These are the 2020 ‘Best Cities After Service’ brought to you by Navy Federal

Learning to live everywhere is a unique skill military families possess, yet when it comes to determining the infamous final move, infinite possibilities make going home quite complicated. Complicated just got a lot easier thanks to Navy Federal’s 2020 “Best Cities After Service” list.

Determining America’s top choices for veterans took into consideration feedback from over 1,000 military and civilians analyzing metrics such as crime, VA options, recreation, cost of living and job opportunities specific to veteran employment trends.

Clay Stackhouse, Regional Outreach Manager for Navy Federal explained, “The list was created after considering COVID’s impact on the job market and daily life. With remote work possibilities on the rise, the need to live in big cities simply for work is not there.” Great news for often-tight, post-service budgets.

Compared to the 2018 best cities list, which had a large heartland concentration, the biggest switch has been giving more weight to the location itself. It seems like as the globe slowed to a screeching halt this year, the world and military community alike took inventory of what makes life actually meaningful. So, move over economics, it’s time to take a hike—literally.

While work-life balance may have gone to the wayside when the mission came first, civilian life holds endless possibilities to truly dig into a place, experiencing and enjoying everything it has to offer.

Several southern coastal cities made the cut, offering charm at a much more affordable price point compared to San Diego, which came in at number six. If four seasons are more your style, consider living in Duluth, the “craft beer capital of Minnesota” or surrounding yourself with rivers and seafood staples in Norwich.

Small town America is making a comeback, evident in many of the top choices. Also on the rise are mid-sized cities like Fort Worth, bringing big city perks and strong business networking opportunities to the table without having to squeeze your family into a 5th-floor walk-up.

Stackhouse explains that no matter where you live, it is the Veteran community that makes a place truly great, not the other way around. All of the cities on this year’s list have strong Veteran communities ready to support incoming service members and their families. Ready to help them navigate this transition successfully.  

“You never do anything in the military alone, no matter how small your unit is,” says Stackhouse. Choosing any one of the cities on this list is stepping forward into a community vetted by the best of your own.