The U.S. counties where many veterans live but few resources serve them — ranked by gap score (veterans per existing resource), joining U.S. Census ACS 2022 veteran population with the Warriors Fund open resource directory. Free to republish with attribution.
Across the 2,002 U.S. counties with 1,000+ veterans, these are the places where the most veterans are served by the fewest resources. The 50 most under-served counties below are home to 679,625 veterans; the full ranked dataset covers 16,512,796 veterans. Gap score = veterans per existing directory resource (higher = more under-served).
Download the full dataset (CSV)
| # | County | Veterans | Resources | Gap score | Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Rosa, FL | 24,169 | 17 | 1,342.7 | 8.8% |
| 2 | Powhatan, VA | 2,580 | 1 | 1,290 | 3.9% |
| 3 | FIPS 51685, VA | 1,165 | 0 | 1,165 | 4.5% |
| 4 | Northumberland, VA | 1,096 | 0 | 1,096 | 10.8% |
| 5 | Okaloosa, FL | 32,126 | 30 | 1,036.3 | 10% |
| 6 | Island, WA | 10,887 | 10 | 989.7 | 6.2% |
| 7 | Bullitt, KY | 5,649 | 5 | 941.5 | 10.6% |
| 8 | Charles, MD | 16,942 | 17 | 941.2 | 5.6% |
| 9 | Lyon, NV | 6,023 | 6 | 860.4 | 11.6% |
| 10 | Fauquier, VA | 5,865 | 6 | 837.9 | 5.8% |
| 11 | Baker, OR | 1,657 | 1 | 828.5 | 13.3% |
| 12 | Flagler, FL | 10,698 | 12 | 822.9 | 9.3% |
| 13 | Isle of Wight, VA | 4,834 | 5 | 805.7 | 9.4% |
| 14 | Calvert, MD | 7,989 | 9 | 798.9 | 4.5% |
| 15 | Poquoson, VA | 1,548 | 1 | 774 | 3.2% |
| 16 | Bandera, TX | 2,275 | 2 | 758.3 | 13.5% |
| 17 | Orange, VA | 3,025 | 3 | 756.3 | 12.7% |
| 18 | Harford, MD | 18,822 | 24 | 752.9 | 7.8% |
| 19 | St. Mary's, MD | 11,968 | 15 | 748 | 7.1% |
| 20 | King George, VA | 2,966 | 3 | 741.5 | 7.7% |
| 21 | Naugatuck Valley, CT | 19,175 | 25 | 737.5 | 10.9% |
| 22 | Prince William, VA | 42,372 | 57 | 730.6 | 6.1% |
| 23 | Currituck, NC | 3,603 | 4 | 720.6 | 7.1% |
| 24 | San Jacinto, TX | 2,132 | 2 | 710.7 | 15.7% |
| 25 | Loudoun, VA | 23,111 | 32 | 700.3 | 3.9% |
| 26 | Northwest Hills, CT | 5,559 | 7 | 694.9 | 9.6% |
| 27 | Paulding, GA | 9,654 | 13 | 689.6 | 7.1% |
| 28 | Southeastern Connecticut, CT | 19,946 | 28 | 687.8 | 9.1% |
| 29 | New Kent, VA | 2,042 | 2 | 680.7 | 3.8% |
| 30 | Guadalupe, TX | 18,370 | 26 | 680.4 | 9% |
| 31 | Sumter, FL | 18,317 | 26 | 678.4 | 10.4% |
| 32 | Clark, WA | 33,836 | 49 | 676.7 | 9.4% |
| 33 | Thurston, WA | 28,374 | 42 | 659.9 | 8.9% |
| 34 | St. Johns, FL | 21,667 | 32 | 656.6 | 7% |
| 35 | Howard, MD | 15,684 | 23 | 653.5 | 5.2% |
| 36 | Jefferson, FL | 1,300 | 1 | 650 | 13.5% |
| 37 | Pierce, WA | 80,207 | 123 | 646.8 | 8.9% |
| 38 | Clarke, VA | 1,280 | 1 | 640 | 4.8% |
| 39 | Greater Bridgeport, CT | 8,703 | 13 | 621.6 | 14.8% |
| 40 | Rockingham, VA | 4,301 | 6 | 614.4 | 8.6% |
| 41 | Marion, FL | 35,429 | 57 | 610.8 | 14.5% |
| 42 | Bryan, GA | 4,223 | 6 | 603.3 | 7.8% |
| 43 | Columbia, OR | 4,722 | 7 | 590.3 | 9.4% |
| 44 | Stafford, VA | 19,956 | 33 | 586.9 | 5.6% |
| 45 | Snohomish, WA | 48,569 | 82 | 585.2 | 7.3% |
| 46 | Hernando, FL | 19,459 | 33 | 572.3 | 12.6% |
| 47 | Westmoreland, VA | 1,716 | 2 | 572 | 15.4% |
| 48 | Warren, MO | 2,852 | 4 | 570.4 | 10.2% |
| 49 | Geary, KS | 4,551 | 7 | 568.9 | 18% |
| 50 | Northeastern Connecticut, CT | 6,231 | 10 | 566.5 | 8.1% |
Each state's single most under-served county by gap score — a localizing stat for any region.
