In this article, we will be taking a look at the 25 states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S.
According to Peterson-KFF, the average life expectancy in the U.S. in 2021 was 76.1 years, making it one of the worst-performing developed nations in this respect. Higher life expectancy is an important indicator of a country’s standard of living and this shows that as is often the case, the U.S. lags behind other wealthy nations in terms of quality of life metrics.
In the 1980s, life expectancy in comparable countries was 74.5 years, while in the U.S., it was 73.7. Improvements in standards of care and especially in the medicine and pharmaceutical areas led to life expectancy increasing for all countries. However, the increase seen in the U.S. was dwarfed by similarly wealthy countries, and in 2019, while life expectancy in the U.S. reached 78.8 years, the comparable country average was 82.6, a significant gap. One of the main reasons behind this gap is the fact that healthcare is privatized in the U.S., while universal healthcare is afforded to the residents of most, if not all, other developed nations. This means that not everyone is able to get the same standard of care, and so, while those who can afford it can get the best level of care available in the world, as evidenced by the countries with the best hospitals in the world, a large majority of the population cannot afford the same level of care, which leads to incidents such as having to hoard insulin as costs are prohibitive, though currently prices have been reduced in a major relief for consumers.
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Another issue is gun violence. The U.S. has the most guns per capita of any country in the world, with no other nation coming even close to challenging the U.S. This has led to a high level of gun violence as well, exacerbated by the highest rate of mass shootings of any country in the world. Most gun victims are generally young, which skews the life expectancy statistics as well. Meanwhile, the biggest impact in recent history on life expectancy across the world was due to the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in nearly 7 millions deaths, and saw life expectancy in the U.S. decline by 2.7 years from 2019 to 2021, while comparable countries were only down 0.2 years, highlighting the lack of adequate healthcare for most of the population in the U.S.
Having a lower life expectancy has a direct, and significant, impact on a country’s economy. A study conducted in 2018 stated in its conclusion ” The life expectancy of middle- and older- groups has larger positive impact on GDP per capita than younger group. Meanwhile, the coefficient estimations of life expectancy with respect to the total GDP for three groups present that the life expectancy of the older group has more positive impact on total GDP than other groups.” Meanwhile according to a study in the Lancet “Longer, healthier lives should be a positive for the economy, and adjusting to longevity offers an opportunity to offset the negative implications of an ageing society. Previous health improvements have been positive for the economy and the task now is to achieve the same outcome for people in their later years. A wide range of policies is needed to achieve this outcome, but ultimately should focus on boosting employment in those aged 50 years or older, increasing education and training at later ages, and tackling health inequalities in ways that exploit the malleability of ageing.”
There are several companies which are dedicated to increasing life expectancy, with one of the biggest companies in this space being Altos Labs, which has major billionaire investors in Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner. The company aims to work on cellular reprogramming technology which will result in life-extending opportunities for people, though it’s likely that only the ultra-rich will be able to afford it, at least initially. Another company operating in similar stead is Juvenescence, a company valued at $500 million. Juvenescence is working on pharmaceutical and consumer products aimed at improving age management, using artificial intelligence and machine learning in its work.
Some of the publicly traded companies that are developing longevity therapeutics are AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE:AGE), Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHX), and Unity Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBX). However, we can argue that most of the biotech and healthcare companies actually work on increasing the life expectancy or quality of life.
Of course, there is also a downside in having higher life expectancy, especially combined with much lower birth rates, which leads to an aging population and higher economic burden in caring for the elderly. For example, Japan has one of the highest life expectancies of any country in the world, where around 29% of the population is at least 65 years old. The country has more than 80,000 people who are over a hundred years old and in the past decade, has seen its overall population decline due to lower fertility rates, and according to the European Parliament “The consequences of the country’s aging and shrinking population include economic crisis, budgetary challenges, pressure on job markets and depopulation of rural areas. The silver economy is meanwhile flourishing, and Japan is at the forefront of robot development to face a declining labor force and to take care of its elderly. The government’s efforts to address the demographic crisis have yet to succeed however, and immigration has been limited.
