ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska veterans are leaving millions of dollars in earned benefits unclaimed, with only half of eligible service members receiving compensation they’ve earned, according to state officials.

Verdie Bowen, Alaska’s Department of Military & Veterans Affairs director, says veterans are missing out on millions of dollars in benefits. Only half of eligible Alaska veterans receive compensation. Many don’t know what benefits they’ve earned. Without proactively applying, the state or federal government cannot automatically provide them.

“It’s really hard for us to reach all of our veterans and try and make sure that they have all of these benefits,” Bowen said.

Alaska has about 58,000 combat veterans, primarily impacted by hearing loss. Only about 24,000 people signed up for all the benefits they’re owed, Bowen says.

Female veterans show particularly low enrollment numbers.

“If they don’t come forward and say they served,” Bowen said, “then we run into that problem where we are going to miss them because they have to apply.”

Alaska ranks sixth nationally for providing a comfortable military retirement, according to WalletHub’s analysis of the 50 states and District of Columbia. The analysis used 28 key metrics, ranging from veterans per capita to VA health facilities to job opportunities.

According to WalletHub, South Carolina “has policies that help veterans.”

“The state allows businesses to give preferential hiring to veterans, offers academic credit for military service and has veteran treatment courts, which give services like treatment and mentoring to veterans in the criminal justice system,” according to the report. “South Carolina doesn’t tax military pensions, either. The Palmetto State has the third-best VA hospitals in the country, and the second-most hospitals per capita, which can help ensure that military retirees stay healthy.”

This gender gap extends statewide. According to Operation Mary Louise, a statewide, community-based project for female veterans, Alaska has more than 10,000 female veterans, but fewer than one-third are signed up for VA health services.