A ZIP code is 5 numbers meant to deliver mail to people—not indicate how long they live. Unfortunately, significant gaps in life expectancy persist across many United States cities and towns. The latest data reveals differences down to the census tract level, even for residents just a few miles or blocks apart. Explore how life expectancy in America compares with life expectancy in your area, and resources to help everyone have the opportunity to live a longer, healthier life.
How does where we live affect how long we live?
For the first time in our history, the United States is raising a generation of children who may live sicker and shorter lives than their parents. Reversing this trend will of course depend on healthy choices by each of us. But not everyone in America has the same opportunities to be healthy.
According to the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78.8 years—76.3 years for men and 81.2 years for women. Adding to a 2017 analysis which found growing disparities in life expectancy across U.S. counties and ZIP codes, the National Center for Health Statistics has released first-of-its-kind data on life expectancy at the neighborhood level which shows that life expectancy rates vary greatly even at the census tract level, from block to block. Developed with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the data makes it possible to understand how much our health is influenced by conditions where we live.
[For more, go to https://www.rwjf.org/en/librar...showlongyoulive.html]
Photo: By Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Designed by Randall McDougall. - U.S. Postal Service; National Postal Museum: Zip Code Issue, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/...x.php?curid=11051630
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