Iowa City 7th on list of best places for job-seeking vets

If you're a veteran of the nation's armed services seeking employment, you should consider checking out Iowa City.

A study commissioned by USAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Hiring Our Heroes program ranks the Johnson County community as the seventh best small-sized metropolitan area in the nation for veterans to find civilian employment.

Columbia, Mo., tops the list of metro areas that offer veterans more opportunities to find a military skill-related job. Other Iowa cities included on the list are Waterloo (No. 4) and Sioux City (No. 9).

Billings, Mont. (No. 2); La Crosse, Wis. (No. 3); Morgantown, W.Va. (No. 5); Winchester, Va. (No. 6); Blacksburg, Va. (No. 8), and Oshkosh, Wis. (No. 10), round out the list.

The list of best places for veterans to seek employment was developed by reviewing employment opportunities, overall job climate, presence of colleges or universities and access to Veterans Affairs hospitals for 379 major U.S. metropolitan areas.

Each variable was weighted and each metro area was ranked based on its total points for all variables.

To be considered for this year's list, metropolitan areas had to have an unemployment rate less than 1 percent above the national average, a median cost of living less than 10 percentage points above the national average, and a violent crime rate below the top 10 percent of all metropolitan areas.

Other resources, including USAA's military separation checklist and military separation assessment tool, can help veterans have a smooth transition into civilian life.