U.S. military veterans play an important role in the Idaho workforce and in their local communities. Sometimes veterans tend to be older than their nonveteran counterparts and face a unique set of challenges. Their armed services training often gives veterans specialized and transferrable skills that are marketable in the civilian economy. The employment services offered by the Idaho Department of Labor and its partner agencies also help our veteran population manage some of the challenges they face in the workforce.
Veterans demographics by the numbers
The percentage of Idahoans aged 18 and over claiming veteran status is 8.6%, about 1.3 times the national average [1]. Wartime-era veterans are represented in Figure 1. From a total of 122,000 veterans, this leaves a balance of 16,838 veterans living in Idaho who fall under the “other wartime service” category, including service in Afghanistan, the War on Terror and later conflicts.