Tampa tops the list of best cities for veterans to live in, new report finds

Preserving history with WWII veterans

For World War II veteran Joseph Greco, serving his country was his duty. He and other veterans are giving an oral historical account of their military service.

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa has been named the best city in the U.S. for military veterans to live in, according to a new report.

The personal finance website WalletHub released its annual report on the best and worst cities for veterans to live last week.

Its study compared the 100 most populated cities in the country based on 20 metrics in four categories: employment, economy, quality of life, and health.

Authors noted that, in particular, Tampa did well for its "retiree-friendliness" and military discounts.

Nearly 98,000 veterans call Hillsborough County home, local officials say. Hillsborough has the largest population of veterans in the state of Florida, according to the county.

Tampa is also home to MacDill Air Force Base and the 6th Air Refueling Wing, which the Air Force says is "a 3,000-person force capable of rapidly projecting air refueling power anywhere in the world."

Historian shares history of MacDill's WWII contribution

76 years after a B-17 crashed during a training flight north of Tampa, Dennis Cole is helping the descendants of those who died keep their memory alive.

Tampa was not the only Florida city to make WalletHub's top 10. Orlando ranked at number nine on the list.

Aside from the overall ranking, WalletHub also found how cities ranked within specific categories.

For example, six cities -- Lincoln, Nebraska; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Arlington, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; Henderson, Nevada; Gilbert, Arizona -- tied for the lowest veteran unemployment rate while Newark, New Jersey was found to have the highest veteran unemployment rate.

WalletHub also found that Toledo, Ohio, has the fewest homeless veterans per veteran population, while Boston, Atlanta, Honolulu and San Francisco tied for the most homeless veterans per veteran population.

Here are the top 10 best cities for veterans in 2021, according to WalletHub:

1. Tampa, Florida
2. Austin, Texas
3. Scottsdale, Arizona
4. Raleigh, North Carolina
5. Gilbert, Arizona
6. Lincoln, Nebraska
7. Madison, Wisconsin
8. Virginia Beach, Virginia
9. Orlando, Florida
10. Boise, Idaho

You can read the full list and rankings by clicking here.

Fox Business contributed to this report.