Chicago life expectancy reaches new high

Chicago's life expectancy hit its highest recorded level in 2024 with the strongest gains among Black Chicagoans, according to new data from the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH).

Why it matters: Life expectancy rates can offer a broad picture of how well a city is serving its people in the areas of economics, public safety and public health.

Super stat: Between 2023 and 2024, the 11-year life expectancy gap between Black Chicagoans and their non-Black peers closed to 6.3.

• While Black men still have the lowest life expectancy of any demographic in the city, they saw the biggest advances between 2023 and 2024, gaining 2.2 years to reach 68.1 years.

What they're saying: "This is something that's incredibly important to me as someone who lost my brother because of an addiction," Mayor Brandon Johnson tells Axios.

• "The lives that we are saving, the investments that we're making are critical to sustaining life here."

Of note: Whites, Latinos and Asians saw small to modest gains between 2023 and 2024. Asians far outpaced other races with a life expectancy of nearly 87 years.

Context: Like many places across the world, Chicago's life expectancy fell during the COVID pandemic. But by 2024, the city rebounded to surpass pre-pandemic levels, now exceeding the national average of 79 years.

Between the lines: These record-setting rates emerged during the tenure of Chicago health commissioner Dr. Olusimbo Ige, who took over the role in late 2023 and abruptly resigned last month. Johnson says his administration is interviewing candidates but has no date for a replacement.

Zoom in: The improvements came largely from progress in three major drivers of death:

• Opioid overdoses
• Homicides
• Chronic disease

Between the lines: Mirroring trends across the nation, Chicago saw a 34% decrease in opioid deaths from 1,131 to 745 between 2023 and 2024. CDPH scientists believe a few factors likely played a role:

• Greater access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone, now available at all Chicago Public Libraries.

• More law enforcement interception of fentanyl.
• Distribution of fentanyl test strips and harm reduction programs, in conjunction with UIC, to test for a host of new adulterants that are showing up in street drugs as the flow of fentanyl slows.

The intrigue: As the flow of fentanyl slows, researchers are finding drugs that contain "novel adulterants like metatomidine or super potent animal tranquilizer," CDPH's Dr. Jenny Miao Hua tells Axios.

• And while these adulterated drugs may be less potent and potentially less acutely lethal, Hua says they also contain substances whose effects on humans are still not entirely clear.

What's next: "We're going to continue calculating life expectancy to identify what cause of death categories or contributors are changing," CDPH epidemiologist Darlene Nolasco Magaña tells Axios.

• She hopes the data can help leaders direct resources to the areas of greatest need and to policies that deliver the best results.