HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaiʻi ranks at number 10 in the United States for the number of military veterans per capita.
Hawaiʻi placed No. 15 in a new national ranking of how well states support disabled veterans. The list, released Tuesday, Aug. 5, scored all 50 states across three main areas: health and rehabilitation access, infrastructure and community support and economic stability.
The report is based on 22 data points, and each is scored on a 100-point scale. Hawaiʻi earned a total score of 53.63.
Here’s what the ranking reported:
Strong in economic stability
Hawaiʻi ranked #2 in economic stability and long-term security for disabled veterans.
This area measured factors such as property tax exemptions, access to housing assistance, cost of living and income levels for people with disabilities. It also considered whether the state taxes military pensions, which Hawaiʻi does not.
Health care access above average
Hawaiʻi ranked #11 in health and rehabilitation access.
That score reflects access to VA health facilities, counselors, physical therapists, occupational therapists and veteran treatment courts. It also includes the number of benefits-administration facilities and the percentage of Medicaid long-term care dollars spent on home and community-based services.
Community support lags behind
In infrastructure and community support, Hawaiʻi ranked #46.
That category included the presence of transition programs, public and private hiring preferences for veterans, VA spending per veteran and the share of disabled veterans in the state. It also looked at the number of veterans charities per capita.
Understanding the numbers
There are about 5.5 million veterans in the U.S. living with a service-connected disability, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
You can click here to read more from the ranking.
Each state provides a different level of support. The ranking used population-adjusted data and assigned weights to each metric to compare states more fairly.