PHOENIX — According to the US Census Bureau, there are 454,620 Armed Services veterans living in Arizona. For every 1,000 adults in the state about 62 are veterans, ranking the state number 13 in both per capita and total number of veterans.
The states with the highest per capita veteran population include Maine, Alaska, Wyoming, and Virginia.
Western states tend to have a higher per capita number of veterans compared to other regions of the country. The exceptions are California and Utah, states with some of the lowest per capita rates of veterans.
Thirty-five percent, a little more than a third of Arizona’s veterans, served during the Vietnam War. First Gulf War veterans make up the second largest group in the state at 22%.
Twenty-one percent of veterans served during the Cold War, between Korea and the First Gulf War, but did not serve in Vietnam. The nation’s youngest veterans, those who have served since 9/11, make up 17%. Korean War veterans are 3% and there are an estimated 2,514 World War II veterans still living in Arizona.
Most veterans in the Valley live in one of the large retirement communities; Sun City in the West Valley or Sun Lakes in the East Valley.
Carefree has the third-highest number of veterans with 155 out of every 1,000 adults previously serving. The East Valley communities of Apache Junction and Fountain Hills round out the top five.
