(Related: 12 Best U.S. Cities for Military Veterans)
Approximately 20 million military veterans live in the U.S., and some cannot secure a job, a place to live or health care, according to WalletHub.
Although veteran unemployment and homelessness have declined nationally in recent years, WalletHub said, citing government data, the unemployment rate has risen during the pandemic and more than 37,000 veterans were homeless even before the outbreak.
A majority of Americans agree that military families experience more financial stress than the average family.
WalletHub looked for big cities across the country that military personnel reentering civilian life would find livable, affordable and veteran-friendly. It found a good number that offered none of these advantages.
Researchers compared the 100 biggest U.S. cities across the dimensions of employment, economy, quality of life and health, and evaluated these using 20 relevant metrics. They graded each one on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for veterans, and ranked them from 1 to 100 in each category, with No. 1 being the best state in each category.
Finally, they determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the sample.
Check the gallery for the 12 worst cities for military veterans.
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