With May being Military Appreciation Month and the U.S. planning to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan this year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Best & Worst States for Military Retirees.
To help our troops plan their years after service, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 30 key indicators of retirement-friendliness toward veterans. The data set ranges from job opportunities for veterans to housing affordability to quality of VA hospitals.
South Carolina was ranked one of the best states in America for veterans, coming in at #2 overall. North Carolina didn’t fair nearly as well, but still cracked the top 50%, coming in at #23 overall.
Best States for Military Retirees
Overall Rank | State | Total Score | Economic Environment | Quality of Life | Health Care |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Virginia | 61.05 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
2 | South Carolina | 59.88 | 14 | 2 | 16 |
3 | Florida | 59.87 | 15 | 4 | 13 |
4 | South Dakota | 59.79 | 3 | 24 | 4 |
5 | Alaska | 58.27 | 1 | 7 | 33 |
6 | Alabama | 57.18 | 2 | 17 | 22 |
7 | Maryland | 57.02 | 25 | 1 | 28 |
8 | Wyoming | 55.88 | 7 | 3 | 48 |
9 | Missouri | 55.68 | 16 | 15 | 11 |
10 | New Hampshire | 55.42 | 13 | 10 | 29 |
11 | Kansas | 54.47 | 22 | 20 | 9 |
12 | Idaho | 54.44 | 20 | 14 | 15 |
13 | Minnesota | 54.38 | 21 | 36 | 5 |
14 | Montana | 54.37 | 19 | 13 | 19 |
15 | Arkansas | 54.21 | 9 | 30 | 21 |
16 | Oklahoma | 54.08 | 18 | 6 | 36 |
17 | West Virginia | 53.85 | 4 | 39 | 20 |
18 | North Dakota | 53.60 | 12 | 29 | 27 |
19 | Georgia | 53.18 | 8 | 19 | 34 |
20 | Wisconsin | 52.87 | 29 | 28 | 8 |
21 | Texas | 52.71 | 11 | 37 | 24 |
22 | Connecticut | 52.26 | 42 | 27 | 1 |
23 | North Carolina | 51.86 | 27 | 12 | 26 |
24 | Pennsylvania | 50.63 | 38 | 40 | 2 |
25 | Maine | 50.37 | 17 | 23 | 44 |
26 | Arizona | 49.95 | 36 | 8 | 37 |
27 | Louisiana | 49.92 | 34 | 25 | 23 |
28 | Massachusetts | 49.48 | 23 | 50 | 6 |
29 | Utah | 49.37 | 10 | 31 | 50 |
30 | Kentucky | 49.22 | 26 | 38 | 25 |
31 | Nebraska | 48.70 | 28 | 21 | 40 |
32 | New Jersey | 48.59 | 45 | 16 | 17 |
33 | New Mexico | 48.41 | 31 | 26 | 35 |
34 | Tennessee | 48.29 | 6 | 47 | 41 |
35 | Mississippi | 47.46 | 24 | 33 | 47 |
36 | Delaware | 47.30 | 44 | 11 | 38 |
37 | Illinois | 47.07 | 37 | 43 | 18 |
38 | Ohio | 46.90 | 46 | 41 | 7 |
39 | California | 46.65 | 50 | 9 | 10 |
40 | Colorado | 46.21 | 33 | 22 | 49 |
41 | Iowa | 46.16 | 43 | 35 | 30 |
42 | Hawaii | 45.28 | 47 | 18 | 31 |
43 | Indiana | 44.32 | 39 | 42 | 32 |
44 | New York | 44.32 | 49 | 48 | 3 |
45 | Michigan | 43.32 | 48 | 44 | 14 |
46 | Washington | 43.29 | 32 | 34 | 51 |
47 | Rhode Island | 42.67 | 41 | 45 | 42 |
48 | Nevada | 41.53 | 40 | 46 | 45 |
49 | District of Columbia | 41.27 | 35 | 49 | 43 |
50 | Vermont | 38.42 | 51 | 32 | 39 |
51 | Oregon | 37.82 | 30 | 51 | 46 |
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.