Veteran Families in America

RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute

Veteran Families in America

Households by Veteran Status (2022)

A veteran is a former service member who has served on active duty in the past and is not currently on active duty. In this analysis, a veteran household is defined as a household where the head of household or their spouse (if present) is a veteran.

• Nonveteran households: 88.6%
• Veteran households: 11.4%

There were approximately 14.3 million veteran households in the United States as of 2022.

Most Common Veteran Household Type

• Veterans married to nonveterans: 65.2%
• Single veterans: 28.9%
• Veterans in partnerships: 3.1%
• Veterans married to veterans: 2.7%

A larger percentage of veteran households (71.1 percent) include two adults (head of household and spouse or partner) compared with nonveteran households (52.3 percent).

Among veteran households, marriage between veterans and nonveterans is the most common, accounting for 65.2 percent of marriages of households.

Marriage in Relation to Active Service

• Married after leaving active duty: 53%
• Married during active duty: 44.5%
• Married before active duty: 2.6%

More than half (53 percent) of married veteran couples married after the service member transitioned from active duty (i.e., became a veteran).

This is approximately 9 percentage points higher than the share of veteran married couples who married while the service member was on active duty.

Median Total Family Incomes for Married Couples Younger Than 55, by Veteran Status

Veteran households, both dual (two veterans) and non-dual (one veteran), outearn currently serving and civilian household counterparts.

Median total family income ($)

• Civilian
  • Both employed: $133,711
  • One employed, one unemployed: $82,069
  • One employed, one NILF: $81,834
  • One unemployed, one NILF: $36,200
  • Both unemployed: $41, 400
  • Both NILF: $29,100
• Active, non-dual
  • Both employed: $110,000
  • One employed, one unemployed: $68,894
  • One employed, one NILF: $71,124
• Veteran, non-dual
  • Both employed: $141,060
  • One employed, one unemployed: $92,124
  • One employed, one NILF: $97,000
  • One unemployed, one NILF: $54,504
  • Both unemployed: $60,736
  • Both NILF: $50,062
• Veteran, dual
  • Both employed: $163,046
  • One employed, one unemployed: $109,132
  • One employed, one NILF: $112,307
  • One unemployed, one NILF: $71,830
  • Both unemployed: $60,531
  • Both NILF: $81,586

SOURCE: Authors' estimates using 2018–2022 five-year American Community Survey microdata downloaded via Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Matthew Sobek, Daniel Backman, Annie Chen, Grace Cooper, Stephanie Richards, Renae Rodgers, and Megan Schouweiler, “IPUMS USA: Version 15.0,” dataset, 2024.

NOTES: NILF = Not In Labor Force. Age of a household is determined by the older of the head of household and spouse (if present). Partnerships not included in this analysis.

This infographic describes work done in the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute and documented in Veteran Families in America, by Daniel Schwam, Meredith Kleykamp, and Kayla M. Williams, RR-A1363-19, 2024 (available at www.rand.org/t/RRA1363-19). To view this infographic online, visit www.rand.org/t/IGA1363-5.

2025 RAND Corporation

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