How long you might live based on where you're born, mapped
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There's as much as a nearly 10-year difference in life expectancy between U.S. states, a new report finds.
By the numbers: Hawaii (79.9 years), Massachusetts (79.6) and Connecticut (79.2) have the longest life expectancy at birth as of 2021, per a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis.
- Mississippi (70.9 years), West Virginia (71.0) and Alabama (72.0) have the shortest.
Between the lines: Women are expected to live longer than men across the country.
- The gender gap varies from 3.9 years (in Utah) to as much as 7.6 years (in New Mexico).
The big picture: Life expectancy nationwide fell by 0.6 years between 2020 and 2021 — largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and drug overdoses, per the report.
How it works: The findings are based on a combination of mortality statistics and Census and Medicare data.
The bottom line: With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, these numbers will likely improve in future reports — as earlier preliminary data suggests.
- Still, both COVID and drug overdoses remain serious public health challenges.
