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(The Daily Caller)—Southerners have a lower life expectancy than people living in other U.S. states, which experts attribute to several possible factors.
Several studies have shown that Americans in some areas of the Southern U.S. often have lower life expectancy and poorer overall health than those who live in other regions of the country. Analysts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that factors such as a lack of quality healthcare, lower medical insurance access and unhealthy habits may be contributing to poor health among some Southern Americans.
Lower life expectancy in some Southern parts of the country may result from higher chronic disease rates and rural hospital closures, according to a spokesperson for the Lifespan Research Institute (LRI), a nonprofit group which focuses on “strategically driving forward science to extend healthy human lifespan.”
“There is no single explanation,” the LRI spokesperson told the DCNF. “In many Southern states, lower life expectancy appears to reflect a combination of higher chronic disease rates, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, kidney disease, and certain cancers, along with lower access to preventive care, higher uninsured or underinsured populations in some areas, rural hospital closures, transportation barriers, and persistent poverty.”
“It is also important to view this in the broader national context,” they added. “U.S. life expectancy has also been pressured by alcohol-related disease, opioid addiction, suicide, and other deaths of despair. While these trends are national rather than uniquely Southern, they have added strain in many communities already facing economic stress, chronic illness, and limited healthcare access.”
In Southern states such as Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee, life expectancy tends to be between five to ten years shorter than in other regions of the nation, according to a January 2024 report from The Cornell Healthcare Review, which notes that the exact reason for lower life expectancy in these states is not currently known.
In 2024, life expectancy for the U.S. population was 79.0 years, marking an increase of 0.6 years from 2023, according to estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) published in January. Meanwhile, the age-adjusted death rate dropped 3.8% from 750.5 deaths per 100,000 U.S. standard population in 2023 to 722.1 in 2024, the NCHS reported.
The LRI spokesperson also told the DCNF that the “key point is that many of these outcomes are preventable,” adding “earlier detection, better risk-factor management, stronger primary care access, and healthier aging strategies could significantly improve both lifespan and quality of life [in these states].”