Many returning veterans are landing in jobs where they don’t make a high enough salary to cover the costs of purchasing a median-priced home or even the average rent on a one-bedroom apartment, according to a report released by the Center for Housing Policy. The report analyzed five common occupations for returning veterans and the housing costs in more than 200 metro areas. 

Young veterans have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, despite government training programs and assistance available for aid, the report states. 

"Despite record affordability, a lot of occupations you find veterans working in don't pay enough to afford a home," says Jeffrey Lubell, the Center for Housing Policy’s executive director.

The report analyzed five common jobs that vets tend to pursue following deployment: carpenters, dental assistants, electricians, firefighters, and truck drivers. Of the five occupations, only vets who pursued electrician jobs earned enough to afford a median-priced home in most of the markets analyzed. In the report, electricians made about $40,000 to $60,000, on average, and the report found that the vets were able to afford median homes in 72 percent of the markets analyzed based on those salaries. 

On the other hand, vets who pursued careers as dental assistants, for example, saw incomes average between $27,000 to $40,000 and could only afford to buy a median-priced home in 22 percent of the 200 housing markets analyzed. 

"If they can't afford to buy now, what will they do two or three years from now, when home prices recover?” Lubell told CNNMoney. 

Due to low-paying jobs, the report warns that vets face struggles in qualifying for a mortgage with tightened lending standards and also struggle to save for a down payment to purchase a home. 

Source: “Many Working Veterans Still Can’t Afford Housing, Report Says,” CNNMoney (July 12, 2012)