Study: Chicago One Of The Worst Cities For Veterans
By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 11, 2014 4:45PM
Today is Veterans Day and you’re going to hear and read a bit about thanking veterans for their service. (And from this Navy veteran to all who served, thank you.) But a new study shows an occasional thank you may be all veterans are receiving in Chicago.
Personal finance social network website WalletHub ranked 100 of the most populous cities in the country to determine the best and worst cities for veterans. WalletHub used 19 separate metrics, including percentage of military skill-related jobs, the availability of VA health facilities and rankings of the percentage of veterans living below the poverty line, to determine their list and Chicago ranked only ahead of Newark, New Jersey. While re-employment is a benefit guaranteed to military personnel upon their return to active duty, nearly 722,000 of the estimated 21.3 million veterans in America are unemployed, many of them because of disabilities they suffered while serving. As of June, nearly 300,000 veterans were deprived of emergency jobless compensation.
Here’s where Chicago ranked in some key metrics.
- 48th - % of Military Skill-Related Jobs
- 64th - Rate of Veteran Wage Growth
- 40th - Veteran-Owned Businesses per Veteran Population
- 92nd - % of Veterans Living Below Poverty Line
- 75th - Number of Homeless Veterans per Veteran Population
- 89th - Size of Veteran Population
- 74th - Housing Affordability
- 79th - Cost of Living
Lincoln, Nebraska topped WalletHub's list overall while Laredo, Texas ranked first in economic wellness for veterans. Read the full report here.