Here's where poor Americans live the longest

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published 11 April 2016

For poor people across America, where they live could play a big role in determining just how long they'll live. New research published Monday in The Journal of the American Medical Association finds that while rich Americans enjoy long lives regardless of where they live in the country, a poor person's life expectancy can vary a lot from place to place. In some cities, low-income Americans live much shorter lives than their wealthy neighbors, but in other cities, the rich and the poor have nearly the same life expectancy.

For instance, a poor man in Gary, Indiana — the city where poor men have the shortest projected life expectancy — can expect to live until about the age of 74. If that man were to live in New York City — the city in America in which poor men are projected to live the longest — he could expect to still be kicking by the age of 80. For poor women, the longest life expectancy can be found in Miami, while the shortest is in Las Vegas. A poor woman in Miami could expect to live to 84, whereas a poor woman in Las Vegas could expect to live just 80 years.

If some cities have managed to close the life-expectancy gap between the rich and the poor, it's possible that other cities may be able to do the same. "There is a very strong correlation between income and life span," Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The New York Times. "But it is not inevitable. There are things we can do to change the life trajectory of people. What improves health in a community? It includes wide access to social, educational, and economic opportunity."