Life expectancy in Kentucky, other southern states barely changed from 1900 to 2000

(NewsNation) — New research suggests that how long a person lives can vary by where they live in the United States.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans’ life expectancy rose in 2023 and hit the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic. In some states throughout the South, however, life expectancy changed very little, especially for women.

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health analyzed death data from 77 million women and 102 million men born from 1900 to 2000 and found that nationwide, life expectancy for women increased from 73.8 to 84.1, and for men, it jumped from 62.8 to 80.3.

The bottom five states for life expectancy among women born in 2000 compared to 1900 are:

• Arkansas, where the increase was 76.6 from 75.7
• Kentucky, up 76.5 from 74.9
• Mississippi, up 76.6 from 73.2
• Oklahoma, down to 76 from 76.7
• West Virginia, up 75.3 from 74.3

Southern men born in 2000 also tended to have a lower life expectancy, but showed more improvement than women since 1900 in these southern states:

• Alabama, with an increase of 72.6 from 62.5
• Louisiana, up 72.9 from 61.5
• Mississippi, up 71.8 from 62.3
• Tennessee, up 73.4 from 63.6
• West Virginia, up 72.6 from 63.7

Southern states that showed a greater life expectancy for both men and women were Florida, Texas and Virginia.

The authors of the study attributed the country’s overall decrease in mortality rates to improvements in sanitation, healthcare and tobacco policies nationally. They also cited differences in state public health policies between individual states to explain the regional discrepancies in life expectancy.