from Global Health Program
The Ten Americas: How Geography, Race, and Income Shape U.S. Life Expectancy
The differences in U.S. life expectancy are so large it’s as if the population lives in separate Americas instead of one.

Article by Thomas J. Bollyky, Laura Dwyer-Lindgren, Ali H. Mokdad, and Chloe Searchinger
December 10, 2024 8:05 am (EST)


James "Big Ken" Manuel, 66, a heart patient with many co-morbidities, goes through his evening medicine ritual at his home on June 5, 2023, in Louisville, KY. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The differences in U.S. life expectancy are so large it’s as if the population lives in separate Americas instead of one.

Nearly two decades ago, a team of researchers published the landmark “Eight Americas” study, which examined drivers of U.S. health inequities between 1982 and 2001 by dividing the U.S. population into groups based on geography, race, income, and other factors.

A new research study, published this month by the University of Washington and the Council on Foreign Relations, revisits that landmark research project, adding two new “Americas” to account for Latino populations.

This new study finds that U.S. life expectancy disparities have grown over the last two decades between 2001 and 2021, with the differences between the best and worst of those “Americas” increasing from 12.6 years in 2000 to 20.4 years in 2021. COVID-19 exacerbated this divide, but gaps in longevity had already been growing before the pandemic hit.

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