List of U.S. counties with longest life expectancy
This list of U.S. counties with longest life expectancy includes 51 counties (and county equivalents) out of a grand total of 3,142 counties or county equivalents in the United States. Most of the counties where people live longest are either sparsely populated or well-to-do suburbs of large cities. Forty-seven of the counties listed have a population of which the largest racial component is non-Hispanic whites. Two have populations of which Hispanics are the majority. Asian Americans make up the largest component of two counties.[1]
Counties with the longest life expectancy are located in 21 states: Colorado (11); California and Iowa (5); Nebraska (4); North Dakota, Virginia, and Minnesota (3); Alaska, New York, and New Jersey (2), and Texas, New Mexico, Wyoming, Florida, Michigan, South Dakota, Idaho, Maryland, Utah, Wisconsin, and Oregon (one each).[1]
The residents of three adjacent counties in the high-elevation Rocky Mountains of Colorado enjoy the longest life expectancy.[2][1]
Among all the counties in the US, there is a wide range in life expectancy from birth. The residents of Summit County, Colorado, live the longest with a life expectancy of 86.83 years. The residents of Oglala Lakota County (formerly Shannon County) of South Dakota live the shortest with a life expectancy of 66.81 years—twenty years less.[3] Moreover, the gap between the counties with the longest life expectancy and the shortest is widening. The life expectancy of the United States as a whole increased by more than 5 years between 1980 and 2014. The life expectancy of most of the longest-lived counties equaled or exceeded that increase. The life expectancy of most of the shortest-lived counties increased less than 5 years—and in a few counties, especially in Kentucky, life expectancy decreased.[3]
A study published in the
Top 51 counties in 2014
County and state | 2014 life expectancy (years) [5] | 1980 life expectancy (years)[5] | Plurality population in 2014 (%)[6] | Other factors |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. Summit County, Colorado | 86.83 | 79.18 | Non-Hispanic White: 82.6% | |
2. Pitkin County, Colorado | 86.52 | 78.81 | Non-Hispanic White: 86.5% | |
3. Eagle County, Colorado | 85.94 | 77.21 | Non-Hispanic White: 67.4% | |
4. Billings County, North Dakota | 84.04 | 79.44 | Non-Hispanic White: 96.6% | Population < 1,000. |
5. Marin County, California | 83.80 | 75.66 | Non-Hispanic White: 72.6% | |
6. San Miguel County, Colorado | 83.73 | 77.58 | Non-Hispanic White: 87.4% | |
7. Fairfax County, Virginia (and city) | 83.73 | 76.65 | Non-Hispanic White: 52.7% | Fairfax City 60.3% White |
7. Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska | 83.73 | 70.77 | Asian: 31.1% | |
7. Aleutians East Borough, Alaska | 83.73 | 70.77 | Asian: 41.4% | |
10. Presidio County, Texas | 83.72 | 75.27 | Hispanic: 82.0% | |
10. Douglas County, Colorado | 83.72 | 76.89 | Non-Hispanic White: 95.9% | |
12. Hinsdale County, Colorado | 83.66 | 76.76 | Non-Hispanic White: 92.5% | Population < 1,000. |
13. Los Alamos County, New Mexico | 83.49 | 78.22 | Hispanic: 51.1% | |
14. Teton County, Wyoming | 83.46 | 76.35 | Non-Hispanic White: 80.7% | |
15. Collier County, Florida | 83.43 | 74.48 | Non-Hispanic White: 64.8% | |
16. Loudoun County, Virginia | 83.19 | 73.98 | Non-Hispanic White: 60.1% | |
17. Santa Clara County, California | 83.14 | 75.80 | Non-Hispanic White: 58.6% | |
18. San Mateo County, California | 83.11 | 75.67 | Non-Hispanic White: 41.1% | |
19. Leelanau County, Michigan | 83.10 | 75.99 | Non-Hispanic White: 90.8% | |
20. Lincoln County, South Dakota | 83.03 | 77.24 | Non-Hispanic White: 93.9% | |
