12 Best Cities for Veterans: 2022

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The more than 18.5 million veterans who currently reside in the U.S., according to the Veterans Association, often have difficulty reentering civilian life, some unable to secure jobs, shelter or health care. 

A new report from WalletHub, a personal finance website, notes that the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the veteran unemployment rate at just 2.7%, compared with 3.4% for the overall population. That’s the good news. The bad news is that homelessness remains a major problem.

Even before the pandemic broke out and inflation took to the skies, some 37,000 veterans were without a place to live, the report said, citing Department of Veterans Affairs data.

Some cities offer veterans better conditions in which to settle down than others, WalletHub found in a study of the 100 biggest cities in the U.S., excluding surrounding cities in the metro area. Researchers compared the cities across the key dimensions of employment, economy, quality of life and health.

They graded each metric on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for veterans. Finally, they determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score.

See the gallery for the 12 most affordable, livable and veteran-friendly cities.

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