Arizona's life expectancy falls

Arizona had the 17th-lowest life expectancy in the U.S. in 2020, according to a CDC report released this week.

• The life expectancy for Arizonans was 76.3 years — lower than the national average of 77 years.

State of play: Arizona's life expectancy decreased by 2.5 years between 2019 and 2020.

• Heart disease was the leading cause of death in Arizona in 2020, followed by cancer, COVID-19 and accidents, according to the CDC.
• There was a nearly four-year gap among life expectancy for Arizona women (79.5) and men (73.4).

The big picture: Nationwide, life expectancy among Americans declined by 1.8 years due to the pandemic and the increase of unintentional injuries, such as overdoses.