Madison has landed the No. 2 spot on a national ranking of the best U.S. cities for veterans in 2026, with rising incomes and a relatively low rate of homelessness among former service members. The city also ranked fourth in economy and eighth in employment among the 100 largest U.S. cities surveyed.
The ranking comes from WalletHub, which compared the 100 most populated U.S. cities across employment, economy, quality of life and health using 19 separate metrics, according to WalletHub. Madison, Wisconsin, was named the second-best city for veterans overall, trailing only Austin, Texas, which took the top spot. As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Madison was listed second overall, ranking fourth in economy and eighth in employment.
Scottsdale, Arizona, came in third, followed by Plano, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Gilbert, Arizona; Raleigh, North Carolina; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Irvine, California, rounding out the top 10. The timing lines up with Veterans Day, which falls on Wednesday, Nov. 11, this year.
Income Growth and Low Unemployment Drive the Ranking
Veterans’ median annual income in Madison grows by an average of about 8% a year, the sixth-highest rate in the country, the Journal Sentinel reported. Madison also posted the 20th-highest median annual veteran income nationally, at more than $59,000, per the same report. A separate WalletHub-related account from WeAreGreenBay, published in 2025 and covering an earlier ranking edition, cited a different figure, putting Madison’s veteran income growth at roughly 9% annually, which it described as the nation’s fourth-highest rate…