As we head into the decennial census, I’d like to toss some numbers at you to see how you fit in. According to the US Census Bureau, there were 23.2 million vets living in the US in 2008. The VA figured there were 23.5 million, but what are 300,000 people? Most vets are men; there are about 1.8 million females. About 9.2 million are 65 or older. Only 1.9 million are under 35. A third of living vets served during the Vietnam era (1964-1975): 7.8 million. About 5.2 million vets served since 1990.
We have about 2.6 million World War II-era vets still with us. Only one World
War I vet survives – Frank Buckles. There are about 2.8 million Korean
War-era vets (1950-1953). About 10% of vets are African-American, 2.3 million.
The second largest population of minority vets is Hispanics, about 1.1 million
of them. About 276,000 are Asian. American Indians and Alaskan Natives boast
160,000 in their ranks. Just about 27,000 vets are Native Hawaiians or other
Pacific Islanders. About 50,000 served in the Vietnam and Gulf War eras. Almost
100,000 served during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. About 245,000 were active
during Korea and Nam. There are 182,000 vets who served during World War II
and Korea. Almost 3/4 of a million vets served during the Gulf War and since
9/11.
Florida is one of five states with a million or more veterans. The Sunshine
State has about 1.75 million veterans. The others are California with just over
2 million, Texas is even with Florida at about 1.7 million, and New York joins
Pennsylvania with about a million veterans each. Just over 25% of vets have
a bachelor’s or higher degree. Slightly more than 90% have high-school
diplomas. The annual median income of a vet is $36,779. About 5.5 million veterans
have some disability. There are 3.4 million with service-connected disability
ratings. Just shy of 600,000 of them are at 70% or higher. The VA says it sends
monthly compensation checks to 227,190 Florida veterans. Just fewer than three
million veterans get compensation for service-connected disabilities. That totaled
about $36.2 billion in 2008. Vets are voters. About 16 million cast ballots
in the 2008 presidential election. That means about 71% of vets voted in that
election, compared with an overall 63% voter turnout.
Vets are entrepreneurs, too. An estimated three million of the nation’s
20.5 million business owners are vets; about 7% of those had a disability, a
result of their service.
As we enter the 2010 election cycle, it’s important for vets to be mindful
that they’re a powerful economic and voting bloc. Florida has just over
18,300,000 residents. Vets make up just fewer than 10% of the state’s
population. Of course, all vets are voting age, meaning they comprise more than
10% of the available votes in the state.
Patrick McCallister
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