Labor Market Earnings of Veterans: Is Time in the Military More Valuable or Less than is Civilian Experience?

Abstract

We provide an updated assessment of the labor market experiences of veterans between 2005 and 2018, documenting three facts. First, we find that male and female veterans receive civilian earnings nearly equivalent to nonveterans, suggesting military experience is valued similarly to foregone civilian experience. Second, veterans are clustered in occupations with below average employment and real earnings growth, and in metropolitan areas with lower levels and growth of GDP per capita. Third, veterans experience lower returns to formal educational investments (e.g., college) than do nonveterans. Veterans realize earnings gains from professional licenses, but their returns are lower than for nonveterans.