Labor Market Trends Among U.S. Veterans

Megan S. Schuler, Aimee Bower, Carrie M. Farmer, Jessica Phillips, Rajeev Ramchand

Data VizPublished Nov 5, 2025

RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute

Labor Market Trends Among U.S. Veterans

Unemployment Rate

Veterans have consistently lower unemployment rates than nonveterans, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Versus Private Sector

Veterans are nearly twice as likely as nonveterans to work in the public sector.

  Veterans Nonveterans
20192.9%3.9%
20204.1%4.5%
20215.2%6.3%
20222.3%3.8%
20232.3%3.7%
20242.8%3.9%

Race/Ethnicity

Across all racial and ethnic groups, veterans have lower unemployment rates than nonveterans.

  Veterans Nonveterans
White2.8%3.1%
Black2.7%6.8%
Hispanic/Latino3.3%4.7%
Multiracial/other race2.0%3.8%

Public Versus Private Sector

Veterans are nearly twice as likely as nonveterans to work in the public sector.

  Veterans Nonveterans
Public24%13%
Private76%87%

Higher Education

Veterans are less likely to be enrolled in college but more likely to be employed while enrolled.

  Veterans Nonveterans
enrolled in college8.2%10.0%
working while in school55.3%52.7%

Top Employment Industries

Veterans are more likely to work in public administration and manufacturing, and nonveterans are more concentrated in health care, retail, and education.

Veterans

  1. Public administration: 15%
  2. Manufacturing: 13%
  3. Professional, scientific, and technical services: 9%
  4. Transportation and warehousing: 9%
  5. Health care and social assistance: 9%

Nonveterans

  1. Health care and social assistance: 15%
  2. Retail trade: 10%
  3. Educational service: 9%
  4. Manufacturing: 9%
  5. Professional, scientific, and technical services: 8%

SOURCE: Features information from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, 2024. Time trends shown for 2019-2024.

NOTE: All figures reflect 2024 data, unless otherwise indicated.

This infographic describes work done in RAND Education and Labor and documented in A Summary of Veteran-Related Statistics: Second Edition, by Megan S. Schuler, Aimee Bower, Carrie M. Farmer, Jessica Phillips, and Rajeev Ramchand, RR-A1363-5-v2, 2025 (available at www.rand.org/t/RRA1363-5-v2). To view this infographic online, visit www.rand.org/t/IGA1363-3-v2. This infographic is an update to a prior RAND infographic (IG-A1363-3) to reflect more-recent national data.

© 2025 RAND Corporation

IG-A1363-3-v2

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Schuler, Megan S., Aimee Bower, Carrie M. Farmer, Jessica Phillips, and Rajeev Ramchand, Labor Market Trends Among U.S. Veterans. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/infographics/IGA1363-3-v2.html.
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Funding for this publication was made possible by a generous gift from Daniel J. Epstein through the Epstein Family Foundation. The research was conducted by the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute within RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

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Version Note

This publication supersedes a previous version published in 2023 (IG-A1363-3).