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Does where you live make a difference for your health and life expectancy? According to statistics, it matters! Factors such as weather, neighborhood stressors, amenities, and lifestyles can all play a role.
When it comes to where you live and your health, there are a number of factors that come into play. Your environment can influence and impact your lifestyle choices.
Where you live can determine the ability to spend time outdoors, exercise, available parks, job availabilities, opportunities to socialize, access to healthcare facilities, supermarkets, the number of bars and liquor stores, air pollution, vast fast food choices, and few alternatives, according to the AMA Journal of Ethics.
Studies, such as this one by the National Institutes of Health, have examined how the environment within communities influences the physical and mental health of its residents, finding that these factors can improve or diminish an individual’s well-being.
Improved well-being has been associated with longer life expectancy and better health outcomes, NPR reported.
During the pandemic years of 2019 to 2020, life expectancy dropped by 1.8 years overall, falling from age 79 two 77 years on average, which is the lowest average for the United States in nearly two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
For 2022, USA Today issued a state-by-state breakdown, finding that the highest life expectancy rate is predominantly in the West and the Northeast parts of the US, while the lowest life expectancy resides in the Southern states.
Here is a list of all 50 US states and Washington, D.C., with the average maximum life expectancy in years:
