For operators factoring resident longevity into their development plans, Hawaii is a prime location. The Aloha State had the overall longest life expectancy from birth of all states in 2020, at 80.7 years, as well as the longest life expectancy at age 65, at 21 years, according to mortality statistics released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The agency’s National Vital Statistics System provides an annual report on life expectancy for all 50 states and Washington, DC. This year’s report is based on state-specific final numbers of deaths for 2020; July 1, 2020, population estimates based on the 2010 decennial census; and 2020 Medicare data for people aged 66 to 99.
In 2020, life expectancy at age 65 ranged from 16.1 years in Mississippi (ranked No. 51) to 21 years in Hawaii (No. 1), with overall life expectancy for this age group at 18.5 years. After Hawaii, states with high life expectancy at age 65 were concentrated in the West and Northeast, with California (No. 2), Vermont (No. 3) and Washington state (No. 4) at 19.5 years.
States with the lowest life expectancies at age 65 were mostly concentrated in the South, with Florida (ranked No. 6), at 19.2 years, being a noted exception. After Mississippi, states with the lowest life expectancies for 65-year-olds were Alabama (No. 50), Oklahoma (No. 49) and Louisiana (No. 48), at 16.6 years.
Life expectancy declines in all states
From 2019 to 2020, however, life expectancy declined for all 50 states and the nation’s capital, with the declines ranging from 0.2 years for Hawaii to three years for New York. Overall, life expectancy decreased by 1.8 years from 2019 to 2020, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increases in unintentional injuries, mainly drug overdose deaths.
States with the greatest decreases in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020 primarily were located in the Southwest and along the United States–Mexico border, but some outliers existed. New York saw the greatest drop in life expectancy, at three years, followed by Washington, DC, at 2.7 years; Louisiana and New Jersey, both at 2.6 years; Arizona and Mississippi, at 2.5 years; and New Mexico, at 2.4 years.
New England states — with the exception of Connecticut, where life expectancy declined 1.9 years from 2019 to 2020 — saw the smallest declines in life expectancy, ranging from 0.4 years in New Hampshire to one year in Vermont. Other states that saw only slight dips in life expectancy were Washington and Oregon, both at 0.8 years.
Overall, life expectancy for the entire nation was 77 years in 2020. Hawaii had the highest life expectancy, at 80.7 years, while Mississippi had the lowest at 71.9 years.
States with the highest life expectancy for people from birth were predominantly in the West, and after Hawaii at No. 1 included Washington (No. 2, at 79.2 years), Minnesota (No. 3, at 79.1 years), and California (No. 4), Massachusetts (No. 5) and New Hampshire (No. 6), all at 79 years.
Mostly southern states showed the lowest life expectancy from birth: West Virginia (No. 50 at 72.8 years), Louisiana (No. 49 at 73.1 years), Alabama (No. 48 at 73.2 years), Kentucky (No. 47 at 73.5 years), and Tennessee (No. 46) and Arkansas (No. 45), both at 73.8 years.
