The Worst Cities for Veterans to Live in 2017
The rankings are in and once again there are major discrepancies in Veterans’ quality of life around the United States. While there are many U.S. cities that deserve praise for how well they help maintain a high quality of life for America’s Veterans, cities like Austin and Colorado Springs, many other locations have veteran populations that are struggling. Here are a few of the worst cities for veterans identified by WalletHub’s annual study of the best and worst places for Veterans to live.
Worst Cities for Veterans to Live in 2017:
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis ranks as the fifth worst city in the United States for Veterans to live, especially when it comes to overall health and quality of life. The Memphis VA hospital has been called a “house of horrors” due to botched surgeries, long wait times and deplorable sanitary conditions. Therefore it’s no surprise that Memphis ranks in the bottom 10% of U.S. cities for Veterans to live.
Baltimore, Maryland
The Baltimore VA Medical Center ranks among the worst facilities in the nation for patient wait times. An audit of the facility revealed that nearly 57,000 Veterans had to wait more than 90 days for first-time appointments and a staggering 64,000 were never seen at all! The economic conditions in the city are also terrible for local Veterans. Baltimore ranked in the bottom 10% of cities in veteran skilled job rates and overall economic opportunity. No wonder that Baltimore came in as the third worst city for Veterans to live in 2017.
Detroit, Michigan
Unfortunately, it’s not surprising that Detroit is ranked as the worst city for Veterans to live in the United States. The city has struggled to recover from the Great Recession and continues to be one of the most economically challenged cities in the nation. Detroits’s quality of life, health and job scores for Veterans all rank at the very bottom of this year’s rankings.
Poor economies and job markets negatively affect Veterans and civilians alike. However, there is no defensible reason why Veterans healthcare should vary so greatly between U.S. cities. It is the duty of our government to take care of our nation’s Veterans which is why it spends billions of our tax dollars toward VA funding. At the very least, the quality of care Veterans receive at VA hospitals should be consistently high across the country.
That is why the Veterans Action Network is dedicated to continuing the public dialogue on the need for massive VA reform. We can never repay the debt we owe to America’s Veterans. The very least we can do is demand that the government fulfills its obligation to ensure the wellbeing of Veterans when they return home. If you agree, we hope you will join the Veterans Action Network today and help us fight for the rights of our Veterans.