Life expectancy has been declining in the U.S. How long can Wisconsinites expect to live?

The average life expectancy in the United States has been declining, data released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, and it’s been going down in Wisconsin, too.

The data shows that the average life expectancy in the U.S. increased by about one year between 2021 and 2022, but it still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

According to the CDC data, in 2022, the average life expectancy at birth in the U.S. was 77.5 years. This represents a 1.1-year increase from 2021, when the average life expectancy was 76.4. However, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019 the average life expectancy in the U.S. was 78.8 years. It dropped more than two years between 2019 and 2021.

In Wisconsin, the average life expectancy was 77.7 years in 2020, the most recent year with CDC data available. This represented a 1.6-year drop from 2019, when life expectancy in the state was 79.3.

What is the average life expectancy in Wisconsin?

Among all 50 states, Wisconsin had the 17th-highest average life expectancy in 2020 at 77.7 years. It was second among Midwestern states, behind Minnesota, which had the third-highest life expectancy in the U.S. (79.1 years), and tied with Nebraska, where the average life expectancy was also 77.7.

Life expectancy for males in Wisconsin was 75.2 years, while it was 80.3 years for females. The state had the 14th-highest life expectancy for males in the U.S. and the 19th-highest for females, according to CDC data.

Between 2019 and 2020, Wisconsin’s average life expectancy decreased 1.6 years ― from 79.3 to 77.7. Life expectancy for males in the state decreased 1.8 years during this time, and it decreased 1.2 years for females.

Most other states also experienced decreases in average life expectancy during this time.

Health experts have primarily attributed significant drops in U.S. life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 to COVID-19 and a spike in drug overdose deaths driven by an influx of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in the illicit drug market. Overdoses drug deaths doubled in Milwaukee County from 2010 to 2020, and the county now typically experiences an overdose death every 16 hours, county chief health policy advisor Dr. Ben Weston told the Journal Sentinel.

Meanwhile, CDC research found that the decline in COVID-19 deaths accounted for more than 84% of the national increase in life expectancy between 2021 and 2022.

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Do women live longer than men?

While every person is different, it is true that the average life expectancy for females in the U.S. is longer than the average life expectancy for males.

Life expectancy at birth for males in 2022 was 74.8 years, while for females, it was 80.2. In 2022, life expectancy for males increased 1.3 years from 73.5 in 2021, and, for females, it increased 0.9 years from 79.3 in 2021.

The difference in life expectancy between the sexes was 5.4 years in 2022, down from a 5.8-year difference in 2021.

Which U.S. states have the highest life expectancy?

These six U.S. states had the highest average life expectancy in 2020, according to CDC data:

1. Hawaii: 80.7 years
2. Washington: 79.2 years
3. Minnesota: 79.1 years
4. California: 79 years
5. Massachusetts: 79 years
6. New Hampshire: 79 years

Which U.S. states have the lowest life expectancy?

These five U.S. states had the lowest average life expectancy in 2020, according to CDC data:

1. Mississippi: 71.9 years
2. West Virginia: 72.8 years
3. Louisiana: 73.1 years
4. Alabama: 73.2 years
5. Kentucky: 73.5 years

Which Wisconsin counties have the highest life expectancy?

In August 2016, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services released a report on how life expectancy compares across the state’s 72 counties and among different population demographics in the state. For reference, in 2016, the average life expectancy was 78.6 in the U.S. and 79.6 in Wisconsin.

These five counties were found to have the highest average life expectancies in the state from 2010 to 2014:

1. Kewaunee: 82 years
2. Ozaukee: 81.8 years
3. Pierce: 81.6 years
4. Waukesha: 81.5 years
5. Taylor: 81.5 years

Ozaukee, Pierce and Waukesha counties also made the top 10 for the highest median household income in the state between 2010 and 2014, according to USA.com.

Which Wisconsin counties have the lowest life expectancy?

The Wisconsin DHS study found that these five counties had the lowest average life expectancies from 2010 to 2014:

1. Menominee: 72.5 years
2. Washburn: 76.7 years
3. Sawyer: 77.1 years
4. Ashland: 77.5 years
5. Milwaukee: 77.6 years

Menominee, Washburn, Sawyer and Ashland counties also made USA.com’s list of the 10 Wisconsin counties with the lowest median household income between 2010 to 2014.

How does socioeconomic status affect life expectancy?

The 2016 DHS study found that annual income and socioeconomic status are related to life expectancy. In short, it found that life expectancy generally increases with income.

The study found that, in 2014, Wisconsin women in the highest income quartile lived 6.78 years longer than women in the lowest income quartile. An even greater disparity was seen among men. Wisconsin men in the highest income quartile lived 11.21 years longer than men in the lowest quartile.

Research has also shown that your ZIP code ― and what kind of access you have within it to stable housing, quality schools, good jobs and affordable healthcare ― influences your life expectancy.

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How do U.S. life expectancy numbers vary by race?

American Indian and Alaskan Native people had a life expectancy of 67.9 years in 2022. The life expectancy of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S declined by 6.6 years from 2019 to 2021, the CDC data says.

The data also found that, in 2022, the life expectancy for Black people was 72.8 years compared with 77.5 years for white people and 80 years for Hispanic people. It was highest for Asian people at 84.5 years.

The Wisconsin DHS study found similar disparities among racial groups in the state. Life expectancies, as reported by the study in 2016, were 86.9 years for Wisconsin Hispanics, 85.3 for Asians, 79.8 for white people, 73.8 for Black people and 72.8 for American Indians and Alaskan Natives.

All racial groups in the U.S. saw an increase in average life expectancy between 2021 and 2022. American Indians and Alaskan Natives saw the greatest increase, a 2.3-year increase from 65.6 in 2021. The CDC reported that 70% of this increase could be attributed to a decline in COVID-19 deaths.

This decline in COVID-19 deaths also accounted for over 92% of the increase in average life expectancy among Hispanics. Average life expectancy for this group rose 2.2 years from 77.8 in 2021.

Still, no racial group has recovered to its pre-pandemic, 2019 average life expectancy.

Arizona Republic reporter Stephanie Innes contributed to this report.