Orange County's veterans skew older than San Antonio's

In a checkout line in Orange County, the adult standing beside you is less likely to have served in the military than the typical Floridian.

Veterans make up 5.2% of Orange County's civilian adults, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimates for 2020 through 2024. That works out to about 60,655 veterans, give or take 2,440.

The figures arrive with Veterans Day on Nov. 11 just weeks away. They are the freshest local look at how many veterans live in the county and how old they are.

For veterans' groups, clinics and county programs, both pieces matter. The headcount shows how many people they may reach. The age mix shows who those people are.

The survey paints a county whose veterans are a smaller slice of the adult population than in the state or the nation. But compared with San Antonio, Orange County's veterans are older as a group.

Below Florida and the U.S.

Statewide, veterans make up 7.4% of Florida's civilian adults. Orange County's share is 2.1 percentage points lower than that.

That gap is not a quirk of the survey. It is statistically significant, meaning it is large enough that the difference is very likely real and not the product of which households happened to answer.

Nationally, veterans are 6.2% of civilian adults. Orange County sits 1.0 percentage point below the U.S. mark, also a statistically significant difference.

Florida's own share runs above the nation's. So Orange County trails a state that already stands out for its veteran population.

The Chronicle also compared Orange County with the principal counties of the metros it most resembles: Hillsborough (Tampa), Mecklenburg (Charlotte), Travis (Austin), Bexar (San Antonio) and Clark (Las Vegas).

The widest gap is with San Antonio. In Bexar County, Texas, veterans make up 9.6% of civilian adults, 4.3 percentage points above Orange County's share.

Charlotte looks much more like Central Florida. In Mecklenburg County, N.C., veterans make up 5.0% of civilian adults.

The difference between Mecklenburg and Orange counties is within the margin of error. The survey cannot say which county truly has the larger veteran share.

Ranked from highest veteran share to lowest among the peer counties, Orange County lands 4th. It sits ahead of Charlotte on paper but well behind San Antonio.

The survey does not explain why Orange County's share runs below the state's and the nation's. It measures where veterans live, not what brought them there or kept them away.

An older group of veterans

The county's veterans lean older. An estimated 39.5% of them are seniors, or about 23,960 people.

In the survey's oldest age bracket are 19.4% of the county's veterans. Those residents are a sizable group on their own.

San Antonio's veterans skew younger. In Bexar County, 35.2% of veterans are seniors, putting Orange County's senior share 4.3 percentage points higher.

That gap passes the standard test for statistical significance, though not by a wide margin. The margin of error around it is broad, so the exact size of the difference is uncertain.

The Chronicle's method for estimating that margin errs on the cautious side. The true uncertainty may be somewhat smaller than the chart suggests.

The data does not say which services the county's veterans use or need. It does show that a large share of them are seniors, a detail planners can weigh alongside the overall count.

Put together, the numbers describe a veteran community that is a modest share of a big county's adults, but a substantial group in raw numbers and older than its counterpart in San Antonio.

What to watch

Veterans Day falls on Nov. 11. It is the day of the year when the county's veterans are most visible, and these figures give a sense of how many people that recognition reaches.

This analysis covers Orange County only. Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties round out Central Florida, and their veteran populations are not measured here.

The next round of American Community Survey estimates will add another year of responses. That could sharpen the comparison with Charlotte, where the gap is too small to call today, and show whether the senior share of Orange County's veterans keeps holding at its current level.

How we did this

The Chronicle used the Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimates for 2020 through 2024 to measure veterans as a share of civilian adults in Orange County, Florida, the U.S. and the principal counties of peer metros: Hillsborough, Mecklenburg, Travis, Bexar and Clark. We tested each difference against the survey's margins of error and also compared the share of veterans who are seniors in Orange and Bexar counties. Orange County's veteran count of 60,655 carries a margin of error of 2,440.

Veteran: A civilian adult who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, reserves or National Guard in the past but is not serving now. Civilian adults: Adults who are not currently on active military duty. Seniors: In this story, veterans in the survey's age groups starting at the traditional retirement age. Percentage point: The simple gap between one percentage and another, not a percent change. Margin of error: The range above and below an estimate where the true number likely falls. Statistically significant: A difference large enough that it is very likely real rather than a result of which households were surveyed.

Limitations

• These are survey estimates, not a full count. They come from a sample of households, so each number has a margin of error, a range the true figure likely falls within.
• The estimates pool responses collected from 2020 through 2024. They describe the period as a whole, not any single year, and cannot show a recent change.
• The data counts civilian veterans only. People currently on active duty are not included.
• The gap between Orange and Mecklenburg counties is within the margin of error, so the survey cannot say which has the larger veteran share.
• The margin of error on the Orange-Bexar age comparison was estimated with a cautious method, so that difference is less precise than the headline shares.
• The data shows how many veterans live in each place and how old they are. It does not explain why shares differ or what services veterans use.
• Only Orange County is covered locally. Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties are not part of this analysis.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey: Sex by Age by Veteran Status for the Civilian Population 18 Years and Over (ACS 5-year 2020–2024), latest period 2024; retrieved Oct. 15, 2026. Data