Veterans Day is focusing attention on the 17.9 million who served to protect America’s freedoms, and a new study of the best cities for them to retire shows none are in Michigan.
The personal finance website WalletHub on Thursday examined the 100 largest U.S. cities across 19 key indicators of livability, affordability and veteran-friendliness to determine the “Best & Worst Places for Veterans to Live” in 2024.
“When veterans return home from serving our nation, it’s important for them to live in a place that provides good education and employment opportunities, along with access to quality care for their physical and mental health,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
“The best cities for veterans have all these characteristics, plus added bonuses like large veteran populations for community support, plus many restaurants and entertainment venues that offer veteran discounts.”
The data reveals those cities are not in Michigan, which led the nation in veteran unemployment during the pandemic at 11.3% in 2020.
Detroit was the only Michigan city on the list, and it came in at 99th out of 100, just ahead of last place Newark, NJ.
The findings included the overall ranking, as well as rankings for employment, economy, quality of life, and health. Detroit did not do well in any of them.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
The Motor City ranked 96th for employment, and 88th for economy, while it was next to last ahead of Newark for quality of life. Detroit’s best ranking came from the health category, where the city was ranked 82nd out of 100.
A look at individual metrics incorporated into the rankings reveals why Detroit came in next to last.
Detroit tied with Baton Rouge and Newark for the highest veteran unemployment rate among the 100 cities examined, but it beat out those cities and all others to claim the most veterans in poverty.
Michigan ranks 12th out of 53 states and territories in veteran population with 530,586, according to the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency’s 2023 Annual Report.
A separate MVAA report on veteran homelessness in Michigan in 2023 shows “84% of veterans have spent time on the streets, (in emergency shelters), or (safe havens) in the past 3 years,” including nearly all for more than a month.
That’s due in part, according to the report, to policy decisions made in Lansing, where Democrats have held a government trifecta for the last two years.
“The report highlights the disproportionate representation of certain demographics among homeless veterans, such as older adults and those with disabilities,” the report read. “It also identifies systemic barriers, including eligibility criteria for housing programs and funding disbursement policies that hinder efforts to provide adequate support to this vulnerable population.”
Of course, the struggles of veterans in Michigan are also tied directly to broader economic and political considerations that are making life increasingly difficult and frustrating for many residents.
Since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took office in 2019, about 200,000 more Michiganders are struggling to afford a survival budget that covers basics like food, shelter, transportation, child care, and other necessitates, despite most working full time.
A total of 41% of Michigan residents are now struggling to get by, up from 38% in 2019, though that figure is more than half in 11 counties and nearly 80% in many cities. In Detroit, it’s 69%, according to a United for ALICE report.
That reality is reflected in other reports that have labeled Michiganders the “most financially distressed people in the country” and ranked the state’s quality of life 47th out of 50 states.