This Indiana City is One of the Worst Places for Veterans to Live

When veterans leave military service and transition into civilian life, finding a supportive community can make all the difference. Vets want to find a welcoming atmosphere with good employment options, quality health care, and affordable housing – that sounds like something we’re all looking for.

How to Measure a City's Veteran-Friendliness

WalletHub gives veterans some guidance when it comes to finding those cities with its recent report of the Best & Worst Places for Veterans to Live. The report ranks the 100 largest U.S. cities across 19 indicators of veteran-friendliness (employment, economy, quality of life, health).

Indiana's Surprising (and Disappointing) Ranking

As a lifelong (and proud of it) Hoosier, I was really bummed out to see our state capital land near the very bottom of the list. Indianapolis, a city many might assume would be veteran-friendly, is ranked #95, which means it is the 6^th worst place for veterans to live.

The cities are ranked in four main categories, leading to their final placement. This is where we see the areas that Indianapolis can really improve

• Employment ranking: 76^th
• Economy ranking: 56^th
• Quality of Life ranking: 94^th
• Health ranking: 89^th

My next thought became, “Surely there is another Indiana city on this list, and surely it ranks better than Naptown.” Yes, there is another Hoosier city included in the report, and yes, it did rank higher than Indy, but just barely. Fort Wayne was just ten places higher at #85. Dang!

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Check out the FULL REPORT if you want to take a deep dive into the information. For a simpler look at the results, just scroll over the map below.