Arizona Veterans Benefits – The Insider’s Guide

Hey, Veterans! My team and I here at VA Claims Insider have put together this Insider’s Guide covering the Arizona Veterans Benefits you can expect if you live in the Copper state!

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services (ADVS) administers a wide range of Arizona state benefits for disabled veterans, such as free benefits and disability claims counseling, state veteran homes, health care, education, pension, home loans and property taxes, insurance, recreational discounts, employment, and legal advice, among others.

You can visit the ADVS website to learn more about the activities, services, and benefits they can assist with if you are an in-state Veteran or family member of an Arizona disabled veteran. But first, let’s jump into all the Veteran benefits and VA benefits the Grand Canyon State has in store for you!

Overview of Arizona Military Life

Arizona’s veteran population ranks 13th largest according to the most recent available data from the U.S. Census Bureau (released in July 2019):

• Adult Population: 5.4 million (15th)
• Veteran Population: 480,778 (13th)

Arizona ranks in the top 20 for highest unemployment for vets, and is in the upper 20 states with veterans below poverty level.

• Veteran Unemployment: 4.8% (15th overall)
• Veteran Poverty Rate: 7.3% (18th)

Arizona also is in the upper half of states with disabled veterans. 

• Veterans with a Disability: 30.0% (4th)

Other economic factors to consider are that Arizona ranks right in the middle of states when it comes to cost of living (ranking 26th). It is also one of the 15 most expensive states when it comes to housing affordability (housing affordability ranking: 37th). 

Overall, Arizona is only ranked 34th when it comes to an economic environment for veterans. Part of this is because the median income of veterans in Arizona is $36,053, which is in the lower average of states.

Despite this Arizona ranks high for overall quality of life (11th overall). Veterans love living in Arizona, many for its year long warm weather and natural beauty. Even though it ranks in the lowest 10 states for veteran health care (44th), Arizona has a good number of VA locations with 29 and 9 military bases. All of these factors play into why Arizona has one of the larger percentages of a veteran population (9%). 

With all that said, let’s take a closer look at the benefits for disabled veterans in Arizona. 

Arizona VA Benefits Overview

Veterans Benefits Administration- Pacific District

Arizona Veterans Benefits: Financial Benefits 

Income Tax

Federal (Civil Service or Military Retirement) payments (including SBP) of up to $3,500.00 per year are tax-free.

Property Tax

The property tax of widows, widowers, and disabled persons may be waived in certain cases. Contact your County Assessor office for eligibility

Vehicle License Tax and Registration Fees

No license tax or registration fee is collected from any 100% service-connected disabled veteran for a personally owned vehicle. A veteran residing in Arizona is exempt from a vehicle license tax on a vehicle acquired by the veteran through financial aid from the VA. This also applies to the surviving spouse, if the veteran dies, until they remarry.

Arizona Military Family Relief Fund

The Arizona Military Family Relief Fund (MFRF) was established by the Arizona Legislature in 2007 to provide financial assistance to the families of currently deployed service members and Post-9/11 Military and Veteran Families for hardships caused by the service member’s deployment after September 11, 2001.

Eligibility Requirements

Service Members and Veterans discharged under honorable conditions who meet all of the following criteria may be eligible for financial assistance:

Deployment by the service member or Veteran

Military deployment is the movement of armed forces. Deployment includes any movement from a military service member’s home station to somewhere outside the continental U.S. and its territories.

Arizona Residency (one of the following must apply to the service member or veteran)

• Claimed Arizona as home of record OR
• Member of Arizona National Guard at time of deployment OR
• Deployed from an Arizona military installation

Financial Hardship (one of the following must apply):

• For veterans: must demonstrate that a deployment caused their current financial hardship
• For family members of a service member: must demonstrate that a financial hardship is due to the service member’s current deployment
• For surviving families: service member or Veteran died or was wounded in the line of duty and family members need financial assistance with travel and living expenses
  (If a widow, widower or dependent child of a deceased service member is applying for financial assistance, the service member must have died in the line of duty in a combat zone or a zone where the person was receiving hazardous duty pay). 

Financial assistance from the Arizona Military Family Relief Funds are determined by MFRF Advisory Committees, which are comprised of twelve members appointed by the Governor, as well as the ADVS Director or the Director’s designee. The Pre-9/11 and Post-9/11 MFRF have separate advisory committees. One-time emergency financial assistance is available for first-time applicants through the Pre-9/11 or Post-9/11 MFRF Emergency Committee, which is comprised of five of the Advisory Committee members.

Arizona Veterans Benefits: Housing & Healthcare

Arizona State Veteran Home – Phoenix

ASVH-PHX is a 200-bed Medicare-certified, skilled-nursing care facility for eligible Arizona veterans, located in central Phoenix, near Indian School Rd and 3rd Street, at:

4141 North S. Herrera Way, Phoenix, AZ 85012 Telephone: 602-248-1550

ASVH-PHX serves the long-term care and rehabilitative needs of the veterans of Arizona, with energetic and caring staff whose members provide nursing, therapeutic recreation, and social services to those who have served our nation.

