‘Enormous’ Disparity In Longevity Rates Between Counties Is Only Getting Worse
There are pockets in the country where people can expect to live 20 years less than residents in other areas. The research echoes other findings in recent years that show that the United States is failing to keep up with improvements in longevity seen in other affluent nations.
The Washington Post:
U.S. Life Expectancy Varies By More Than 20 Years From County To County
Life expectancy is rising overall in the United States, but in some areas, death rates are going conspicuously in the other direction. These geographical disparities are widening, according to a report published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Life expectancy is greatest in the high country of central Colorado, but in many pockets of the United States, life expectancy is more than 20 years lower, according to the report from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (Achenbach, 5/8)
NPR:
Life Expectancy Varies By 20 Years, Depending On County
Health experts have long known that Americans living in different parts of the country tend to have different life spans. But Murray's team decided to take a closer look, analyzing records from every U.S. county between 1980 and 2014. "What we found is that the gap is enormous," Murray says. In 2014, there was a spread of 20.1 years between the counties with the longest and shortest typical life spans based on life expectancy at birth. (Stein, 5/8)
Los Angeles Times:
To Live A Long Life In America, It Helps To Be Born In The Right County
A child born in the United States in 2014 can expect to live 79.1 years, on average. But that figure doesn’t apply equally to all kids across the country. For example, a baby boy born in South Dakota’s Oglala Lakota County that year has a life expectancy of just under 62.8 years. Meanwhile, a baby girl lucky enough to be born in Summit County, Colo., can plan to live to the ripe old age of 88.5. That’s a difference of more than 25 years. Put another way, the girl in Colorado can expect to live 41% longer than the boy in South Dakota. (Kaplan, 5/8)
Seattle Times:
We’re Living Longer — But Just How Long Varies Across Washington, Study Shows
The gap in life expectancy between Washington’s counties is growing, pointing to increasing inequality in the health of Americans. If you lived in King County, your life expectancy increased by six years from 1980 to 2014, to 81.37 years, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. But Cowlitz County residents gained only three years of life expectancy in that span and died at the average age of 77.51. (Young, 5/8)
Columbus Dispatch:
Life Expectancy Rises In All 88 Ohio Counties
A new report shows that life expectancies have risen in all 88 of Ohio’s counties. Nationwide, life expectancies dropped in 13 counties from 1980 to 2014, according to the report published by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. The lowest life expectancy in 2014 was 66.8 years, in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota. (Viviano, 5/8)
