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 Journal of the American Medical Association in 2016 concluded that income was a major component of the difference in life expectancy in states, counties, races, and regions of the U.S.. Men in the richest one percent of the population lived 15 years longer than men in the poorest one percent of the population and women in the richest one percent of the population lived 10 years longer.[4]

Top 51 counties in 2014

U.S. Counties (and county equivalents) with longest life expectancy from birth: 2014 and 1980
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

References

  1. ^ a b c "Life Expectancy at birth, both sexes, 2014". Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Retrieved 16 August 2017. Calculated from table below.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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/
  4. ^ "A growing health disparity: Life expectancy for richest, poorest Americans," accessed 25 July 2017
  5. ^ a b "US data for download" Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, accessed 25 July 2017
  6. ^ "Index mundi: United States Facts," accessed 26 July 2017
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