Tampa Top City in U.S. for Military Veterans to Live

Tampa, Florida is one of the top U.S. cities for U.S. military veterans to live, says a well-known study. 

The 2020 WalletHub study ranked Tampa as the third-best city in the nation, after the 2019 study ranked the city No. 1.

The study ranks the 100 largest U.S. cities on livability, affordability, and veteran-friendliness. The research compared the cities using 20 indicators in four categories: employment, economy, quality of life, and health. Tampa scores high on indicators like veteran income growth, veteran-owned businesses and military skill-related jobs.

“I 100 percent agree with the study,” said U.S. Army veteran George Vera. “Of all the cities I’ve lived in, Tampa is by far the best for veterans,” he said, adding that he comes from a military family. “I’ve never known a veteran who doesn’t love Tampa.”

William Ryan Homes Tampa Division, in partnership with Building Homes for Heroes, gifted Master Sgt. Vera, his wife, Angela, and their daughter, Isabella, with a mortgage-free William Ryan home in Tampa. Master Sgt. Vera has a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for his service.

Building Homes for Heroes is a national nonprofit organization that builds and gifts mortgage-free homes, along with completing home modifications for special needs, for veterans serving after September 11, 2011 in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Together with Building Homes for Heroes, William Ryan Homes Tampa Division has built six new, fully-adapted, mortgage-free homes that have been gifted to severely injured veterans in Tampa. 

The Vera family home is a 2-story, 4-bedroom, 3-bath in Lago Del Ray, a William Ryan Homes Tampa Division community in Land O’Lakes that sold out in 2016. The home has a bonus room and full bath upstairs (occupied by daughter Isabella).

William Ryan Homes Tampa has been building homes for more than 15 years in the Tampa Bay area. The homebuilder has homes available in seven new home neighborhoods in four counties: Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Hernando. Prices range from the mid $200s to over $600,000. William Ryan Homes Tampa has built more than 1,700 homes in the greater Tampa Bay area. 

About George Vera

George Vera was in his 20th year of service in 2015 when his base came under attack from a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) driven by suicide bombers. Master Sgt. Vera was shot as he pulled wounded soldiers away from enemy fire. He suffered a spinal cord injury that resulted in paralysis as well as losing function of vital organs like his kidney, liver and intestines.

For his service to his country, Master Sgt. Vera has been awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, the Ranger tab, Special Forces tab, Combat Infantry Badge, Expert Infantry Badge and the Air Assault Badge.