Average American Life Expectancy: Trends, Factors, & Future Projections
Although the average American life expectancy has fluctuated over time, it has been on a generally upward trajectory over the last 160 years. As of recent data, the average life expectancy for Americans stands at approximately 77.5 years for both sexes. We discuss trends over time, who can expect to live the longest, and factors that play a role in the length of one’s lifespan.
Life expectancy is a term often brought up in conversation, media, and research. However, not all references of life expectancy include the complex and dynamic context that surrounds our average lifespan.
Various factors – including socioeconomic status, location, healthcare access, and lifestyle choices – determine how long we live. Understanding the influences of life expectancy requires us to examine both the individual and combined ways these factors can impact our health.
Life expectancy is a very important metric that gives us insight into our health status. Analyzing the different determinants of health and the trends can support us in making changes to extend our life expectancy.
Medicine and technology have both been constantly advancing spheres of life, and as a result, so has our understanding of how to improve our health and quality of life.
These advancements have been reflected through centuries of increasing lifespan; however, recent research has highlighted changes and deficits hindering life expectancy. In fact, American life expectancy is of growing concern because of the shift in trends despite global achievement of medical success.
Currently, life expectancy for Americans stands at an average of 77.5 years for both sexes, with projections predicting continued increases. However, the more recent drops in this incline are of large focus and the differing outcomes are predominantly linked to health disparities. Healthcare policies are a current avenue of focus in order to address recent life expectancy insights.
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Historical Trends in American Life Expectancy
Life expectancy changes over the past century
In order to appreciate life expectancy as a comprehensive healthcare measurement, we must first explore the numerous ways it has changed over the past century. This requires a direct comparison of the lifespans people were projected to live before major historical events in order to assess accurate effects.
American life expectancy has changed dramatically over the course of the last century alone. Roughly 100 years ago, Americans had an average life expectancy of 56.4 years. Fast forward to today and our life expectancy has increased by more than 20 years, with the current life expectancy of 79.3 years.
Although they are not completely linear, these historical trends demonstrate that as time progresses, our life expectancy has observed an incline across the past century. Moreover, life expectancy has almost doubled between 1860 and today, resulting in a scenario where the average American can hope to live twice as long as they would have 160 years ago.
Between infrastructure, medical advancements, and fewer active wars, the plethora of changes observed between the early 20th century and today American lives have led to improved security over the years.
Does life expectancy always increase over time?
Despite the historical increase, our life expectancy rates weren’t always positive, nor did they constantly increase. Across the past 150 year period, there have been three major shifts from the trends in which life expectancy decreased: during and following the events of the American Civil War (1865-1870), the First World War (1915-1923), and most recently, multiple dips spanning from 2014-2021.
Though trends have shifted back to positive, the rate of life expectancy increases has not been as dramatic as before. For many researchers in spheres of public health and policy, questions arise about what events and health factors are affecting the more recent historical trends seen in lifespan.
Current Statistics and Comparisons
Average American male vs. female life expectancy
While people commonly and casually throw around the saying ‘women always live longer’ the data shows this to be true – to an extent.
For the past century, those assigned female at birth (AFAB) have had greater life expectancy than those assigned male at birth (AMAB) and the current data suggests this isn’t set to change anytime soon. The most recent CDC analysis of life expectancy shows American female life expectancy sits at 80.2 years while American male life expectancy sits at 74.8 years.
Is the Average American life expectancy the same for everyone?
The reported American life expectancy is an averaged number from all the groups that live in the United States. This means individuals assigned male and female at birth, as well as different ethnic and racial groups that live in the US, are all averaged to make up the life expectancy age.
Additionally, this means not everyone who lives in the US lives for the same amount of time. While Hispanic or Latino men have the greatest life expectancy amongst those AMAB, Non-Hispanic white, Asian and Pacific Islander women lead in lifespan for individuals AFAB. Both historically and currently, Non-Hispanic Black Americans have the lowest life expectancy regardless of gender.
Life expectancy for people in other countries
Life expectancy looks different for individuals in other countries. While racial and ethnic disparities and their lifespan implications are less well understood in other nations, it is clear life expectancy of Americans continues to drop compared to the rest of the world.
