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The Best Cities for Veterans to Buy a Home

David Cusick

By David Cusick

Updated Nov 29, 2022

David Cusick

By David Cusick

Updated Nov 29, 2022

Home > Blog > The Best Cities for Veterans to Buy a Home
Veteran walking into home

Veterans and their families hold a special place in society. We, as Americans, take pride in honoring those who have served in the military and reward them with a number of benefits—both from the government and in the private sector. Companies, such as some of the best home warranty companies, offer discounts for veterans. Read our guide for the best home warranty companies for veterans for more details. Other benefits include lower-interest home loans or home repair grants from the VA. 

Many veterans take advantage of these types of programs to purchase a home at a more affordable cost. However, the real estate market varies significantly in different cities across the country, as does factors such as income, cost of living, and healthcare options. 

With that in mind, House Method put together this study on the best cities for veterans to buy a home. We analyzed the data for 50 cities and ranked them according to 10 factors, such as the cost of a home, average veteran income, and quality of VA healthcare. Read on for the complete rankings and explanation of the methodology.

Main findings

Map of the best cities in the United States for Veterans to Buy a Home
Overall Rank (1 = Best)CityOverall ScoreReal Estate RankVeteran Well-Being RankVeteran Benefits Rank
1San Antonio, TX42.243616
2Raleigh, NC39.6429146
3Virginia Beach, VA39.4419236
4Columbus, OH39.42141210
5Orlando, FL39.4128213
6Richmond, VA38.8327429
7Providence, RI38.3343251
8Salt Lake City, UT37.39231912
9Kansas City, MO37.28131724
10Cleveland, OH36.9016415
11Cincinnati, OH36.7412359
12Austin, TX36.6331726
13Baltimore, MD36.4936333
14Hartford, CT36.1540284
15Oklahoma City, OK35.9171542
16Washington, DC35.5648148
17Indianapolis, IN35.1824397
18Minneapolis, MN35.11371014
19Charlotte, NC34.8125835
20Las Vegas, NV34.74152719
21Milwaukee, WI34.52302617
22Buffalo, NY34.32202331
23Dallas, TX33.2811350
24Atlanta, GA32.535945
25St. Louis, MO32.40112441
26Tampa, FL32.10183030
27Portland, OR32.02412027
28Boston, MA31.7546168
29Houston, TX31.6624328
30Birmingham, AL31.66264223
31Denver, CO31.5238546
32San Diego, CA31.38441122
33Louisville, KY31.3895018
34Nashville, TN31.37174425
35Jacksonville, FL30.90224720
36Detroit, MI30.7563344
37Sacramento, CA30.70423413
38Phoenix, AZ30.6443247
39New Orleans, LA29.91343734
40Pittsburgh, PA29.66324821
41Riverside, CA29.19394015
42Chicago, IL29.0582939
43Memphis, TN28.15213849
44Seattle, WA28.12471832
45Philadelphia, PA26.87353143
46San Jose, CA24.9249452
47Miami, FL22.32104940
48San Francisco, CA21.87502211
49New York, NY20.54333637
50Los Angeles, CA20.50454638

Summary

Our analysis found that San Antonio is the best city for veterans to buy a home. It stood out with high marks for real estate and veteran well-being. Interestingly, it ranked #16 for veteran benefits. However, the other two categories pushed San Antonio to number one. Rounding out the rest of the top five are Raleigh, Virginia Beach, Columbus, and Orlando.

The bottom five cities are some of the nation’s largest: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Miami, and San Jose. All but Miami ranked poorly for real estate and cost of living and many of the cities had poor marks for the other two categories as well.

Looking to buy a new home? Check out our Ultimate New Home Checklist. 

Methodology

To find the best cities for veterans to buy a home, we looked at data for the 50 largest MSAs in the United States. We ranked the cities using three categories:

  1. Real estate
  2. Veteran well-being
  3. Veteran benefits

In all, there were 10 factors across those three larger categories that are listed below along with their corresponding weights. Each city was graded on an 80-point scale, with a score of 80 representing the ideal city for veteran homebuyers.

Read more: Review of American Home Shield

Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all categories to calculate its Veteran Homebuyer Score and used the results to rank-order our sample.

Real estate—30 points

  • Cost of a home (based on the median home price)—Double Weight
  • Homes available (number of homes for sale per 100,000 veterans)—Double Weight
  • Cost of living—Double Weight

Veteran well-being—30 points

  • Percentage of veterans (percentage of the population who are veterans)—Full Weight
  • Veteran median income—Double Weight
  • Veteran unemployment (percentage of veterans in the workforce who are unemployed)—Double Weight
  • Percentage of veterans below poverty level (based on yearly income)—Full Weight

Veteran benefits—20 points

  • Number of VA Health centers (calculated using per 100,000 veterans rate)—Full Weight
  • Quality of VA Health centers—Double Weight
  • Number of VA Benefits Centers (calculated using per 100,000 veterans rate)—Full Weight

Sources

  • US Census Bureau
  • VA.gov
  • Zillow.com
  • Numbeo Cost of Living Index

Read more: America’s First Choice Home Club review

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