Valorie Rice, Sr. Business Information Specialist
This article looks at a relatively small, though vital, portion of Arizona’s population and economy: those who have served our country on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. Here is a look at Arizona veterans using demographic and economic statistics from three different sources.
Demographics
Veterans made up 9.0 percent of the population of Arizona in 2019 with 488,061 veterans living in the state according to the 2019 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. This was a higher percentage than the nation where 7.3% of the U.S. population are veterans. Women make up 9.0 percent of veterans in Arizona, similar to the U.S. at 8.9 percent. The largest age group of veterans in the state consists of those 65 years of age and older, with those 65 to 74 years making up 27.1 percent and 75 and over making up 25.7 percent. On the other end of the spectrum, only 8.8 percent of 18 to 34 year olds in the state are veterans. Given the composition of age ranges, it is not surprising that Vietnam area veterans make up the largest group by service period. A person who was 18 years old in 1975 (the last year of the Vietnam era) was 62 years old in 2019. The two Gulf War periods make up the second and third largest groups by service period.
The vast majority of veterans in the state, 78.6 percent, identify as white alone, not Hispanic or Latino. As noted in Exhibit 1, Hispanic or Latino veterans are 12.3 percent of the total in Arizona, nearly double the percent found in the U.S.
Exhibit 1. Percent of Population that are Veterans in Arizona and U.S. by Demographic Characteristics
Veterans in Arizona are more likely to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher, with 30.7 percent of veterans having a college degree compared to 29.3 percent of nonveterans (see Exhibit 2). This is the reverse of national figures, as 28.8 percent of veterans in the U.S. have a Bachelor’s degree or better versus 32.4 percent of nonveterans. There was a higher percentage of veterans with some college or associate’s degree in both Arizona and the nation compared to nonveterans.
Exhibit 2. Educational Attainment for Veterans and Nonveterans, Arizona and U.S.
Business Owners
About 6.0 percent of all employer businesses in the state were veteran-owned in 2019, with 6,508 firms considered veteran-owned. This was roughly the same percentage as the nation, where 5.7 percent of all employer businesses were veteran-owned. Veteran-owned businesses in Arizona employed an estimated 67,521 people and had $2.8 billion in annual payroll in 2019. As noted in Exhibit 3, the Annual Business Survey indicated there were also 3,797 businesses considered equally veteran and nonveteran owned which employed 53,109 and had $1.9 billion in annual payroll.
Exhibit 3. Employer Owned Businesses in Arizona, 2019 Total for All Sectors
The two sectors with most veteran-owned businesses in Arizona were Construction, with 1,324 firms, and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, with 1,232 firms. The sector with third highest number of veteran-owned firms was Accommodation and Food Services with 382 and fourth was Real Estate and Rental and Leasing with 329. The top sectors for veteran-owned businesses in the U.S. were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services followed by Construction, Health Care and Social Assistance, and Retail Trade.
Employment
The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces an annual Employment Situation of Veterans that provides state level statistics on employment. Based on the most recent release, there were 210,000 veterans employed in Arizona during 2020 compared to 230,000 in 2019. With that, the employment-to-population ratio decreased to 41.5 percent for veterans in 2020 from 48.4 in 2019. This put the Arizona veteran employment-to-population ratio lower than the U.S. at 45.2 percent. It had been better than the nation the year previous (see Exhibit 4.) The employment-to-population ratio for nonveterans was 64.3 percent for Arizona and 64.2 percent for the U.S. in 2020.
The unemployment rate for veterans in Arizona moved up to 9.6 percent in 2020 from 4.9 percent in 2019. This is similar to the experience of veterans nationwide where the unemployment rate went to 6.5 percent in 2020 from 3.1 percent in 2019. Both veterans and nonveterans experienced higher unemployment rates in 2020 as the pandemic took effect, though the rate did not rise quite as much for nonveterans in Arizona. Jobless rates for nonveterans in Arizona increased 2.8 percentage points to 7.4 percent in 2020 compared to an increase of 4.7 percentage points for veterans. Nationally, the unemployment rate for veterans was lower than that of nonveterans in both 2019 and 2020.
Exhibit 4. Employment status of veterans 18 years and over, annual averages [Numbers in thousands]
Arizona veterans had the second highest unemployment rate of all states for 2020, with only Michigan topping it at 11.3 percent. Other states with 9.0 percent or greater unemployment for veterans were California (9.0 percent), Ohio (9.3 percent), and Nevada (9.4 percent). The states with the lowest unemployment rates for veterans were Nebraska at 2.7 percent and Colorado with 3.5 percent. The unemployment rate in those two states did not change much from one year to the next. Michigan was the state with the largest increase in unemployment rate while Montana was the only state to see a decrease in unemployment rate for veterans for 2020.
Sources
U.S. Census Bureau 2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Annual Business Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation of Veterans
The American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimate is a nationwide rolling-sample survey that produces annual estimates on demographic, social, housing, and economic measures down to small areas of geography.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation jointly conduct Annual Business Survey. It includes all nonfarm employer businesses filing the 941, 944 or 1120 tax forms and provides data on a company or firm basis rather than an establishment basis. The data are compiled by combining data collected on the economic census and administrative records.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation of Veterans report is based on data collected through the Current Population Survey (CPS). The data are released as annual averages compiled from results from the monthly survey and a supplement that collects additional information on veterans co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veteran’s Employment and Training Service. Data are tabulated for persons 18 years of age and older and uses a population model from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans are men and women who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and were not on active duty at the time of the survey.
