Spring Update: New Life Expectancy Metric & New Years of Data!

New Metric

Life Expectancy – City-Level

Life Expectancy is a key measure of health and wellbeing, shaped by factors ranging from socioeconomic and structural conditions to the availability and use of healthcare resources and the impacts of health-related behaviors, making it a comprehensive metric for assessing health status across geographies. Historically, city-level life expectancy data has not been widely available to the public, especially for small and midsize cities. Equipped with these data, local leaders are better positioned to advocate for their city’s needs and address inequities within their city.

The Dashboard is excited to introduce our new Life Expectancy – City-Level metric, which presents the population’s average life expectancy at birth, at the city level. Data are available for 2012-2023, including estimates by race, ethnicity, and sex. This metric is calculated by our team using data from the National Vital Statistics System. Life Expectancy – City Level is the second life expectancy metric available on the Dashboard. The first, Life Expectancy - Neighborhood-Level, is a measure of life expectancy at the neighborhood-level that dates from 2015, while this new measure is at the city-level and substantially more recent. Thus, while both provide an important perspective, they focus on different time periods and geographies. You can learn more about the differences here.

New Years of Data

This release also introduces new years of data for 17 metrics. Updated metrics include mortality metrics from the National Vital Statistics System, now with data through 2023, and eleven metrics from CDC’s PLACES initiative, now with data through 2023.

See table below for a full list of metrics with updated data:

Life Expectancy Trends

Using the new data, our team explored how life expectancy changed in US cities, from 2013 - 2023. By 2023 (the most recent year of data available), life expectancy was beginning to recover from losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, though it was not yet back to its previous peak in 2019.

Racial and ethnic disparities persist. In 2023, life expectancy in U.S. cities among the Asian population was approximately 83 years compared to approximately 72 years among the Black population – an eleven-year difference. As you explore the data, make sure to check out our “data tips” for more information about how to interpret them. And as always, feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.

Explore these insights in your city!

Important Data Updates

Updated Calculations

As part of this data release, we have updated how we calculate our mortality metrics in order to improve accuracy. As a result, metric estimates for 2021 and earlier may differ from what was previously shown on the site. For more information about these calculation updates, please refer to the technical document or contact us at [email protected].

Temporarily Unavailable Data for “Other” Racial Group

Data for the "Other" racial group are temporarily unavailable for natality and mortality metrics. We are working to resolve this issue and will provide an update when the data are added to the website.

Changes to Racial Group Calculations

Due to changes in the way the Census assigned race beginning in 2020, some people are assigned to different race categories before and after 2020, which may impact metric estimates. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

Missing Data

Due to some incompleteness in data collection, 2023 estimates are missing for all CDC PLACES Project metrics in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Additionally, nine states did not collect Food Insecurity data in 2023, so Food Insecurity estimates are not available for the following states (in addition to Kentucky and Pennsylvania): Colorado, Oregon, South Dakota, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming.

If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] to learn more.