A recent study found that compared to other high-income democracy run nations US life expectancy decreased more during peak COVID years than any peer country. Moreover, American life expectancy is ranked 40 amongst the 45 highest global life expectancies. Interestingly enough, research supports these findings further by showing that foreign-born individuals who reside in the US have the greatest life expectancy regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.
Factors Influencing American Life Expectancy
The relationship between your health and life expectancy
Major increases in life outcomes have been due to medical advancements such as vaccination developments, understanding of sterilization and infections, as well as improved surgical techniques. Despite these steps forward both reducing and removing diseases that were once leading causes of death, many people still face major health issues daily.
Certain behavioral choices are known contributors to chronic health diseases and premature deaths. For example, heart disease is still the leading cause of death globally and many instances of heart problems originate from lifestyle choices such as high amounts of alcohol and drug use.
Research has consistently found that both smoking and drinking can give rise to various forms of cancer along with a number of chronic diseases. Chronic illness refers to a general long term health issue that can deeply hinder quality of life through limiting physical abilities, higher costs of care, and depressive moods. Chronic diseases also include autoimmune disorders such as lupus, type 1 diabetes and psoriasis. Studies link the environment, chemicals, stress, and food as some of the triggers that can exacerbate symptoms of autoimmune conditions.
While time has produced advancements paramount to improving life it’s important to recognize that many people live with conditions that decrease their life expectancy. Even more, there is a cyclic nature of living with a chronic condition and decreasing quality of life. Our health is a complex and nuanced aspect of how long we live. Taking stock of your habits and choices pertaining to physical activity, nutrition, drug and alcohol use can help you avoid developing chronic illness detrimental to life expectancy.
Socioeconomic factors impact on life expectancy
Health outcomes is a complex focus, due to the multilayered factors that impact individuals’ education and access to resources. Life expectancy is more nuanced than simply ‘being healthy’ and living long as a result. Social determinants of health are major influences on our lifespan and even more on the quality of said life.
It is clear that while the current life expectancy is 79.3 years this number is not universal. Socioeconomic factors and health care quality both largely determine our health profile. Where you live, whether or not you have access to quality education, and even your financial status affects your state of health.
Additionally, socioeconomic factors and healthcare standards are deeply intertwined through low socioeconomic status, leading to a reduced quality of care.1 This means people from disadvantaged backgrounds have less accessibility to quality healthcare which negatively affects their quality of life.
However, finances and education are not the only social determinants that impact life expectancy. Racial and ethnic health disparities are an ever growing barrier for marginalized communities in the United States. Black Americans have the lowest life expectancy in the US which has been linked to having poorer quality of healthcare, reduced resource access, and higher amounts of stress.
Moreover, the differences we see in life expectancies across race and ethnicity are also reflective of lowered healthcare quality and socioeconomic status. Thus, racial identity and socioeconomic status are entwined and the compounded effects result in major health disparities and lowered life expectancy for certain groups in America.
The Odds of Living to 90 and Beyond
Current life expectancy is well below 90 years of age, meaning there are some avenues of progression needed to extend our average life span. While life expectancy trends have historically progressed upwards, it’s important to note the reasons for recent shifts. Two major factors were COVID-19 and current health disparities.
The pandemic was a difficult time globally and led many nations into catastrophic tragedy. Individuals with and without compromised immune systems, of all ages, races, and socioeconomic background were a part of those lost during the 2020 pandemic.
Although lifestyle choices can feel like small decisions without immediate effects, positive daily decisions can protect your health in the long term. Increasing your physical activity, choosing whole foods in your nutrition, and reducing harmful habits such as drug and alcohol abuse are examples of healthy living. Making these health centric choices for the influences we can control increases our odds of living to 90 and perhaps beyond.
Predictions for the Future
The latest studies show that in 36 years average American life expectancy will increase by ~6 years to sit at roughly 85 years old. Projections for life expectancy take into account historical trends, current medical advancements and scientific understanding for the state of global health.
