All 10 metropolitan areas with the shortest life expectancies in the United States are located in the Southeast, according to an analysis carried out by MoneyGeek.
In fact, the South occupied 19 of the lowest 20 spots for life expectancy, with Jackson, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama, tied for the worst overall with an average lifespan of only 74.4 years.
Coming right behind those two metropolitan areas for worst life expectancy in the nation were two other cities in Alabama — Birmingham-Hoover (74.6) and Montgomery (74.7).
On the other end of the scale, six of the 10 metropolitan areas with the longest life expectancy are in California and Florida.
Another coastal location — the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area in Connecticut registered the longest life expectancy in the U.S. at 83 years.
Just behind for longest life expectancy in the U.S. is San Francisco-Oakland-Berkley (82.9), Los Angeles-Anaheim (82.8), and the New York metropolitan area (82.6).
In complying the study, MoneyGeek looked at the average life expectancy for 119 major metropolitan areas with 250,000 residents or more, according to data from County Health Rankings. The age cited refers to the average life expectancy at birth for people born in the metropolitan area.
The lower life expectancy rates for metropolitan areas in the Southeast can partly be attributed to social determinants of health, according to MoneyGeek, explaining that people born into poverty have fewer financial resources, are more likely to experience food insecurity and often lack access to quality healthcare.
Preventive care and eating healthy despite rising food costs are essential to living a long and productive life, according to MoneyGeek, with making sure to have full health insurance coverage also an important factor.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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