WalletHub ranked Maryland the seventh best state in the country for military retirees. The number one state on the list is Virginia.
WalletHub, a company that offers free credit score reports and provides financial advising services, ranked the states based on a variety of criteria, including job and economic opportunities for veterans, quality of life, and medical services available to veterans.
The top ten states in the country for military retirees include Virginia (#1), South Carolina (#2), Florida (#3), South Dakota (#4), Alaska (#5), Alabama (#6), Maryland (#7), Wyoming (#8), Missouri (#9), and New Hampshire (#10).
Job and economic opportunities criteria looks at the share of veteran-owned businesses, how the state taxes a veteran’s military pension, job opportunities for veterans and whether the state supports private businesses that give veteran’s hiring preference. Maryland ranked 25th in the country in this category alone.
Quality of life criteria examines the share of veterans who do not receive food assistance, the share of veterans experiencing homelessness, quality of public university system, and the number of arts, entertainment and recreation opportunities available to veterans. Maryland ranked first in this category alone.
Medical services criteria scores veteran suicide rate, availability of veteran-treatment courts, availability of mental health counsellors, number of Veteran Administration health facilities, and the quality of Veteran Administration hospitals. Maryland ranked 28th in this category alone.
Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Military Officers Association of America, Military OneSource, USAspending.gov, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Conference of State Legislatures, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Council for Community and Economic Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Indeed and WalletHub research.
For more information on WalletHub’s study, click here.