| State | Most under-served county | Veterans | Resources | Gap score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | Santa Rosa | 24,169 | 17 | 1,342.7 |
| Virginia | Powhatan | 2,580 | 1 | 1,290 |
| Washington | Island | 10,887 | 10 | 989.7 |
| Kentucky | Bullitt | 5,649 | 5 | 941.5 |
| Maryland | Charles | 16,942 | 17 | 941.2 |
| Nevada | Lyon | 6,023 | 6 | 860.4 |
| Oregon | Baker | 1,657 | 1 | 828.5 |
| Texas | Bandera | 2,275 | 2 | 758.3 |
| Connecticut | Naugatuck Valley | 19,175 | 25 | 737.5 |
| North Carolina | Currituck | 3,603 | 4 | 720.6 |
| Georgia | Paulding | 9,654 | 13 | 689.6 |
| Missouri | Warren | 2,852 | 4 | 570.4 |
| Kansas | Geary | 4,551 | 7 | 568.9 |
| South Carolina | Dorchester | 15,285 | 26 | 566.1 |
| Utah | Tooele | 3,797 | 6 | 542.4 |
| Oklahoma | Wagoner | 6,423 | 11 | 535.3 |
| New Mexico | Valencia | 6,193 | 11 | 516.1 |
| Arizona | Pinal | 35,571 | 69 | 508.2 |
| Colorado | Elbert | 2,380 | 4 | 476 |
| Tennessee | Montgomery | 29,129 | 62 | 462.4 |
| Maine | Lincoln | 3,086 | 6 | 440.9 |
| Nebraska | Sarpy | 18,063 | 40 | 440.6 |
| West Virginia | Jefferson | 4,704 | 10 | 427.6 |
| Alabama | Russell | 5,728 | 13 | 409.1 |
| Minnesota | Anoka | 18,180 | 44 | 404 |
| Mississippi | DeSoto | 10,358 | 25 | 398.4 |
| Wisconsin | Columbia | 3,554 | 8 | 394.9 |
| Montana | Jefferson | 1,171 | 2 | 390.3 |
| New York | Schoharie | 1,865 | 4 | 373 |
| California | Calaveras | 3,691 | 9 | 369.1 |
| Idaho | Elmore | 4,021 | 10 | 365.5 |
| Alaska | Matanuska-Susitna | 10,934 | 29 | 364.5 |
| Puerto Rico | Toa Baja | 2,092 | 5 | 348.7 |
| Delaware | Sussex | 17,956 | 51 | 345.3 |
| Arkansas | Greene | 3,046 | 8 | 338.4 |
| Indiana | Jennings | 1,968 | 5 | 328 |
| Michigan | Barry | 3,577 | 10 | 325.2 |
| New Hampshire | Sullivan | 3,141 | 9 | 314.1 |
| Ohio | Greene | 15,077 | 47 | 314.1 |
| Pennsylvania | Armstrong | 4,631 | 14 | 308.7 |
| Hawaii | Honolulu | 68,811 | 224 | 305.8 |
| South Dakota | Lawrence | 2,317 | 7 | 289.6 |
| New Jersey | Sussex | 6,349 | 21 | 288.6 |
| Illinois | Menard | 1,060 | 3 | 265 |
| Iowa | Page | 1,232 | 4 | 246.4 |
| Louisiana | Ascension | 5,573 | 22 | 242.3 |
| Wyoming | Sublette | 1,026 | 4 | 205.2 |
| Rhode Island | Newport | 6,730 | 35 | 186.9 |
| North Dakota | Ward | 5,596 | 30 | 180.5 |
| Massachusetts | Barnstable | 15,633 | 90 | 171.8 |
| Vermont | Addison | 1,837 | 10 | 167 |
| District of Columbia | District of Columbia | 21,665 | 708 | 30.6 |
Methodology. Veteran counts are U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2022 5-year tract estimates (public domain). Resource counts are verified records from the Warriors Fund open veteran-resource directory, joined by FIPS state/county/tract and aggregated to county level. Gap score = veterans ÷ (directory resources + 1). Counties with fewer than 1,000 veterans are excluded. Snapshot generated 2026-06-08. Published by Wounded Warriors (Warriors Fund), a Texas 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 86-1336741. Open data under CC BY 4.0 — free to republish with attribution to warriorsfund.org. Reporters + researchers: ready-made citation formats (APA, MLA, news). Companion state-level view: veteran resource coverage map.