Unfortunately, while these predictions try to estimate the probability of living beyond a certain age, unknown major events such as natural disasters and epidemics can make a quick but meaningful impact. For example, the future projections could be null and void in the event of a catastrophe causing large amounts of premature death. In contrast, the role of medical advancements could positively affect the future of American life expectancy.
Vaccinations and the development of sterile procedures protected the population from multiple viruses and infections that were once major causes of death. Deepening research and evolving technology are real possibilities that could result in larger increases in lifespan beyond what’s currently predicted.
Moreover, every demographic in America is expected to see a rise in their life expectancy. In fact, despite having the lowest current life expectancy, black men are predicted to have the greatest rise in expected lifespan compared to all groups. Amongst these predictions are also estimates on whether health disparities will persist across the next couple of decades. This means that the current differences and deficits that exist in healthcare are hindering American life expectancy.
Recent research estimates our global standing as one of the nations with the highest lifespan will further drop by 2060. Health policies that focus on closing the gap in socioeconomic as well as racial and ethnic disparities are essential to creating a more equitable future for all Americans.
Improving Life Expectancy: Recommendations and Strategies
Personal Strategies for Improving Lifespan
Improving the current deficits impacting life expectancy will require a multifaceted and multilayered plan. Because lifespan is an indicator of health, it signals deeper issues, and the root causes must be addressed in order to increase shortened life expectancy.
Both individual and collective focus has to be set on improving overall health and wellness to mitigate the main problems hindering lifespan. Personal health strategies are the first method of protecting your health and improving your odds of living a long life. Considering the top two causes of death are heart disease and cancer, respectively, it is critical to be mindful of your health early on.
It is well known behaviors such as smoking and poor nutrition can contribute to the development of these diseases. Yet, there are more ways to be proactive with managing your health. Regular check ups, health screenings, exercise and reducing your alcohol consumption are all excellent forms of monitoring and protecting your health. Preventive care and early intervention are the best individual methods for reducing risk of chronic disease and safeguarding your quality of life.
Health Policy Impacts on Life Expectancy
While our health should always be a high priority for us as individuals, the responsibility is not yours alone. Increasing life expectancy is a goal worldwide, and many research resources are dedicated to it. The consensus of more recent findings is clear: until health disparities are addressed, we can never be certain of the future of American lifespan.
The history of medically discriminatory practices is a painful and long topic; however, the effects have been long lasting. Racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression have plagued the fabric of healthcare causing steep differences in the health outcomes of marginalized groups. These systemic harms have materialized into serious life-threatening issues within medical care like extremely high black maternal mortality, myths around black pain tolerance and lack of access to quality reproductive treatment options for those assigned female at birth. Public health initiatives that address the origins and symptoms of health disparities is a necessity in order to provide equitable life expectancies for everyone.
Conclusion
Just 160 years ago, life expectancy was half of the current average of ~77 years. Across the past century and a half life expectancy has grown and this increase has been fueled by advancements in infrastructure, medicine, and research.
Despite some steep increases, life expectancy has taken some turns through the past century. The rate of growth for american lifespan has not been uniform nor continuous. During the past century, life expectancy has dropped 3 times, and currently the rate of increase has slowed down. These deviations from the strong incline can be attributed to periods of major wars, pandemics and disparities in health.
Moreover, we as individuals have a large hand in how long we live. Outside of global events and congenital conditions our daily choices contribute heavily into our life expectancy. By avoiding harmful behaviors such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, you can avoid increasing your risks of diseases like cancer. Additionally, health conscious behaviors such as good nutrition and staying active can decrease risks of developing chronic disorders.
Major differences in life expectancy are mostly resulting from health disparities, especially racial and ethnic inequalities. Socioeconomic and racial backgrounds influence resource and healthcare access and thus can negatively impact quality of life further hindering how long someone may live. It is important to have both individual and policy level strategies that provide equitable health plans for a multiethnic, multi-gendered and diverse socioeconomic nation.
Improving health outcomes for all should be a national priority as research shows American healthcare is failing many marginalized groups in the US. Increasing life expectancy further and ensuring a quality long life for everyone requires initiatives that address these imbalances.
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