2016’s Best & Worst States for Military Retirees

News Release from Wallet Hub, May 30, 2016

Retirement is typically viewed as the end of the line — a time for rest, relaxation and the pursuit of interests long ago put on the back burner. But the narrative is far different for many military retirees.

For starters, the average officer is only 47 years old — 43 for nondisability enlisted personnel —upon retirement from service. All military retirees deal with the trials of reassimilation to civilian life, which have proven especially difficult for some veterans in the wake of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of those who reenter the job market face tough challenges during the transition, and rising numbers of young vets have encountered hardship and homelessness.

As such, military retirement can be a far more complicated issue than one might initially assume, given the extent to which state tax policies differ when it comes to military benefits, the relative friendliness of different job markets to veterans, and a variety of other important socioeconomic factors.

With that in mind, WalletHub’s analysts sought to help ease the burden on our nation’s military community by identifying those among the 50 states and the District of Columbia that are most conducive to a comfortable military retirement. Our data set of 20 key metrics ranges from “number of veterans per capita” to “number of VA health facilities per 10,000 veterans” to “job opportunities for veterans.” Continue reading below for our findings, expert commentary on important questions and a full description of our methodology.

read … 2016’s Best & Worst States for Military Retirees