Best States for Veterans

There are approximately 17.6 million veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces living in the United States in 2025. The sacrifices these men and women have made for our country are what give us both freedom and safety. Although benefits for veterans are available nationwide, there are still some states that are better for veterans than others.

To highlight the states that care the most about veterans and the ones that need to improve the most, SmileHub compared each of the 50 states using 21 key metrics. The data set ranges from the number of veterans charities per capita to the share of veteran-owned businesses to the share of homeless veterans.

In addition, if you want to support causes helping our veterans but don’t know where to donate, check out our picks for the Best Charities for Veterans in 2025.

• Main Findings
• Methodology

Main Findings

Most Veteran-Friendly States

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Veterans Community Support Rank	Veterans Health & Wellness Rank	Veterans Employment & Finances Rank
1	Virginia	66.90	1	18	2
2	Florida	64.96	3	2	12
3	Texas	62.98	10	3	6
4	South Carolina	61.88	8	14	1
5	Maryland	60.30	17	5	8
6	Alabama	59.08	15	16	3
7	North Carolina	58.60	6	10	15
8	Illinois	58.33	4	24	11
9	Oklahoma	57.55	29	4	14
10	Pennsylvania	57.32	5	19	16
11	Arkansas	55.68	19	25	4
12	Louisiana	54.34	23	23	7
13	Hawaii	52.34	30	7	31
14	Wyoming	52.05	27	9	23
15	Kentucky	52.01	2	26	34
16	Maine	51.39	26	17	20
17	Tennessee	51.35	12	34	19
18	Alaska	50.89	18	13	24
19	West Virginia	50.65	43	21	10
20	Nebraska	49.97	33	27	17
21	California	49.70	25	1	50
22	Ohio	49.61	13	28	28
23	Michigan	49.47	22	31	18
24	New Hampshire	49.10	44	33	5
25	Georgia	48.22	28	22	29
26	South Dakota	48.12	24	20	36
27	Mississippi	48.10	31	42	13
28	Iowa	48.07	14	50	9
29	Kansas	47.73	7	32	40
30	New York	47.02	16	6	49
31	Indiana	46.78	11	45	27
32	Massachusetts	46.42	40	11	32
33	Missouri	46.21	21	15	42
34	New Jersey	45.38	38	30	22
35	Colorado	44.57	41	8	43
36	Arizona	44.45	37	29	30
37	Wisconsin	43.48	9	43	44
38	Minnesota	43.46	34	35	37
39	North Dakota	43.24	47	36	21
40	Montana	42.04	48	12	41
41	Utah	41.52	42	37	26
42	New Mexico	40.93	45	39	25
43	Oregon	40.50	36	38	38
44	Washington	39.98	32	49	39
45	Rhode Island	39.52	39	48	33
46	Vermont	37.60	20	40	47
47	Nevada	37.09	49	46	35
48	Delaware	35.60	35	41	48
49	Idaho	34.63	46	47	45
50	Connecticut	31.27	50	44	46

Notes: *1 = Best

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.

 

Methodology

In order to determine the states that care the most about veterans, SmileHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Veterans Community Support, 2) Veterans Health & Wellness and 3) Veterans Employment & Finances.

We evaluated those dimensions using 21 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of veteran-friendliness. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), the square root of the population was used to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for population differences across states.

We then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.

Veterans Community Support – Total Points: 30

• Share of Veterans: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Educational Opportunities for Veterans: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges for Veterans” ranking.

• Veterans Charities per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Veteran Cemeteries per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Military Museums per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Share of Homeless Veterans: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

Veterans Health & Wellness – Total Points: 40

• Share of VA Benefits-Administration Facilities per Veteran Population: Double Weight (~7.27 Points)

• Number of VA Health Facilities per Veteran Population: Double Weight (~7.27 Points)

• Total VA Expenditure per Veteran Population: Double Weight (~7.27 Points)

• Number of Veteran Treatment Courts per Veteran Population*: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)

• Number of Veterans Homes per Veteran Population*: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)

• Mental Health Counselors per Capita: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)

• Physicians per Capita: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)

• Veteran Suicide Rate: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)

Veterans Employment & Finances – Total Points: 30

• Share of Veteran-Owned Businesses: Double Weight (~6.00 Points)

• State Authorization for Veteran's Preference in Private Hiring: Full Weight (~3.00 Points)

• Veteran Unemployment Rate: Full Weight (~3.00 Points)

• Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exemptions: Double Weight (~6.00 Points)
  Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of full property tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans.
  • 1 – State with full property tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans;
  • 0 – State with no full property tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans.

• State Tax on Military Pension: Double Weight (~6.00 Points)
  Note: This is a binary metric:
  • 0 – Exempt;
  • 0.5 – Partially exempt;
  • 1 – No exemption.

• Presence of State Help for Returning Veterans: Full Weight (~3.00 Points)
  Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of veteran transition programs & commissions in a state, as follows:
  • 1 – State has veteran transition assistance programs and commissions;
  • 0 - State doesn’t have veteran transition programs and commissions.

• Cost of Living: Full Weight (~3.00 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on The Council for Community and Economic Research’s 2024 annual Cost of Living Index.

 
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. News & World Report, Internal Revenue Service, Veteran Voices Military Research, Office of Policy Development and Research, National Drug Court Resource Center, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Conference of State Legislatures, Council for Community and Economic Research, Military Officers Association of America and VA Claims Insider.