With Veterans Day just passed here is some data about veterans as presented by the US Census Bureau and based on a 2016 community survey. {{more: continued …}}Overview …There were 18.5 million veterans in the United States in 2016. Approximately 8.7 % were females. Over 91 thousand served during at least three war periods (WWII, Korea, Vietnam and both Gulf Wars). Texas has the second largest population of veterans at 1.5 million. More veterans voted than the non-veteran population in 2016. And, over 4 million had a service related disability in 2016 with 1.3 million classified with a severe disability. Information provided by the US Census BureauVeterans by the numbers as of 2016 …
- 18.5 million of Americans were military veterans.
- 1.6 million were female veterans.
- 11.6% were were black.
- 6.5% were Hispanic.
- 78.0% were non-Hispanic white,
- 1.6% were Asian,
- 0.7% were American Indian or Alaska Native,
- 0.2% were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and
- 1.3% were some other race. (These figures cover only those reporting a single race).
By war period …
- 6.7 million is the number of Vietnam Era veterans.
- 7.1 million served during the Gulf War (representing service from August 1990 to present);
- 768,263 served in World War II;
- 1.6 million served in the Korean War; and
- 2.4 million served in peacetime only.
Multiple conflicts …
- 65,562 served during the Vietnam Era and both periods of the Gulf War (August 1990 to August 2001 and September 2001 or later).
- 25,703 served during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam Era.
States with the most veterans …
- 3 states have 1.0 million or more veterans in 2016. These states were California (1.6 million), Texas (1.5 million) and Florida (1.4 million).
Income, education …
- 28.3% percentage of veterans 25 years and older with a bachelor?s degree or higher. compared to 31.5 percent of non-veterans who had a bachelor?s degree or higher.
- $40,076 is the annual median income of male veterans compared with $35,365 for male nonveterans.
- $34,178 is the annual median income of female veterans compared with $23,445 for female non-veterans.
Employment, disability …
- 7.0 million is the number of veterans 18 to 64 years old were in the labor force in 2016. Of those veterans, 6.7 million were employed.
- 4.0 million is the number of veterans with a service-connected disability rating in 2016. Of this number, 1.3 million had a rating of 70.0 percent or higher. (A ?service-connected? disability is one that was a result of a disease or injury incurred or aggravated during active military service. Severity of one?s disability is scaled from 0.0 to 100.0 percent, and eligibility for compensation depends on one?s rating).
Business ownership and voting history …
- 14.4 million veterans who voted in the 2016 presidential election. In that election, 69.6 percent of veterans cast a ballot, compared with 60.6 percent of nonveterans. These rates reflect the citizen voting-age population.
- 398,453 is the number of all U.S. employer firms that are majority owned by veterans. Veteran-owned firms comprised 7.2 percent of the nation’s 5.5 million employer businesses.
Veterans Day originated as ?Armistice Day? on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary marking the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day honors military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation and a remembrance ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. The ceremony honors and thanks all who served in the U.S. armed forces.
