California is the worst state for military retirees largely because it is unaffordable and not very business friendly, says Odysseas Papadimitriou of CardHub and WalletHub.
"California, for example, is 48th in the country in housing costs and 45th when it comes to the cost of living," Papadimitriou told J.D. Hayworth and Morgan Thompson on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV.
"But also veterans vote with their feet, and veterans per capita basis, it's only 50th in the country in California, and veteran-owned businesses and veteran job opportunity, these are also toward the bottom," he explained
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"So it seems like California doesn't do a great job in terms of providing an affordable way for veterans to live there, but also [struggles in helping] them in terms of educating the employers about the strength that these brave men and women are bringing to the table and how they can help the private workforce," the WalletHub CEO added.
Papadimitriou said that this is also a problem for New York, which is second behind California as the worst states for retired military members, adding that a high cost of living and high housing costs are problems in both states.
Wyoming, however, is the best state for retired veterans to live.
Papadimitriou explained that while WalletHub did not take into account the recent scandal with Veterans Affairs hospitals, one of the factors considered was the number of medical services available for retired military members, and this is one of the reasons Wyoming rose to the top.
"Virginia has more veterans than any other state on a per capita basis and yet has the fewest VA health facilities for the number of veterans that it has," he explained. "It needs to have maybe 10 times more than it has to catch up to Wyoming."
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