Arizona State Veteran Home – Tucson

Arizona’s newest State Veterans Home is located by the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (VA Hospital) in Tucson. 

AZ STATE VETERANS HOME: 555 East Ajo Way Tucson, AZ 85713 Telephone: 520-638-2150

This facility is a 120-bed skilled-nursing facility offering many amenities to Arizona’s veterans such as all private rooms, full baths, and selective dining in a home-like environment.

Arizona Veterans Benefits: Employment

ADVS Veteran Toolkit Program

July 2017 (revised July 2018): The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services is proud to launch the Veteran Tool Kit Program. It was created to help unemployed veterans get the supplies they need to start working. Surveyed veterans repeatedly said they were ready to work, but needed a few things to get them there, ranging from boots and tools to bicycles.

State Hiring Preference

Veterans who pass an examination for employment by the state, county or city will have 5 points added to their certification score. The veteran must have served for more than six months and have an honorable discharge.

Honorably discharged veterans getting VA disability compensation will have 10 points added to their certification score.

Certain spouses or surviving spouses shall be given a 5 point preference if the veteran died of a service-connected disability.

Arizona Veterans Benefits: Education 

Arizona Purple Heart Tuition Waiver

This scholarship is available to:

1. Post 9/11 veterans with at least a 50 percent VA disability, a Purple Heart medal, and who were AZ residents during their service
2. Dependent children under 30 and un-remarried spouses of AZ military member who were killed in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001
3. Post 9/11 AZ guard members who were medically discharged or received a Purple Heart.

Arizona Veterans Benefits: Recreational Discounts, Licenses & Passes

Hunting and Fishing Licenses

Active duty members stationed in Arizona can get hunting and fishing licenses at the resident rate.

Free hunting/fishing combo licenses are available for 100% service-connected disabled veterans who have been an AZ resident for at least 12 months.

Arizona State Parks

Arizona offers the following discounts to their state parks:

• 50% day-use discount to all active duty, guard and reserve military members and up to three accompanying adult family members
• 50% day-use discount to all resident military retirees
• 50% off day-use pass to ALL disabled military. 
• FREE day-use pass to all resident 100% service-connected disabled veterans.

The Boneyard, Davis Monthan AFB

Arizona Veterans Benefits: Vehicle Licenses, Plates & Privileges

Arizona Veteran Driver License & License Plates

Veterans have the option to have the VETERAN designation on their Arizona-issued driver license, commercial driver license, identification card or learner permit denoting their military service. In addition, veterans applying for an Arizona commercial driver license (CDL) will have the option to request a waiver of the skills test if they meet certain requirements.

Several Military/Veteran license plates are also available from ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division, each of which provides some charitable funding to the Veterans’ Donation Fund. The Veterans plate requires military/veteran documentation; the Women Veterans and Freedom plates have no current requirement for military or veteran status.

Arizona VA Facilities

Veterans Health Administration – VISN 22: Desert Pacific Healthcare Network

Veterans Benefits Administration – Pacific District

Arizona Veterans Benefits: Conclusion

Arizona is a beautiful state and one that veterans often love. They take seriously the care of their vets, but the reality is also that Arizona has limited resources when compared to other states.

Arizona provides a decent amount of benefits for its veteran and is attractive to veterans because of its strong quality of life, despite not being one of the best economic environments.

This is due strongly to the lack of great employment options for veterans, but also because Arizona’s access to health care isn’t as strong as other states. 

Arizona is also fairly average as far as additional benefits for veterans go, which is not unusual for less populous states

If you are already in Arizona and are looking to make the most of your Arizona veteran benefits, you will want to visit the state portal for veterans at https://dvs.az.gov

There you will find access to many of Arizona’s benefit programs, as well as more information regarding each benefit available. 

For a complete list of VA hospitals, treatment centers, and other resources in Arizona, you can also go to the Arizona VA directory here: Arizona VA Facilities List

About the Author

Brian Reese is a VA expert, author, and founder of VA Claims Insider – “The Most Trusted Name in Education-Based Resources for Veterans.”

More than 300,000 military members and veterans come to the VA Claims Insider and Military Disability Made Easy websites each month to get educated on the VA and DoD disability process.

Learn more >> About VA Claims Insider HERE. <<

Brian’s frustration with the 8-step VA disability claims process led him to create “VA Claims Insider,” which provides disabled veterans with tips, strategies, and lessons learned to win their VA disability compensation claim in less time.

Brian Reese VA Claims Insider

He is also the CEO of Military Disability Made Easy, which is the world’s largest free searchable database for all things related to DoD disability and VA disability, and has served more than 6,000,000 military members and veterans since its founding in 2013.

Veterans can download one of his #1 most downloaded FREE eBooks right here right now: “The Secret Guide to 833 Ratable VA Disabilities” by clicking HERE now.

Brian is a former active duty Air Force officer with extensive experience leading hundreds of individuals and multi-functional teams in challenging international environments, including a combat tour to southern Afghanistan in 2011 in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.

Brian is a Distinguished Graduate of Management from the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO and he holds an MBA from Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business, Stillwater, OK, where he was a National Honor Scholar (Top 1% of Graduate School class).