Census Bureau Releases New Veteran Employment Outcomes

The U.S. Census Bureau today released an expanded version of Veteran Employment Outcomes (VEO), an experimental data product showing earnings and employment outcomes for veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

Launched in 2020, VEO initially covered labor market outcomes for U.S. Army veterans. The update expands VEO coverage to also include data on Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard veterans discharged between 2002 and 2021. (There are not statistics available yet for members of the Space Force, established in December 2019.) These data show earnings and employment outcomes of more than 2.8 million formerly enlisted service members.

Coverage includes labor market outcomes one, five and 10 years after discharge, by military occupation, rank, demographics, industry and geography of employment. Among the findings, veterans with more specialized military training and work experience had higher civilian earnings and employment rates than infantry and combat veterans.

• Former operational intelligence specialists are among the highest earners after leaving the service. (The U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force have operational intelligence specialists who collect, analyze and disseminate intelligence information; the Coast Guard does not.)
• In their first year after service, Army veterans who were operational intelligence specialists typically had average earnings of $55,000 while former infantry veterans average earnings were $33,000. Veterans of the Navy, Marines and Air Force experienced similar gaps in initial median earnings in their first year after service.
• Former unmanned vehicle systems operators (such as drone operators) also had relatively high pay compared to other military occupations. (Average earnings include $52,000 for Army veterans, $79,000 for Marine Corps veterans, and $83,000 for Air Force veterans.)

• Army and Marine Corps veterans, who were enlisted infantry and gun crews, primarily worked in the Administrative and Support Services and Manufacturing industry sectors.
• The largest share (16%) of new Army and Marine veterans were employed in the Administrative and Support Services sector. The next highest sectors were Retail Trade, Manufacturing and Construction.
• Recent Air Force infantry veterans were most likely to be employed in professional services: 15% had federal government jobs; 15% were employed in Administrative and Support Services; and 14% were employed in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services.

• The global recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 may have affected employment among new Air Force veterans who left service in 2020-2021.
• Air Force veterans had relatively high rates of employment in the Transportation sector, compared to veterans from other branches. (The transportation sector was negatively affected by the pandemic.)
• The share of new Air Force veterans with stable employment was 46% in 2020-2021, nearly the same as the share (47%) in 2018-2019. (Stable employment is defined as having worked at least three quarters in the calendar year and earned at least the equivalent of working full-time at the federal minimum wage.)
• In contrast, the share of new veterans from all other branches with stable employment was 54% in 2020-2021, which was up from 50% in 2018-2019.

The VEO are made possible through data-sharing partnerships between the U.S. Department of Defense, State Labor Market Information offices, and the Census Bureau.

VEO data are currently available at the state and national level.

Visit Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics to learn more and VEO Explorer to access the data.