So which states in the U.S. are driving a higher life expectancy and are optimal to live in if you want to live a long, healthy life? Well, we have ranked the states according to data obtained from the CDC for the latest year in their dataset.
25. Montana
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 76.8 years
Heart disease is the biggest killer in Montana, and the state needs to take proactive measures in this regard if it expects to improve its life expectancy in the future.
24. Maryland
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 76.8 years
While Maryland has done well to make the list of the states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S., there are still significant racial disparities in life expectancy statistics.
23. Illinois
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 76.8 years
Illinois might’ve had a much higher ranking but even though Chicago’s homicide rates have fallen in the last two years, the rate is still relatively high compared to past decades and is potentially holding back the state’s life expectancy.
22. North Dakota
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 76.9 years
In the last couple of years, North Dakota’s life expectancy has plunged by two years, with a marked increase in the number of suicides in the state.
21. New Jersey
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.5 years
Ranking far behind its neighbor New York, New Jersey is still among the states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S.
20. Iowa
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.5 years
Iowa has long attracted people due to its better quality of life especially when compared to the cost of living.
19. Florida
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.5 years
The number of years Florida has lost to opioids, in terms of life expectancy, have increase by more than 750 years in just over a quarter of a century, which shows how devastating the opioids crisis has been for the state, and the country overall.
18. Virginia
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.6 years
Virginia has the highest life expectancy among all Southern states, just managing to beat out Florida.
17. Wisconsin
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.7 years
Between 2010-2014, the variance between the counties with the highest and lowest life expectancies was almost 10 years, which shows that a state’s overall life expectancy does not accurately represent cities, or even entire counties within the state.
16. New York
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.7 years
New York has achieved significant success in curbing homicide rates and HIV / AIDS related deaths. New York City was a city full of crime and dangerous elements, but has come a far way to contribute to the state’s high life expectancy.
15. Nebraska
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.7 years
Nebraska ranks 11th in terms of homicides in the U.S., which has contributed directly to a higher life expectancy.
14. Maine
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 77.8 years
Maine’s life expectancy is 0.8 years higher than the national average in a list absolutely dominated by New England states.
13. Rhode Island
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 78.2 years
Even though Rhode Island’s life expectancy dropped 1.3 years, it is still one of the states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S., even though surprisingly, there are four New England states still ranked higher.
12. Colorado
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 78.3 years
The average life expectancy for men in Colorado, at 77.8 years, is the third highest of any state in the U.S., but women are still expected to outlive men by a significant margin, at almost four years,
11. Idaho
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 78.4 years
Ada County and Adams County have the highest life expectancies among all counties in the state of Idaho.
10. Connecticut
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 78.4 years
Lower rates of cancer mortality, which has been falling over the past decade, has allowed Connecticut to be among the states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S.
9. Utah
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 78.6 years
One of the likely reasons behind Utah having a high life of expectancy is lower use of alcohol and tobacco because of the high percentage of Mormons in the state, even though the state has relatively high suicide rates as well.
8. Vermont
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 78.8 years
An exception to the rule that rural states have lower life expectancy is Vermont, where even a decade ago, all 14 counties saw improvement in life expectancy.
7. Oregon
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 78.8 years
In 2018. data showed that while Oregon ranked highly among the states with the highest life expectancy, there were major variations from neighborhood to neighborhood, showing that inequality of resources is perhaps the biggest issue in improving life expectancy.
6. New Hampshire
Life expectancy at birth in 2020: 79.0 years
Even though New Hampshire has one of the most gun-friendly laws in the country, it still ranks among the lowest 20% in terms of gun deaths per capita, which may be because of a pragmatic approach towards guns culturally inbuilt in the state. Lower gun deaths and one of the lowest poverty rates in the country all lead to the state having a relatively high life expectancy.
Click to continue reading and see the 5 states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S.
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Disclosure: None. 25 states with the highest life expectancy in the U.S. is originally published at Insider Monkey.
