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About 1.7 Million Korean War Veterans in the U.S. and Puerto Rico
Sixty-five years after the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, there are 1.7 million Korean War veterans living in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The armistice was signed in July 1953 but Congress extended the period of involvement for veterans benefits to January 1955. Almost 6 million men and women served during the Korean War era where U.S. involvement began in July 1950.
The median age of Korean War veterans is 84 years and nearly all are men (97.4 percent). While large states like California, Florida and Texas have the highest number of Korean War veterans, Puerto Rico has the highest percentage of all veterans who served in the Korean War (18.5 percent), and Alaska has the lowest (3.0 percent).
A higher percentage of Korean War veterans (39.2 percent) use VA health care and a lower percentage have a service-connected disability (13.6 percent), compared with all other veterans (34.5 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively).
Approximately 5 percent of Korean War veterans also served in World War II, while about 10 percent of Korean War veterans went on to serve during the Vietnam Era.
Kelly Ann Holder is survey statistician in the Census Bureau’s Demographic Programs Directorate.
America Counts Story
Three-fourths of Female Veterans Served During Wartime
Nearly all of female veterans under the age of 45 have served in a time of war. The post-9/11 cohort now makes up 35.8 percent of female veterans.
America Counts Story
Veterans Who Have Served Since 9/11 Are More Diverse
It's the 15th and 17th anniversaries of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Here's a Census profile of the 3.3 million veterans who served since September 11, 2001.
America Counts Story
How Working-Age Female Veterans Compare With Female Nonveterans
New research highlights characteristics of women veterans in three age groups and compares them to nonveteran women.
Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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