Longevity and Where you Live in the U.S.

The word is out that how long you live can be predicted to some degree by where you live in addition to your socioeconomic and ethnic background. This notion makes sense as socioeconomic and ethnic groups tend to live in clusters. California ranks 10th among the 50 states, which surprised me somewhat considering that we have weather on our side. But considering our diverse and large population, tenth is quite good. The state with the highest longevity is Hawaii, which makes sense since the longest lived group is Asian American women, and this is the state with the highest percentage of Asian Americans.

When considering a place to live, you may be curious to see if you can find out what the life expectancy for the area is. Of course, if it's a newer city or a new section of town, don't expect to find this information quickly. But I did see an interesting statistic quoted in a New Yorker article (about Berkeley's public school lunch program) this month which cites the difference in life expectancy between the Berkeley hills and lower parts of town at about twenty years. Having gone to school there and seen the differences between the north and south sides of town, I wasn't surprised...

To see the article, the places with the highest and lowest life expectancies, as well as a breakdown of where states stand, click on the link below:
longevity article
You can read the New Yorker article on the attempt to turn around Berkeley's public school lunch program by clicking on this link:
lunchroom rebellion