Florida, Virginia and Texas are the three U.S. states that provide the best conditions for disabled veterans, according to a study.
Research by SmileHub found that those three states provide veterans with the best health, economic and infrastructure support, whereas Mississippi, Vermont and Delaware provide the least amount of support in these areas when specifically referencing disabled veterans.
There are some 5.8 million veterans in the U.S. with a service-connected disability, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Via the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the federal government provides support to disabled veterans, including through disability benefits, but state provisions to help disabled veterans vary.
SmileHub compared the 50 U.S. states in the following three main areas: health and rehabilitation access; infrastructure and community support; and economic stability and long-term security.
It then evaluated those themes in 22 metrics as part of its research, including the number of veterans charities in the state, the state tax on military pensions, and the number of VA health facilities per capita.
SmileHub then gave each state a weighted score out of 100, with the largest numbers representing the highest level of support for disabled veterans.
Here are some of their findings:
Top 10 Best States For Disabled Veterans
1. Florida – 63.98
2. Virginia – 60.2
3. Texas – 59.56
4. New Hampshire – 57.54
5. Wyoming – 56.90
6. Massachusetts – 56.38
7. Maine – 56.32
8. Maryland – 56.11
9. Nebraska – 56.00
10. Alaska – 55.29
Top 10 Worst States For Disabled Veterans
1. Mississippi – 32.33
2. Vermont 34.56
3. Delaware – 35.27
4. New Mexico – 37.95
5. Kansas – 37.95
6. Idaho – 38.28
7. Nevada – 40.14
8. Wisconsin – 42.40
9. Connecticut – 42.61
10. Iowa – 42.86
The research also found that Pennsylvania is the state with the most veterans’ charities per capita, while Rhode Island is the state with the least.
New York is the state with the lowest disability employment rate gap. Alaska is the state with the highest.
The highest total VA expenditure per veteran takes place in West Virginia, and the lowest occurs in New Jersey.
Help for Disabled Veterans
Providing care to disabled veterans remains a consistent focus of the federal government and veterans’ service organizations, with care coming in different forms.
In June, as part of a partnership with Ray-Ban, Meta offered free artificial intelligence (AI) glasses to the roughly more than 130,000 blind veterans nationwide as part of honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary.
In April 2026, the VA announced processes to cut prosthetic wait times for disabled veterans, including by waiving case reviews except for the most expensive prosthetic limbs, and sourcing prosthetics from area suppliers.
The VA said this would eventually cut wait times by as much as 40%.
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