoming’s lowest ranking counterpart, Indiana, ranked 38th in economic environment, 50th in quality of life and 42nd in healthcare.
The top and bottom five ranking states appear multiple times in WalletHub’s comparisons.
Ranked second and third for “most veterans per 100 inhabitants” are Montana and Maine, while Utah, the District of Columbia and New York rank 47th, 50th and 51st for “fewest veterans per 100 inhabitants.” Alaska ranked first in the “most veterans per 100 inhabitants” category.
In the category “most Veteran Affairs facilities per 10,000 veterans,” New York ranks first, Wyoming third and Florida fifth. Ranked 49th and 51st for “fewest VA facilities per 10,000 veterans” is the District of Columbia and Rhode Island.
WalletHub included a category titled “percentage of homeless veterans per number of veterans” in which Maine ranked fifth with the lowest percentage, and the District of Columbia ranked 51st with the highest percentage. The District of Columbia ranked 17 times higher in veteran homelessness than Virginia, which has the lowest percentage of homeless vets.
The District of Columbia ranked fourth out of 51 for “most job opportunities for veterans,” while none of the overall top or bottom five states appear in the “fewest job opportunities for veterans” category. The states with the fewest job opportunities include Nevada, California, Georgia, New Jersey and Maryland.
Similarly, none of the overall top or bottom five states appear in the “most affordable housing” category. The list of top five states for most affordable housing consists of Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Kansas and Texas. The rankings for the “least affordable housing” category includes Massachusetts in 47th, New Jersey in 48th, California in 49th, Hawaii in 50th and the District of Columbia in 51st.
The final category included in WalletHub’s survey is titled “number of veteran-owned businesses per 1,000 inhabitants.” Ranked in the most veteran-owned businesses category: Montana and Maine come in first and second, and Rhode Island placed fifth. In the “fewest veteran-owned businesses” category, New York ranked 47th, the District of Columbia ranked 48th, and Utah ranked 51st.
Pretty easy list.
Stay out out of democrat controlled, public union goon dominated states...
Dunno about how they ranked this. Hawaii ranks ahead of Iowa and just behind New Mexico? Maybe lots of military that were stationed here figured out the way to afford to live here affordably during that time and decide to stay?
**In the category “most Veteran Affairs facilities per 10,000 veterans,” New York ranks first, Wyoming third and Florida fifth. Ranked 49th and 51st for “fewest VA facilities per 10,000 veterans” is the District of Columbia and Rhode Island.**
Not sure this is a valid metric, as most retirees get their health care at a base hospital or some variation of Tricare, not from the VA.
There are a lot of retired military here in NW Florida.
Despite a lot of them being Yankees they seem to fit right in.
Where did you go to High School?
Walton High School, DeFuniak Springs.
Concur with that. Should be based on tax breaks for military retirement, cost of living, medical costs, and capacity of military healthcare.
**There is some overlap, of course.**
Clearly.
I am a retiree and was just judged 70%.
Will go to the VA? Eventually, for something. But my day to day will be on base.
yeah, aka GI bill and free Hawai BAH.
seen some changes there I tend to guess??
Maybe a year ago, I found a picture post card which was sent to my Grandmother over a hundred years ago. She was just a teenager.
It was of circle drive in DeFuniak Springs. I immediately recognized the spot tho it has changed a bit. The post card was in color! The original photo had been hand colored I was told.
Maine’s conservative governor Paul LePage has made it a point to draw more military retirees to this state. He is also doing his best to get rid of the state income tax. By most accounts, the VA hospital(Togus) is a good one, as they go. Cold and snowy winters, but it tends to keep out(some) of the riff-raff.
Mrs. AV
I retired last October and am 50% disabled. Moved to Eagle River, Alaska. I love everything about Alaska, and the VA here is super nice.
California is listed 24th. I call BS. With high housing costs and some of the highest taxes in the nation, there is NO WAY that California could possibly be in the middle of the states for best place for military retirees. No way.
In Columbus, GA, next to Ft. Benning, numerous places give discounts to all military, active or retired. Nice city.
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