California veterans, by the numbers
Veterans Day traces its roots to World War I, commemorating the day the armistice went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. It celebrates the heroism and
sacrifice of those who have fought for our country, particularly the living veterans. There are roughly 23 million veterans living in the U.S., with some 2 million in California. Here’s a
statistical profile of some of the key characteristics that make up the state’s veteran population.
Median income among veterans
Era
Income by gender
(In dollars)
Median household income
Male veterans
$41,000
Male non-veterans
28,000
$41,000
World War II
52,000
Korean
76,000
Vietnam
86,000
Gulf War
Difficulty working
No wages
More veterans report difficulty
at work because of a physical or
emotional problem.
Vets
Non-vets
16%
9%
Nearly half of veterans living in
California report having no wage
income.
Vets
Non-vets
47%
35%
Era
85%
80
Korean
75
Vietnam
Gulf War
59
War on Terror
58
Education among veterans
Era
No high school
Vietnam
Post-Vietnam
Gulf War
High school diploma
26%
11
Korean
5
90
Gulf War
89
War on Terror
86
5
Asian
Other
3%
7%
4%
1%
5
10
4
2
12
4
3
6
17
25
44
45
36
Master’s
degree
61%
World War II
66
Vietnam
59
Post-Vietnam
20
13
Riverside
138,000
10
San Bernardino
134,000
10
Ventura
6
War on Terror
50
California
50
9
12
Notes: All numbers rounded to the nearest 1,000. Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
LOS
VENTURA ANGELES
SAN BERNARDINO
Los Angeles
ORANGE
RIVERSIDE
IMPERIAL
SAN DIEGO
2,213,000
WWII
Korean
Vietnam
Los Angeles
14
20
34
17
Orange
13
22
County
2
Riverside
San Bernardino
6
SANTA
BARBARA
PostVietnam
1
*
KERN
Percentage of veterans from past
U.S. conflicts (Southern California counties)
28%
4
So. Calif. counties
highlighted below
54,000
California
Widowed
12
19
Southern California veteran
population (By county)
162,000
23
57
Gulf War
TULARE
SAN LUIS
OBISPO
381,000
22
INYO
KINGS
Orange
14
MONO
FRESNO
MONTEREY
Los Angeles
8%
70
Korean
SAN
BENITO
15
18
Separated/divorced
Sacramento
13%
12
Trinity, Tehama, Glenn and Colusa.
PLACER
EL DORADO
ALPINE
AMADOR
NAPA
SACRAMENTO
SOLANO
CALAVERAS
MARIN
CONTRA SAN
TUOLUMNE
San Francisco COSTA JOAQUIN
SAN FRANCISCO ALAMEDA
MARIPOSA
STANISLAUS
SAN MATEO
SANTA
CLARA
MERCED
MADERA
SANTA CRUZ
YOLO
SONOMA
19
(In percent)
Married
YUBA
5
16
44
Plumas, Sierra and Nevada
NEVADA
SUTTER
18%
42
24
SIERRA
3
7
Bachelor’s
degree
Some college
BUTTE
COLUSA
LAKE
4
9
20
31
20
War on Terror 2
Era
Post-Vietnam
26%
24
2
Marital status of veterans
97
(In percent)
17%
World War II
Vietnam
10
GLENN
94%
13
Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne,
Mono, Mariposa and Inyo
PLUMAS
Del Norte, Siskiyou, Modoc and Lassen
97
12
Because of small sampling size, counties
are combined as follows:
MENDOCINO
Korean
13
Less than 5%
LASSEN
TEHAMA
World War II
Latino
SHASTA
HUMBOLDT
(By conflict)
7
64
Post-Vietnam
TRINITY
Male percentage of the
veteran population
Black
World War II
10% to 15%
5% to 10%
(In percent)
White
More than 15%
MODOC
SISKIYOU
Female non-veterans
16,000
66,000
War on Terror
DEL NORTE
Female veterans
30,000
82,000
Post-Vietnam
Race/ethnicity among veterans
Percentage of population over 18
who are veterans (By county)
(In dollars)
13
8
Ventura
11
California
11
35
21
14
29
26
16
18
15
33
31
17
8
7
6
12
13
15
War
on
Terror
9
16
19
Gulf
War
9
20
11
10
15
13
*Less than 0.5%
Eras: Through 1946 (WWII); 1947-Feb. 1961 (Korean); Mar. 1961-Apr. 1975 (Vietnam); May 1975-Jul. 1990 (Post-Vietnam); Aug. 1990-Aug. 2001 (Gulf War), Sep. 2001-present (War on Terror).
Recent regional explainer graphics are available at latimes.com/localgraphics.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 American Community Survey public use microdata sample. Graphics reporting by J ia - R ui Ch on g. Data analysis by Sa n d ra P oin de x te r and D o u g S m i th .
D o u g S te v e n s Los Angeles Times