By the Numbers: A Snapshot of Minnesota Veterans

By Rachel Vilsack 
June 2009

PDF of article (5 pages)

More than 400,000 Minnesota residents have served in the military – roughly 10 percent of the adult population.

Many of us know some of Minnesota’s 400,000 veterans as members of our family or friends, neighbors, coworkers, local business owners and employees. Men and women of all ages from all races and ethnic groups have served Minnesota and the United States in times of peace and military conflict. Here is a demographic and economic snapshot of Minnesota’s veterans.

American Community Survey

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a nationwide household survey, called the American Community Survey (ACS), that has become the preeminent source of annual demographic, social and economic estimates of the population. The ACS includes questions about military service, specifically people who have served in the U.S. armed forces, Reserves or National Guard, and when they served. Veterans are defined as people who are at least 18 years old and have served in the U.S. military but are not now on active duty. People who have served in the Reserves or National Guard are classified as veterans if they have been called to active duty, not including training.

Unless otherwise indicated, all data analyzed here are from the 2007 ACS and include only civilian veterans, or those who are not on active duty. People who are on active duty are not included in these statistics. About 2,800 additional Minnesota residents were serving in the armed forces in 2007. Most of these statistics are based on people who are 18 or older, since people younger than that age cannot serve in the military. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also maintains demographic statistics on veterans, which may vary from U.S. Census Bureau data depending on definitions used.

Minnesota Veterans

In 2007 more than 405,300 civilian veterans lived in Minnesota. Veterans accounted for about 10.3 percent of the population that was 18 years or older in the state. Alaska had the highest percentage of veterans (15.4 percent), while New York had the lowest (7 percent). Minnesota was tied for 36th nationally for the highest percentage of veterans in the population.

Vietnam era vets accounted for 35 percent of the veterans in Minnesota, totaling 143,333, the largest category (see Table 1). There were 53,030 World War II veterans in Minnesota compared with 2.9 million nationally in 2007. An estimated 900 World War II veterans die every day across the country.[ 1] One U.S. veteran from World War I is still living in West Virginia.[ 2]

As might be expected, the majority of veterans in 2007 were male. Female veterans accounted for less than 6 percent of all veterans in the state (see Figure 1). Just 1.1 percent of Minnesota’s female population age 18 and over served in the military, compared with 1.3 percent nationally. Female veterans were considerably younger than their male counterparts in Minnesota: 67 percent were between the ages of 18 and 54, compared with only 30 percent of male veterans. More than 40 percent of all Minnesota veterans were 65 years or older in 2007, compared with just 6 percent who were 18 to 34 years old.

Labor Force Participation

In 2007 Minnesota veterans between 18 and 64 years old had an 80.5 percent labor force participation rate, meaning that 80.5 percent of veterans were employed or available and actively seeking employment. Nonveterans had a slightly higher labor force participation rate at 83.1 percent (see Table 2). Unemployment rates were slightly higher for veterans at 5.7 percent compared with 5.1 percent for nonveterans.

Labor force participation is higher (90.8 percent) for veterans in the youngest age group, 18 to 34, than for nonveterans in that age group (83.5 percent). Despite high labor force participation, unemployment rates were also higher for younger veterans (9.6 percent) than for nonveterans (7.2 percent).

Higher unemployment rates for younger veterans, however, may relate to their more recent separation from military service. Academic research that tracks young veterans after they leave military service indicates that employment increases and unemployment rates decline over time.[ 3] Essentially, veterans who have recently returned to civilian life have higher unemployment rates than veterans who have been separated from active duty for longer time periods. Recently returning veterans, including those who don’t have a lot of work experience or post-secondary training, may face difficulty translating their military skills into civilian jobs.

Education

Minnesota’s adult veterans generally have less schooling than nonveterans. One-third of veterans had only a high school diploma or GED, compared with 28 percent of the nonveterans (see Figure 2). While a slightly higher percentage of adult veterans than nonveterans have some college training or an associate degree, almost 32 percent of nonveterans have a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to just 24 percent of veterans. [ 4]

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs helps vets gain scholarships and stipends under the GI Bill. In 2007 an estimated 8,870 Minnesota veterans used education benefits under the GI Bill.[ 5] Additionally, in 2007 the Minnesota Legislature appropriated $6 million annually for schooling for veterans and service members who served on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Under the Minnesota GI Bill, veterans or dependents of deceased veterans are eligible to receive up to $1,000 per academic term if attending a Minnesota state-operated college, university or technical school, in addition to federal or state veterans-related education benefits.

Income

In 2007 the median annual income for Minnesota veterans was $37,378, compared with $28,513 for nonveterans. Most notably, the median income for female veterans was more than $10,000 greater than the median income for female nonveterans (see Figure 3). A 2005 analysis of national American Community Survey data showed that female veterans were more likely to work full time (35 or more hours per week) and work in public administration than their nonveteran counterparts.[ 6] For some women, military education and experience may translate into higher-paying civilian jobs. Moreover, women veterans in Minnesota were younger than their male counterparts, which may have led to higher incomes because these women were more likely to be in their prime working years.

Poverty and Disability Status

In 2007, 4.1 percent or 16,400 Minnesota veterans had income below the poverty level, compared with 9.2 percent of nonveterans (see Table 3). Of those below the poverty level, 44 percent had a disability compared with 30 percent of nonveterans. Likewise, veterans with income above the poverty level were more likely to have a disability than their nonveteran counterparts. Twenty-one percent of veterans above the poverty level had a disability, compared with 13 percent of nonveterans. Unfortunately, these data do not distinguish whether the disability was service-related. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, however, estimated that more than 53,300 Minnesota veterans received monthly disability compensation in 2007.

[ 1]U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “VA Benefits and Health Care Utilization,” October 2008.
[ 2]Rubin, Richard. “The Last Doughboy of World War I.” Smithsonian, October 2008.
[ 3]Black, Dan, and Julia Lane. “Report on Task 1: The Labor Market Trajectories of 20-24 Year Old Veterans.” U.S. Department of Labor, Jan. 1, 2007. www.dol.gov/vets/research/trajectories_rev.pdf .
[ 4]It should be noted that the armed forces today generally require recruits to have a high school diploma or GED. Older veterans may not have been required to have a high school diploma prior to enlistment, which may be why 9 percent of Minnesota’s veterans do not have a high school diploma.
[ 5]U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “State Summary: Minnesota,” July 2008. www1.va.gov/opa/fact/statesum/mnss.asp .
[ 6]Holder, Kelly A. “Exploring the Veteran-Nonveteran Earnings Differential in the 2005 American Community Survey.” U.S. Census Bureau Working Paper, June 17, 2008. www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/women/012062.html .