{"id":40476,"date":"2018-05-24T15:20:48","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T15:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/24\/there-are-3142-counties-in-the-us-this-one-has-zero-veterans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:46:14","slug":"there-are-3142-counties-in-the-us-this-one-has-zero-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2018\/05\/24\/there-are-3142-counties-in-the-us-this-one-has-zero-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"There are 3,142 counties in the US. This one has zero veterans."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veterans live in all but one of the 3,142 counties across the U.S., according to a recent data analysis \u2015 only the smallest in the nation comes up short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kalawao County, Hawaii, had 88 residents in 2016, according to a U.S. Census Bureau estimate<\/a>. The bureau said it also had a half-dozen veteran residents between 2012 and 2016, but according to an analysis conducted by Purdue University\u2019s Military Family Research Institute, that number rested at zero in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Areas of that county were developed and used for more than 100 years for the quarantine and treatment of people with Hansen\u2019s Disease, also known as leprosy, before a cure was developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Texas counties, Loving and King, had two or three veteran residents, based on data from the Veterans Affairs Department used by the researchers. Those counties had 113 and 289 residents, respectively, in 2016, per census figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data analysis was conducted for a report released May 14: \u201cMeasuring Our Communities: The State of Military and Veteran Families in the United States<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers said these numbers are based on 2015-2016 data sources, so when 2017 data is released, it may show the population has shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the end of the spectrum sits Elmore County, Idaho, which leads the nation in number of veterans per capita at 45 percent of its approximately 27,000 residents. That\u2019s even more impressive considering that the active-duty service members stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base<\/a>, located within the county, don\u2019t count toward the veteran total.<\/p>\n\n\n\t