Where Pennsylvania's Veterans Actually Live, and Where the Jobs Are
Program and regulatory figures verified October 10, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Pennsylvania publishes county-level veteran data most states do not, and it shows something a single statewide number hides: veteran population and veteran employment do not move together.
★★ Highest share of veterans
| County | Veteran share | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Clearfield | 7.02% | highest share in the state |
| Beaver | 5.74% | ★ also 2nd-highest veteran unemployment, 11.39% |
| ★★ Cumberland | 5.71% | ★★ Carlisle Barracks: and the state's lowest veteran unemployment, 0.24% |
| Crawford | 5.68% | |
| York | 5.62% | ★ 3rd-highest veteran labour-force participation, 85.70% |
Figures are 2024 ACS 1-Year Estimates, published by Pennsylvania's Center for Workforce Information & Analysis in a report dated 3 February 2026.
★★ The map tracks the installations
This is the part worth dwelling on.
★★ Cumberland County is third in the state on veteran share and first on veteran employment, with the lowest veteran unemployment rate in Pennsylvania at 0.24%. Carlisle Barracks, home of the U.S. Army War College, is in Cumberland County.
★ Franklin County, which has Letterkenny Army Depot, has the second-lowest nonzero veteran unemployment at 0.79%.
★ Lebanon County, which has Fort Indiantown Gap, is one of nine counties reporting zero veteran unemployment.
★★ Three installations, three counties, all three at or near the top of the state for veteran employment. We are not claiming the bases cause it. We did not read an economic-impact study at a primary source and we are not going to assert causation from a correlation. But the pattern is in the state's own data and it is worth knowing if you are choosing where in Pennsylvania to settle.
★ The installations' own websites are unreadable to the research tools we use, so everything above is anchored to the Commonwealth's workforce data rather than to a base page. Why that matters for sourcing.
★★ The county that cuts the other way
Beaver County has the state's second-highest veteran share at 5.74% and its second-highest veteran unemployment at 11.39%.
★★ A site that published only the share table would imply Beaver is a good place to be a veteran looking for work. The state's own data says the opposite on that measure. We publish both columns for exactly that reason.
★ Beaver does, however, have the second-highest veteran labour-force participation in the state at 85.98%: so it is a county where veterans are actively in the market, not out of it. High participation and high unemployment together describe a tight job market, not a disengaged one.
Veteran unemployment, both ends
| Highest | Rate | Lowest nonzero | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence | 14.07% | Chester | 0.86% |
| Beaver | 11.39% | ★ Franklin | 0.79% |
| Lycoming | 11.3% | Mercer | 0.72% |
| Columbia | 8.06% | Bucks | 0.33% |
| Luzerne | 7.77% | ★★ Cumberland | 0.24% |
★ And nine counties reported zero: Armstrong, Blair, Cambria, Carbon, Fayette, Lebanon, Northampton, Northumberland and Somerset.
★ Highest veteran labour-force participation: Fayette 90.94%, Beaver 85.98%, York 85.70%, Bucks 85.11%, Montgomery 84.40%.
The statewide picture
- 267,095 veterans aged 18–64 in 2024, 3.43% of the comparable population.
- Civilian veteran population aged 18 and over: 601,407 of 10,445,068.
- 205,162 in the labour force — 76.81% participation against 79.49% for non-veterans.
- ★ 7,657 unemployed veterans, a rate of 3.73% against 4.29% for non-veterans.
- Poverty: veterans 7.70% against non-veterans 10.80%.
- Median income, 18+ with income: veterans $50,463 against non-veterans $41,548, in 2017 inflation-adjusted dollars.
- ★ In November 2025, 175 PA veterans were claiming Unemployment Compensation for Ex-servicemembers.
★★ On the two headline measures, unemployment and poverty, Pennsylvania's veterans do better than its non-veterans. Participation runs slightly lower, which is consistent with a veteran population whose modal age group is 75 and over.
★ What this means if you are buying
County choice in Pennsylvania changes three things at once: the housing market, the veteran labour market, and the county office that will process your tax-exemption application.
★ The third is the one people forget. The exemption is applied for through your county Director of Veterans Affairs, so the county you buy in is the county that decides it. The criteria · The market by metro.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. (480) 296-6513 · mcerto@cfmtg.com.
Frequently asked questions
Which Pennsylvania county has the most veterans?
By share of population, Clearfield County at 7.02 percent in 2024, followed by Beaver at 5.74 percent, Cumberland at 5.71 percent, Crawford at 5.68 percent and York at 5.62 percent, per Census ACS 2024 estimates published by Pennsylvania's Center for Workforce Information and Analysis.Which Pennsylvania county has the lowest veteran unemployment?
Cumberland County, at 0.24 percent, which is also third in the state for veteran share and is home to Carlisle Barracks and the U.S. Army War College. Nine counties reported zero veteran unemployment: Armstrong, Blair, Cambria, Carbon, Fayette, Lebanon, Northampton, Northumberland and Somerset.Is veteran unemployment higher or lower than non-veteran unemployment in Pennsylvania?
Lower. Pennsylvania's veteran unemployment rate was 3.73 percent in 2024 against 4.29 percent for non-veterans, and veteran poverty was 7.70 percent against 10.80 percent.How many veterans live in Pennsylvania?
The civilian veteran population aged 18 and over was 601,407 out of 10,445,068, and there were 267,095 veterans aged 18 to 64, which is 3.43 percent of the comparable population, per Census ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates.Does Beaver County have a strong veteran job market?
Not on the unemployment measure. Beaver has the state's second-highest veteran share at 5.74 percent and also its second-highest veteran unemployment at 11.39 percent, alongside the second-highest veteran labour-force participation at 85.98 percent, which describes a tight market rather than a disengaged one.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about VA home loan financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax or financial advice. Cornerstone First Mortgage is a private lender and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. VA entitlement, funding-fee exemption and disability ratings are determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Pennsylvania Disabled Veterans' Real Estate Tax Exemption is administered by the Pennsylvania State Veterans' Commission through each county Director of Veterans Affairs, not by Cornerstone; its criteria and income thresholds are set by the Commonwealth and change. Figures here carry the date we verified them against primary sources. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.