Alaska has the highest civilian veteran share among the 52 published areas on the 2023 ACS five-year estimates: 11.0 percent of civilians 18 and over. Virginia is next at 9.6 percent, then Montana at 9.4 percent and Wyoming at 9.2 percent. A typical published area sits at 7.4 percent, the midpoint of those 52 shares, not a national rate. New York is the lowest of the 50 states at 3.9 percent. The District of Columbia is 3.8 percent, and Puerto Rico, which this table also returns, is 2.4 percent. Texas has the largest veteran population, 1,408,009, just ahead of California at 1,355,918 and Florida at 1,347,330. These are ACS estimates of civilians who served on active duty, not a count of people now in uniform.

11.0%Alaskahighest veteran share

7.4%typical published areathe middle of the 52 shares, not an average

3.9%New Yorklowest of the 50 states

2.4%Puerto Ricolowest figure the Census published

1,408,009Texaslargest civilian veteran population

Figure 2

Civilian veterans, all published states

Civilian veterans · all 52 · ranked high to low

Summary

Every area the Census published in this table: 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 52 in all. Texas leads at 1,408,009 civilian veterans, then California at 1,355,918 and Florida at 1,347,330. Pennsylvania is fourth at 656,112. Vermont is the lowest of the 50 states at 34,076. The District of Columbia is 20,481, the smallest figure the Census published. Puerto Rico is 66,253. The ranking is each area's ACS civilian veteran count, not a share.

Table 1

All states

52 rows · 7 columns · sorted by veteran share, high to low

Summary

Civilian veteran counts, the veteran share of civilians 18 and over, and the male and female split for every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on the 2023 ACS five-year estimates. Sort any column or use the filter box to jump to a state by name. The share column is veterans divided by that area's civilian population 18 and over, so those percentages cannot be averaged into a United States figure.

All states
	?	?	?	?	?	?
Alaska	11.0%	58,910	2,202	533,474	50,428	8,482
Virginia	9.6%	637,971	5,935	6,632,763	544,533	93,438
Montana	9.4%	81,663	1,843	866,247	73,968	7,695
Wyoming	9.2%	40,952	1,119	443,975	36,472	4,480
Maine	8.7%	97,871	2,011	1,123,409	89,096	8,775
South Carolina	8.5%	344,530	4,290	4,046,575	305,655	38,875
Nevada	8.3%	201,790	3,025	2,435,141	179,151	22,639
Idaho	8.3%	117,609	2,500	1,424,957	107,071	10,538
Oklahoma	8.2%	247,634	3,573	3,008,618	223,339	24,295
New Mexico	8.2%	133,239	3,007	1,633,534	119,060	14,179
Arizona	8.1%	459,818	4,961	5,648,592	412,686	47,132
Hawaii	8.1%	89,042	2,092	1,094,878	79,346	9,696
Washington	8.1%	486,714	4,612	6,001,697	431,509	55,205
South Dakota	8.1%	54,527	1,452	675,600	49,266	5,261
Alabama	7.9%	310,187	4,910	3,910,346	277,052	33,135
New Hampshire	7.9%	89,294	2,249	1,129,009	81,264	8,030
Delaware	7.8%	61,582	1,968	791,523	55,011	6,571
Colorado	7.7%	348,913	3,930	4,527,209	307,168	41,745
West Virginia	7.7%	109,457	2,616	1,422,521	101,970	7,487
Florida	7.7%	1,347,330	10,604	17,545,499	1,207,222	140,108
Arkansas	7.6%	176,468	2,925	2,320,172	160,737	15,731
North Carolina	7.6%	618,846	6,002	8,153,570	545,148	73,698
Tennessee	7.5%	406,307	4,679	5,408,181	365,809	40,498
Oregon	7.5%	252,530	3,559	3,378,119	230,047	22,483
Missouri	7.4%	354,505	4,081	4,762,197	323,467	31,038
Georgia	7.4%	608,876	6,777	8,221,047	531,371	77,505
North Dakota	7.4%	43,237	1,422	587,263	38,591	4,646
Nebraska	7.2%	105,516	1,797	1,474,673	95,078	10,438
Kansas	7.0%	154,967	2,456	2,212,073	140,889	14,078
Maryland	7.0%	332,655	4,878	4,762,334	285,071	47,584
Mississippi	6.9%	153,838	2,821	2,245,668	137,144	16,694
Ohio	6.8%	626,617	5,437	9,157,684	574,505	52,112
Iowa	6.8%	166,552	2,040	2,456,220	153,576	12,976
Kentucky	6.8%	235,118	3,869	3,473,544	213,235	21,883
Indiana	6.5%	338,153	3,149	5,210,241	310,921	27,232
Vermont	6.5%	34,076	1,086	526,982	31,200	2,876
Wisconsin	6.4%	296,513	3,305	4,614,233	272,710	23,803
Texas	6.4%	1,408,009	11,267	22,039,680	1,238,772	169,237
Pennsylvania	6.4%	656,112	5,751	10,303,342	605,976	50,136
Louisiana	6.2%	217,225	3,492	3,512,458	194,523	22,702
Minnesota	6.1%	267,133	2,994	4,392,465	247,190	19,943
Michigan	6.1%	479,115	4,106	7,891,399	441,189	37,926
Rhode Island	5.3%	47,214	1,530	882,842	43,960	3,254
Illinois	5.0%	493,667	4,919	9,862,933	452,007	41,660
Connecticut	4.9%	140,081	2,445	2,855,941	129,817	10,264
Utah	4.8%	113,093	2,936	2,380,297	103,876	9,217
Massachusetts	4.5%	253,731	3,490	5,618,206	235,358	18,373
California	4.5%	1,355,918	10,743	30,352,355	1,233,285	122,633
New Jersey	4.0%	285,835	4,508	7,224,340	264,636	21,199
New York	3.9%	607,728	6,791	15,737,168	558,698	49,030
District of Columbia	3.8%	20,481	1,162	542,941	17,721	2,760
Puerto Rico	2.4%	66,253	1,830	2,707,589	63,114	3,139

Image files

Download all

Figure 1

Veteran share, US states

DownloadPDF Image CSV

Figure 2

Veteran share, all published states

DownloadPDF Image CSV

Figure 3

Civilian veterans, all published states

DownloadPDF Image CSV

Figure 4

Veteran count against veteran share

DownloadPDF Image CSV

Table 1

All states

DownloadPDF Image CSV

About this data

A civilian veteran is someone 18 or over who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, Reserves or National Guard and is not now on active duty. People currently in uniform are outside this universe.
Veteran share is civilian veterans divided by the civilian population 18 and over in that area. A state share is for that area alone, so these percentages cannot be averaged into a United States veteran rate.
Adding the 52 veteran counts does not produce an official national total. Puerto Rico is included here, and these are ACS period estimates rather than a Department of Veterans Affairs caseload.
The Census published 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. None of the veteran counts were suppressed, and the main margins of error are ordinary sampling errors rather than ACS controlled-estimate sentinels.
Puerto Rico is in the ranking and table. Alaska and Hawaii appear on the ranking; on the map they are shown in inset.
Male and female veteran columns are the ACS sex split of civilian veterans 18 and over in each area.

In short

Veteran share, US states

Veteran share, all published states

Civilian veterans, all published states

Veteran count against veteran share

All states

About this data