Community Corner

More Facts about Veterans You May Not Know

From where veterans reside to how many are disabled, the U.S Census Bureau provides a data-driven look at today's holiday.

Veterans Day is Friday, Nov. 11, and with that, the U.S. Census Bureau compiled a list of stats that offer a glimpse into aspects of veterans’ lives.

Home States

Three states with 1 million or more veterans in 2010.

  • California (2 million)
  • Florida (1.6 million)
  • Texas (1.6 million)

14.1 percent of people 18 and older in Alaska were veterans in 2010.

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The percent of the 18 and older population were veterans was 12 percent or more in Maine, Montana, Virginia and Wyoming. 

Education

  • 26 percent of veterans 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree in 2010.
  • In comparison, 28 percent of the total population had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
  • 92 percent of veterans 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher in 2010, compared with 86 percent of the population as a whole.

Income

  • $35,367 annual median income of veterans, in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars, compared with
  • $25,605 for the population as a whole.

Employment

  • 9.6 million veterans 18 to 64 in the labor force in 2010.

Disabilities

  • 26 percent of veterans for whom poverty status is determined with a disability in 2010.
  • 3.4 million veterans with a service-connected disability rating.
  • Of this number, 698,000 have a rating of 70 percent or higher. 

Severity of one’s disability is scaled from 0 to 100 percent and eligibility for compensation depends on one’s rating.

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Source: 2010 American Community Survey

Voting

  • 15.8 million veterans voted in the 2008 presidential election, or 71 percent of veterans cast a ballot in the election.

Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2008

  • 12.4 million veterans voted in the 2010 congressional election, or 51 percent of veterans voted in this election.

Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2010

Business Owners

  • Nine percent of all U.S. nonfarm firms that are majority owned by veterans.
  • Veteran-owned firms comprised an estimated 2.4 million of the 27.1 million nonfarm businesses nationwide in 2007.
  • 75 percent of veteran owners of respondent firms were 55 or older in 2007. This compares with 37 percent of all owners of respondent firms.
  • Similarly, in 2007, 56 percent of veteran-owned respondent firms with employees reported that their businesses were originally established before 1990. This compares with 39 percent of all employer respondent firms.
  • Eight percent of veteran owners of respondent firms who were disabled as the result of injury incurred or aggravated during active military service.

Source: Survey of Business Owners: 2007


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