Only one California city has made it to the top 10 places for veterans to live, according to a new study.In a WalletHub ranking of the best and worst places for veterans to live, Irvine was the only California city to crack the top 10.Irvine placed 10th in the 2026 rankings with a score of 62.45 out of 100. Meanwhile, Austin, Texas, was the highest-ranked city with 66.89 and Detroit, Michigan, finished last with a score of just 27.77.Irvine’s strongest showing came in the health category, where it tied for third ov...
Only one California city has made it to the top 10 places for veterans to live, according to a new study.
In a WalletHub ranking of the best and worst places for veterans to live, Irvine was the only California city to crack the top 10.
Irvine placed 10th in the 2026 rankings with a score of 62.45 out of 100. Meanwhile, Austin, Texas, was the highest-ranked city with 66.89 and Detroit, Michigan, finished last with a score of just 27.77.
Irvine’s strongest showing came in the health category, where it tied for third overall. The city ranked 16th for employment and 30th for quality of life. However, it finished closer to the middle of the pack in terms of the economy at 47th.
Veterans Day is coming up! To celebrate, WalletHub ranked the cities that provide the best living conditions for those who have served our country. Check out the results here: https://t.co/hiqexF9dEf https://t.co/Z17YCL7wf0
— WalletHub (@wallethub) November 2, 2026
The city of San Diego was California’s second-highest representative, placing 17th overall with a score of 60.70. It was bolstered by its sixth-place ranking for quality of life, which was San Diego’s best showing across the four categories. San Jose came in 27th overall with 57.11 and led all 100 cities in employment, though it ranked 86th for economy. Chula Vista and Fremont also made the top 40, placing 36th and 38th, respectively.
Farther down the list, San Francisco ranked 64th with 48.71, and Los Angeles placed 82nd with 45.32. Long Beach finished 85th despite ranking second for health. It placed last in the economy category. Fresno and Stockton were the only California cities in the bottom 10 overall.
To assemble their rankings, WalletHub compared the 100 U.S. cities with the highest populations across four categories: employment, economy, quality of life, and health. The measures included veteran unemployment, housing affordability, access to VA health facilities and the availability of jobs that match skills one might have gained in the military.
WalletHub assessed each measure on a 100-point scale and subsequently calculated a weighted average to determine each city’s overall score. It used city limits, rather than metropolitan areas, to define the places it studied, and some measures relied on state-level data.