Michigan's life expectancy ranks in bottom half of states
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Michigan ranks 30th out of the 50 states for life expectancy, a new analysis shows.
By the numbers: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects a child born in Michigan in 2021 to live 75.7 years.
- There's as much as a nearly 10-year difference in life expectancy between some states.
- Mississippi (70.9 years), West Virginia (71) and Alabama (72) have the shortest life expectancies, while Hawai'i (79.9), Massachusetts (79.6) and Connecticut (79.2) have the longest.
How it works: The findings are based on a combination of mortality statistics and census and Medicare data.
The big picture: Life expectancy nationwide fell by 0.6 year between 2020 and 2021 — largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and drug overdoses, the CDC reported.
- Michigan's life expectancy was 0.3 year shorter than in 2020 — a less steep decline than most other states.
Between the lines: Women are expected to live longer than men across the country. In Michigan, men are expected to live 72.9 years, while for women the figure is 78.6.
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.