OKLAHOMA CITY -- In a first-of-its-kind survey, financial services company USAA and Military.com identified a handful of sites in Texas sites, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania as top towns for military personnel and retirees.
The survey ranked places in five best categories for military retirees. Oklahoma City topped the list for large metro areas and for those with at least 5,000 active-duty personnel; Waco, Texas, for medium metro areas; and San Angelo, Texas, for small metro areas. Waco was named the best place overall for ex-military personnel, with Oklahoma City ranked second.
"We wanted to ensure that we recommended places that enjoyed economic stability and affordable housing and the cost of living is very palatable," said June Walbert, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and a financial planner at USAA. "Oklahoma City just knocked it out of the park in that regard."
The economy and cost of living are two things that have placed Oklahoma City on several recent "top" lists. Forbes named Oklahoma City as America's Most Affordable City.
USAA, a financial services company that serves military and ex-military personnel and their families, and Military.com, a news and membership organization for the military, worked with independent research company Sperling's BestPlaces. Data on 20 variables in 379 metropolitan areas were reviewed.
"If you spend 20-plus years in the military, the idea behind that is that you loved it ... it's a tough act to follow," said Military.com Editor Ward Carroll, a retired Navy navigator.
The Oklahoma City metro area, with a population of 1.2 million, has a median home price of $128,000 and an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent. Ample educational opportunities -- from 13 four-year colleges nearby -- recreation and cultural resources aided the area's ranking, as does the presence of a Veteran Affairs Hospital and Tinker Air Force Base.
A base gives military retirees access to many of the same services they had when they were on active duty, such as a clothing exchange or a commissary. "They can shop at the commissary, the military version of a grocery store, and products are by and large much less expensive there -- in many cases 25 to 30 percent less expensive and no sales taxes on those purchases," Walbert said. "It helps retirees stretch that military pension further."
The only knock on Oklahoma City is that Oklahoma is the only state on the overall best list that taxes military pensions as part of income.
Many of the places on the list -- Waco, Texas; College Station, Texas; Harrisburg, Pa. -- may not be considered a coveted beach-front, mild-climate retirement paradise. Most cities on the list are landlocked and away from popular retirement locations in California, Florida and Arizona.
That's because military retirees are different from their civilian counterparts, Carroll said. There are about 2 million military retirees as of 2009 and projections are for that number to keep growing because of a surge in service members.
Retirees, who often leave the service after 20 or 30 years, retire in their 40s and 50s and are starting new careers, often while caring for young children.
"At age 42 to 46 you're not done working," Carroll said. "Even if you had the means to stop working, you're not done contributing and you're not done raising a family."
The second career means most military retirees should keep in mind where they might want to ultimately retire, Walbert said.
"While they may want to go where the beaches are and to their ultimate retirement destination," she said, "... they need to go where they can have great quality of life plus have a wonderful opportunity for that second career."
RANKINGS: Best places for military retirees
Top large metros (population more than 500,000)
1. Oklahoma City
2. Austin/Round Rock, Texas
3. Harrisburg/Carlisle, Pa.
4. Madison, Wis.
5. Pittsburgh
Top medium metros (population 175,000 to 500,000)
1. Waco, Texas
2. College Station/Bryan, Texas
3. Killeen/Temple/Fort Hood, Texas
4. Gainesville, Fla.
5. Rockingham County/Strafford County, N.H.
Top small metros (population less than 175,000)
1. San Angelo, Texas
2. State College, Pa.
3. Abilene, Texas
4. Lawrence, Kan.
5. Johnstown, Pa.
Top military metros (areas with more than 5,000 active-duty personnel)
1. Oklahoma City
2. San Antonio
3. Killeen/Temple/Fort Hood, Texas
4. Wichita, Kan.
5. Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Fla.
Overall top military retirement places
1. Waco, Texas
2. Oklahoma City
3. Austin/Round Rock, Texas
4. College Station/Bryan, Texas
5. Harrisburg/Carlisle, Pa.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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