Average Life Expectancy in the United States
The average life expectancy in the United States varies significantly by sex and race/ethnicity, with overall life expectancy at birth being approximately 77.5 years for non-Hispanic whites, 80 years for Hispanics, and 72.3 years for non-Hispanic blacks. 1
Life Expectancy by Sex
Women consistently outlive men across all racial and ethnic groups:
- Hispanic women have the highest life expectancy at 83.1 years 1
- Non-Hispanic white women live an average of 80.4 years 1
- Non-Hispanic black women have a life expectancy of 76.2 years 1
- Hispanic men live 77.9 years on average 1
- Non-Hispanic white men have a life expectancy of 75.6 years 1, 2
- Non-Hispanic black men have the lowest life expectancy at 69.2 years 1, 3
The gender gap in life expectancy ranges from approximately 5-7 years, with women living longer but spending more years with disability. 4, 5
The "Hispanic Paradox"
Despite having a similar or higher burden of cardiovascular risk factors compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics demonstrate higher life expectancy. 1 This phenomenon, termed the "Hispanic paradox," shows that Hispanics have the lowest percentage of cardiovascular deaths (21.7%) compared with non-Hispanics (26.3%). 1
Global Context
Globally, life expectancy has increased substantially over recent decades:
- Global life expectancy increased from 65.6 years in 1990 to 73.0 years in 2017 6
- Japan has the highest healthy life expectancy at 74.5 years 5
- The increase in life expectancy has been accompanied by an expansion of morbidity, meaning people are living longer but spending more years with disability 7, 6
Important Clinical Considerations
For individual patient assessment, chronologic age alone is insufficient for estimating life expectancy. 1 Functional status, comorbidities, cognitive function, and socioeconomic factors must be considered. 1
For a 78-year-old woman in the United States, the average life expectancy is 10.2 years, though this varies substantially based on health status. 1 Patients in the healthiest quartile can expect 50% longer survival, while those in the unhealthiest quartile may have 50% shorter survival than the baseline estimate. 8
Common pitfall: Applying population-level life expectancy data directly to individual patients without accounting for their specific health status, functional capacity, and comorbidities can lead to inappropriate treatment decisions. 1, 8