Jackson, MS Is One of the Best Cities for Veterans
This past Veterans Day, there were all the usual gestures of appreciation from the public, lawmakers, and companies who offer freebies to active and former members of the uniformed armed services. There are, however, far more substantive and perennial publicly funded services for the veterans who served their country.
All veterans are entitled to certain benefits, but there are state-specific, even city-specific benefits veterans can be entitled to. Some cities may not offer specific benefits, but they have a large community of vets, more jobs that can be suitable for veterans, or they offer more health services.
According to an index of 38 metrics created by data blog Lawnstarter, Jackson, Mississippi, ranks as the 17th best city for veterans out of the 200 largest U.S. cities. Jackson’s highest-ranking category in the index is mental health care, which includes the concentration of mental health counselors, PTSD programs, VA chaplains, and vet centers.
About 6,609 veterans live in Jackson, accounting for 5.4% of the city’s total population, according to five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
A full explanation of the index, categories, and methodology used in this ranking is available from Lawnstarter’s report 2023’s Best Cities for Veterans.
RankCityOverall index scoreBest index categoryVeteran populationVeterans as a share of total pop. (%)1Providence, RI46.2Medical & Mental Health Care3,4152.42Salt Lake City, UT41.7Mental Health Care & Employment and Volunteering7,0654.43Miami, FL38.2Mental Health Care7,5092.04St. Louis, MO35.4Education and Training15,7976.45Syracuse, NY35.4Medical Health Care5,2124.66Des Moines, IA34.7Education and Training9,6335.97Tampa, FL34.4Employment and Volunteering21,2336.98Atlanta, GA34.1Employment and Volunteering18,3504.59Dayton, OH33.6Mental Health Care9,0218.110Washington, DC33.6Support25,5144.511Madison, WI32.9Mental Health Care9,3454.312Pittsburgh, PA32.8Education and Training14,4405.613San Antonio, TX32.5Community97,3188.514Minneapolis, MN32.2Employment and Volunteering12,7183.715Grand Rapids, MI31.9Education and Training7,1764.616Boston, MA31.7Employment and Volunteering & Safety15,1242.617Jackson, MS31.5Mental Health Care6,6095.418Sioux Falls, SD31.4Mental Health Care8,9146.619McAllen, TX31.1Medical Health Care3,3853.420Cincinnati, OH31.1Mental Health Care13,0305.521Seattle, WA31.1Safety26,2114.122Charleston, SC30.8Mental Health Care9,1058.023Buffalo, NY30.1Safety11,0925.624Murfreesboro, TN30.0Affordability6,8056.3
