United States: A person’s life expectancy in the United States can change a lot depending on where they live.
Experts at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) studied more than 179 million deaths that occurred between 1969 and 2020, showing major variations in life expectancy by state and linking these disparities to local health strategies.
For many decades, Americans have experienced ongoing increases in how long they live, thanks to better sanitation, smoking prevention, advances in health care, and the fight against chronic ailments such as heart disease and cancer.
These advantages, however, have not been reached to the same degree everywhere in the United States. While a few states made considerable progress, many others lagged.
Location Still Shapes Lifespan
The team used a new methodology in the JAMA Network Open publication by following the health of people who were born close to one another, instead of evaluating each year independently.
The new method gives a clearer overview of how the health of different generations varies over time.
##LifeExpectancy gains over the past century vary sharply across US states, with some regions seeing minimal improvement, highlighting the long-term impact of policy, social, and #EnvironmentalFactors. @yale @jamanetworkopen https://t.co/K0Nbu9wgff https://t.co/CnR6oC0FYa
— Medical Xpress (@medical_xpress) May 5, 2025
According to Theodore R. Holford, the study’s lead author and a professor at YSPH, “Looking at mortality trends by cohort gives us a more accurate reflection of the lived experiences of populations,” thebrighterside.news reported.
“It shows the long-term impact of policies and social conditions affecting the life course,” Holford added.
Between 1900 and 2000, people in the Northeast and West had markedly higher improvements in life expectancy compared to the rest of the country.
For illustration, women who lived in New York and California gained around 20 years or more in life expectancy over that century.
By comparison, minimal progress occurred in the South, with women in states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky gaining just under three years, on average, across the century.
“That’s a staggering contrast,” as Holford maintained.
“Where you are born shouldn’t determine how long you live. But in America, it still does,” he added.