21. Ouray County, Colorado | 83.00 | 76.48 | Non-Hispanic White: 92.5% | |
22. Blaine County, Idaho | 82.99 | 76.84 | Non-Hispanic White: 77.6% | |
23. Howard County, Maryland | 82.98 | 75.18 | Non-Hispanic White: 58.6% | |
24. Mono County, California | 82.96 | 76.06 | Non-Hispanic White: 66.3% | |
25. Sioux County, Iowa | 82.86 | 78.16 | Non-Hispanic White: 91.6% | |
26. Wayne County, Nebraska | 82.82 | 77.66 | Non-Hispanic White: 90.6% | |
27. Carver County, Minnesota | 82.80 | 76.67 | Non-Hispanic White: 90.1% | |
28. Arlington County, Virginia | 82.76 | 78.16 | Non-Hispanic White: 63.6% | |
29. Grand County, Colorado | 82.73 | 75.61 | Non-Hispanic White: 89.0% | |
29. Routt County, Colorado | 82.73 | 73.89 | Non-Hispanic White: 90.3% | |
31. Winneshiek County, Iowa | 82.62 | 77.23 | Non-Hispanic White: 95.2% | |
32. Sioux County, Nebraska | 82.57 | 76.37 | Non-Hispanic White: 93.1% | Population < 2,000. |
33. Rockland County, New York | 82.54 | 74.67 | Non-Hispanic White: 63.9% | |
34. Bergen County, New Jersey | 82.47 | 75.27 | Non-Hispanic White: 59.7% | |
35. Hunterdon County, New Jersey | 82.45 | 75.70 | Non-Hispanic White: 86.9% | |
36. Sheridan County, North Dakota | 82.44 | 77.54 | Non-Hispanic White: 95.4% | Population < 2,000. |
37. McPherson County, Nebraska | 82.41 | 76.47 | Non-Hispanic White: 97.73% | Population < 1,000. |
38. Summit County, Utah | 82.39 | 76.59 | Non-Hispanic White: 85.2% | |
39. Park County, Colorado | 82.37 | 75.60 | Non-Hispanic White: 90.5% | |
40. Westchester County, New York | 82.29 | 75.09 | Non-Hispanic White: 74.9% | |
41. Orange County, California | 82.27 | 76.19 | Non-Hispanic White: 42.6% | |
42. Stevens County, Minnesota | 82.22` | 76.68 | Non-Hispanic White: 90.5% | |
43. Oliver County, North Dakota | 82.19 | 77.30 | Non-Hispanic White: 94.0% | Population < 2,000 |
44. Hayes County, Nebraska | 82.14 | 77.73 | Non-Hispanic White: 98.4% | Population < 1,000 |
44. Bremer County, Iowa | 82.14 | 77.04 | Non-Hispanic White: 96.0% | |
46. Ozaukee County, Wisconsin | 82.13 | 76.69 | Non-Hispanic White: 95.0% | |
47. Story County, Iowa | 82.11 | 78.62 | Non-Hispanic White: 86.2% | |
48. Stearns County, Minnesota | 82.10 | 76.66 | Non-Hispanic White: 89.7% | |
49. Archuleta County, Colorado | 82.08 | 75.24 | Non-Hispanic White: 77.5% | |
49. Benton County, Oregon | 82.08 | 77.39 | Non-Hispanic White: 82.4% | |
49. Johnson County, Iowa | 82.08 | 77.38 | Non-Hispanic White: 86.3% | |
United States (all) | 79.08 | 73.75 | Non-Hispanic White: 62.1% |
See also
- List of U.S. states and territories by life expectancy
- List of U.S. counties with shortest life expectancy
- List of U.S. states by changes in life expectancy, 1985–2010
- List of U.S. congressional districts by life expectancy
- List of North American countries by life expectancy
References
- ^ a b c "Life Expectancy at birth, both sexes, 2014". Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Retrieved 16 August 2017. Calculated from table below.
- ^ Queen, Jack (8 May 2017). "Summit County has the highest life expectancy in the nation, according to new study". Summit Daily. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ a b "U.S. County Profiles", Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, accessed 25 July 2017; Khazan, Olga, "Kentucky's Home to the Greatest Declines in Life Expectancy," The Atlantic, May 8, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/05/kentucky/525777/
- ^ "A growing health disparity: Life expectancy for richest, poorest Americans," accessed 25 July 2017
- ^ a b "US data for download" Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, accessed 25 July 2017
- ^ "Index mundi: United States Facts," accessed 26 July 2017