BALTIMORE, MD—With May being Military Appreciation Month and Memorial Day approaching, the personal-finance website WalletHub this week released its report on 2025’s Best & Worst States for Military Retirees, along with its Memorial Day Facts infographic.
To help our troops plan their years after service, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 28 key indicators of retirement-friendliness toward veterans. The data set ranges from job opportunities for veterans to housing affordability to the quality of VA hospitals.
Maryland came in at No. 2 on the list, topped only by South Carolina.
Military Retirement in Maryland (1=Best; 25=Avg.):
- Overall Rank: 2nd
- 8th – % of Homeless Veterans
- 10th – Veteran Job Opportunities
- 13th – % of Veteran-Owned Businesses
- 1st – Number of VA Benefits-Administration Facilities per Number of Veterans
- 19th – Quality of VA Hospitals
Memorial Day Facts
- 100 – Members of the 119th Congress have served in the U.S. military, only the 5th time in the last 50 years with an increase at all in the total veterans elected.
- 100M+ – Households worldwide will watch the National Memorial Day parade broadcast on TV.
- 3.6M – People are expected to travel by plane over Memorial Day weekend (up 2% over 2024).
- 818 – Number of hot dogs consumed every second from Memorial Day to Labor Day (seven billion total).
- 20 to 85 Percent Off – Discount shoppers can expect during Memorial Day weekend sales.
“Transitioning from military to civilian life isn’t easy, but the best states for military retirees make that adjustment as smooth as possible,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “In addition to providing the conditions necessary for our veterans to thrive financially, they also have ample resources for taking care of military retirees’ physical and mental health.”
“South Carolina is the best state for military retirees, in part because it has many policies in place to help veterans,” Lupo added. “The state allows businesses to give preferential hiring to veterans, offers academic credit for military service, and has veteran treatment courts, which give services like treatment and mentoring to veterans in the criminal justice system. South Carolina doesn’t tax military pensions, either. In addition, the Palmetto State has the third-best VA hospitals in the country, and the second-most veteran-owned businesses per capita.”
The full report can be viewed online here at WalletHub.
More in the video below.
Photo via Pixabay
Do you value local journalism? Support NottinghamMD.com today.
