Maryland ranks fifth in services and benefits for military retirees, while Pennsylvania ranks 24th, according to a recent survey by the financial services company WalletHub. Readers may review the organization’s full report at https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-military-retirees/3915.
Methodology
In order to determine the best and worst states for military retirement, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Economic Environment, 2) Quality of Life and 3) Health Care.
Analysts evaluated those dimensions using 28 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for military retirees. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), they measured the “number of veterans” by the square root of the veteran population in order to avoid overcompensating for small differences among states, considering Veterans Administration (VA) facilities have not increased proportionally with the number of veterans.
They then determined each state and the district’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Economic environment – total points: 33.33
- State tax on military pension: Quadruple Weight (~6.35 Points)
- Tax-friendliness: Double Weight (~3.17 Points)
Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “Tax Rates by State” report. - Share of veteran-owned businesses: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
- Dollars in defense department contracts per capita: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
- Job opportunities for veterans: Triple Weight (~4.76 Points)
- State authorization for veterans’ preference in private hiring: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of a state statute authorizing private employers to implement a veteran-employment preference without vulnerability to claims of discrimination. - Job growth (2024 vs. 2023): Double Weight (~3.17 Points)
- Military bases & installations per 100,000 veterans: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
- Total VA expenditure per number of veterans: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
- Presence of state help for returning veterans: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of veteran transition programs & commissions in a state. - Presence of academic credit for military service: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of state legislation recognizing the varied skills and knowledge veterans acquire by counting it toward college credit. - Housing affordability: Double Weight (~3.17 Points)
- Cost-of-living Index: Full Weight (~1.59 Points)
Quality of life – total points: 33.33
- Share of veterans: Full Weight (~3.17 Points)
- Share of veterans not receiving SNAP: Full Weight (~3.17 Points)
- Share of VA Benefits-Administration facilities per number of veterans*: Double Weight (~6.35 Points)
- Quality of public university system: Full Weight (~3.17 Points)
Note: This metric is based on WalletHub “College & University Rankings.” - Arts, entertainment & recreation establishments per capita: Half Weight (~1.59 Points)
- Share of population aged 40 & older: Full Weight (~3.17 Points)
- Share of homeless veterans: Double Weight (~6.35 Points)
- Idealness of weather: Double Weight (~6.35 Points)
Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “Cities with the Best & Worst Weather” ranking.
Health care – total points: 33.33
- Number of VA health facilities per number of veterans*: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Federal, state, local & private hospitals per capita: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Quality of VA hospitals: Triple Weight (~11.11 Points)
Note: This metric includes VA hospital performance star rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ “Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning” (SAIL) performance improvement tool. - Physicians per capita: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Mental health counselors per capita: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Veteran suicide rate: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Presence of veteran-treatment courts: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of veteran-treatment courts, programs that provide treatment and mentoring services to veterans with mental-health and substance-abuse problems in order to keep them out of the criminal justice system and help stabilize their lives.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of April 20, 2026 from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Military Officers Association of America, Military OneSource, USAspending.gov, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Conference of State Legislatures, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Council for Community and Economic Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Indeed and WalletHub research.
