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State Rankings

The best states for veterans 2026, ranked honestly.

Each state’s score is the average Vet Score of the cities we rank in it: tax treatment, VA access, affordability, job market, and more.

RankStateScoreMil Ret Tax
#1▲
Texas19 cities
7.0no income tax
#2▲
Tennessee6 cities
6.8no income tax
#2▲
North Dakota3 cities
6.8exempt
#3▲
Louisiana6 cities
6.7exempt
#3▲
Indiana4 cities
6.7exempt
#3▲
Iowa3 cities
6.7exempt
#3▲
Mississippi2 cities
6.7exempt
#3▲
West Virginia2 cities
6.7exempt
#4
Ohio8 cities
6.6exempt
#4
South Dakota2 cities
6.6no income tax
#5
Arkansas3 cities
6.5exempt
#6
Alabama6 cities
6.4exempt
#6
Oklahoma3 cities
6.4exempt
#6
Nebraska2 cities
6.4exempt
#7
Florida16 cities
6.3no income tax
#7
Pennsylvania9 cities
6.3exempt
#7
Georgia6 cities
6.3partial *
#7
Michigan6 cities
6.3exempt
#7
Illinois3 cities
6.3exempt
#8
Arizona4 cities
6.2exempt
#8
Missouri3 cities
6.2exempt
#8
Wyoming1 city
6.2no income tax
#9
North Carolina12 cities
6.1exempt *
#9
Kansas3 cities
6.1exempt
#9
Kentucky2 cities
6.1partial *
#10
New York9 cities
5.9exempt
#10
South Carolina6 cities
5.9exempt
#10
Minnesota2 cities
5.9exempt
#10
Alaska1 city
5.9no income tax
#10
Montana1 city
5.9partial *
#10
New Mexico1 city
5.9partial
#11
Virginia6 cities
5.8partial
#11
Wisconsin4 cities
5.8exempt
#11
Maryland3 cities
5.8partial *
#11
Nevada2 cities
5.8no income tax
#12
Washington7 cities
5.7no income tax
#13
Idaho1 city
5.5partial *
#13
New Hampshire1 city
5.5no income tax
#14
PR2 cities
5.4—
#15
Utah3 cities
5.3exempt
#15
New Jersey2 cities
5.3exempt
#16
Massachusetts3 cities
5.2exempt
#17
Colorado5 cities
5.1partial *
#17
Connecticut4 cities
5.1exempt
#17
Rhode Island1 city
5.1exempt
#18
Maine1 city
4.8exempt
#19
Oregon3 cities
4.7partial *
#20▼
District of Columbia1 city
4.4taxed
#21▼
California20 cities
4.3partial *
#22▼
Hawaii1 city
4.1exempt
—
Delaware0 cities
—partial *
—
Vermont0 cities
—partial *
Methodology

A state’s score averages the Vet Scores of its ranked cities, each built from the dimensions below with these default weights. States where we rank no cities have no score.

Job Market for Vets
25%
Cost of Living
20%
VA Loan Affordability
15%
VA Health Access
12%
State Tax on Wages
10%
Veteran Community Density
8%
Disabled Vet Property Exemption
5%
2A / CCW Reciprocity
5%
State Tax on Mil Retirement
0%