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Top 10 Cities for Veterans To Live In 2023

Lawnstarter’s report 2023’s Best Cities for Veterans, which ranked the 200 largest U.S. cities by the quality of life of veterans, based on a weighted index of 38 metrics grouped into nine categories: community, support, medical health care, mental health care, housing, education and training, employment and volunteering, affordability, and safety.

1. Providence, RI

2. Salt Lake City, UT

3. Miami, FL

4. St. Louis, MO

5. Syracuse, NY

6. Des Moines, IA

7. Tampa, FL

8. Atlanta, GA

9. Dayton, OH

10. Washington, D.C.

Top 10 Cities for Veterans to Live in 2020

Veterans United Home Loans created a list of Veteran-friendly cities to help our nation’s military community find a place to call home with the help of a zero down VA home loan.

In order to determine the best cities for veterans, Veterans United compared the 100 most populated U.S. cities based on 21 key indicators of academic, social and economic opportunities for veterans.

Due to the pandemic this year Veterans United Home Loans integrated a COVID-19 data set to their Quality of Life dimension. Data sets range from the cost of living to the quality of higher education to the number of reported COVID-19 cases for a particular area.

Let’s take a closer look at the cities that topped the list for best cities for veterans and military families. Here are the cites that made it to the top of the list for 2020.

No. 1 - Chesapeake, VA

No. 2 - Colorado Springs, CO

No. 3 - Fort Wayne, IN

No. 4 - Raleigh, NC

No. 5 - Lincoln, NE

No. 6 - Durham, NC

No. 7 - El Paso, TX

No. 8 - Boise City, ID

No. 9 - Kansas City, MO

No. 10 - Virginia Beach, VA

2018

In October 2018, economic analysts with Veterans United compared the 100 biggest cities in the United States among four major categories: economic wellness, employment, veteran quality of life and availability of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. Then they compared the strength of those categories in each city and gave each city a score and rank.

The algorithms developed by the analysts showed cities with the lowest scores were the best for veterans and their family members to live in. Here are the results:

The Top 10 Best Cities for Veterans To Live In

1. San Antonio, Texas

Population: 1,511,946. Founded: May 1, 1718. Mayor: Ronald Nirenberg

2. Lincoln, Nebraska

Population: 258,379. Founded: July 29, 1867. Mayor: Chris Beutler

3. Arlington, Texas

Population: 365,438. Founded: 1876. Mayor: Jeff Williams.

4. Raleigh, North Carolina

Population: 464,758. Founded: December 31, 1792. Mayor: Nancy McFarlane.

5. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Population: 643,648. Founded: April 22, 1889. Mayor: David Holt.

6. Colorado Springs, Colorado

Population: 465,101. Founded: June 19, 1871. Mayor: John Suthers.

7. Boise, Idaho

Population: 226,570. Founded: 1863. Mayor: David Bieter

8. Jacksonville, Florida

Population: 892,062. Founded: 1822. Mayor: Lenny Curry.

9. Fort Worth, Texas

Population: 874,168. Founded: 1873. Mayor: Betsy Price.

10. Columbus, Ohio

Population: 879,170. Founded: February 14, 1812. Mayor: Andrew J. Ginther.