After working as an interrogator in the U.S. Army, Melanie McKague says she knew she wanted to settle close to where she and her husband served when it came time to retire.

“My husband and I spent many years at Fort Bragg, N.C., and my family is from western North Carolina, so we always planned to settle there,” McKague says.

Living close to family is one of the common reasons why 41% of veterans choose the states they do when they leave the military, according to Rosalinda Vasquez Maury, director of applied research for the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF).

“The No. 1 factor of decision making is cost of living and affordability,” Maury says. “The second is proximity to families – you know, distance from family or extended family. The third is health care facilities and access to health care. And then the fourth is employment prospects, as well.”

“We put them as the top factors, but I also feel from a decision-making process, it’s the culmination of all the factors that ultimately are guiding your decisions as well,” she says.

N.C. Among States Mentioned as Hospitable for Vets

North Carolina has two large military bases and infrastructure that supports veterans, including tax breaks, VA medical centers, affordable cost of living compared to California and the Northeast, and programs that incentivize employers to hire veterans.

One such program, the North Carolina for Military Employment (NC4ME) program, is a public-private partnership established by former Gov. Pat McCrory that educates employers about the veteran workforce, and connects the military community with jobs, education, and training opportunities. The state also supports veterans and their spouses who want to explore entrepreneurship.

It is one of the top states for veterans to live, according to data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Labor. The exact rankings differ, but both datasets list North Carolina and the following states as having the largest veteran populations:

• Texas
• California
• Florida
• Virginia
• Pennsylvania
• Ohio
• Georgia
• New York

Virginia-Based Company’s Staff Is 14% Veterans

McKague is leveraging her military experience in her current job as a senior proposal manager for Indigo IT, an information technology company and a recipient of a U.S. DOL’s HIRE Vets Platinum Medallion Award.

“Indigo IT tries hard to recognize its staff and individuals; I think veterans in the company feel appreciated, and are called on to offer their unique experience as it relates to their positions,” she says.

Fourteen percent of the Virginia-based company’s workforce are veterans. Leaders credit the state’s Virginia Values Veterans (V3) program for bolstering its veteran hiring initiative.

“We are a V3-certified company, which means that we had to go through a couple of different training sessions,” says Sarah Burns, director of talent acquisition for Indigo IT. “They provide us with the best practices, resources, events, and connections to reach out to the veteran community within the state of Virginia.

“We report to them on a quarterly basis how many veterans and veteran spouses we hired,” she adds. “There’s a grant program and training from day one for us to familiarize ourselves with military language, give us perspective on where transitioning military people are coming from – things that they may not understand about going into the civilian world and how we can best work with them and kind of speak the same language.”

Indigo IT also participates in a national mentorship program that helps transitioning veterans as they re-enter the civilian world, and offers a mortgage program to help veterans with homebuying and refinancing a home.

Veteran Explains How He Decided

Rahsaan Lindsey landed at IndigoIT as a help desk technician contracted to the Federal Housing Finance Agency after serving 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He worked as a data analyst, whose responsibilities included being a system administrator. Information technology was a new career path for him.

“When I retired, I followed my then-fiancée and now wife to Virginia,” he says. “She worked in Washington, D.C., at the time, and I was conforming to civilian life.”

Despite his life, military and work experience, he says the transition wasn’t easy.

“We volunteered to serve and protect our country, and unfortunately a vast majority of us need assistance settling back into civilian life,” he adds. “We come out speaking a different jargon, and for that we get overlooked and even miss out on opportunities.”

Like McKague, Lindsey lived within a large military community after his active duty, with bases for all four branches in-state. The region has countless opportunities in federal government, national security, and defense contracting roles; VA hospitals and clinics; higher education opportunities supported by the GI Bill; and substantial tax relief benefits, including exemptions on military retirement pay and property taxes for disabled veterans.

All of these state benefits are big draws for veterans.

Key Factor: States Friendly to Military Culture, Families

Another important factor: states that recognize military spouses and families, with communities familiar with military culture.

“(For states), there’s always opportunity to get them to stay,” says Barb Carson, managing director of programs and services at IVMF.  “Things like, can my kid try out for clubs when it’s off season? Or are they just out of luck for an entire year?

“Another example: Texas gives free airport parking to veterans and military connected people,” she says.
“That’s a big deal. It sounds so small but, you know, when you have $100 bill for taking your family on a short weekend trip, there are just cool little incentives that might just be the extra hook for veterans.

“Childcare continues to be a challenge nationwide,” she says. “So, if the state makes a little less friction for childcare providers to exist, that can help them.”