Census: Military veterans disproportionately live in rural settings; lowest percentage in N.Y., D.C., L.A.

The Daily Yonder reports that military veterans disproportionately live in rural communities or exurbia (in towns that lie outside of urban areas but beyond suburbia, in rural settings). And, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, those veterans who do live in cities are much more likely to live in smaller urban areas.

New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles have among the lowest percentage of veterans in the population of any of the nation’s counties.

Rural and exurban counties make up 30.6 percent of the nation’s 22.6 million veterans. But these same counties represent just 25.9 percent of all residents over 18 years of age. Military veterans are 11.7 percent of the adult populations in rural and exurban counties. In urban counties, however, vets are 9.3 percent of those over 18.