Veteran Service Deserts
U.S. counties ranked by directory coverage gap (veterans per directory listing), joining U.S. Census ACS 2022 veteran population with the Wounded Warriors open resource directory. It shows where the directory is thinnest, not where services are missing. Free to republish with attribution.
Across the 2,002 U.S. counties with 1,000+ veterans, these are the places where our open resource directory lists the fewest resources per veteran. The 50 counties below are home to 679,625 veterans; the full ranked dataset covers 16,512,796 veterans. Directory coverage gap = veterans per directory listing in the county (higher = thinner directory coverage).
What this does not show: a high gap means the directory lists few resources in that county. It does not mean no services exist there. County veteran service offices, VA clinics and local groups may be missing from the directory, so check local sources before drawing conclusions about a specific county.
Download the full dataset (CSV)
Top 50 counties by directory coverage gap
| # | County | Veterans | Directory listings | Coverage gap | Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Rosa, FL | 24,169 | 17 | 1,342.7 | 8.8% |
| 2 | Powhatan, VA | 2,580 | 1 | 1,290 | 3.9% |
| 3 | Manassas Park city, 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% |
The county with the widest directory gap in every state
Each state's county with the fewest directory listings per veteran. Confirm local services before citing a county.
| State | County | Veterans | Directory listings | Coverage gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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). Directory listings are all listings in the directory on the snapshot date (including records since closed and general providers that accept veterans; a refreshed snapshot limited to active, veteran-focused listings is pending) in the Wounded Warriors open veteran-resource directory, joined by FIPS state/county/tract and aggregated to county level. Only listings geocoded to a census tract are counted; listings without a tract code are left out. Coverage gap = veterans ÷ (directory listings + 1). The score measures directory coverage, not whether services exist. Counties with fewer than 1,000 veterans are excluded. Snapshot generated 2026-06-08. Published by Wounded Warriors, 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.