COLUMBUS – The average life expectancy in Ohio is 77.8 years. In the U.S., it is about 78.6 years. But, a new report shows that how long you live can depend on where you live.
As poverty rates increase by census tract in the state, life expectancy decreases, from a high of 89.2 years in Stow to a low of less than 62 years in Columbus and Dayton, according to a new report from the Center for Community Solutions.
“It’s really shocking to think about how wide those disparities are,” said research associate Kate Warren, co-author of the report.
Warren explains that neighborhoods with lower life expectancies often share common characteristics that create barriers to good health.
“We often see things like lower-quality schools in those neighborhoods. People have trouble accessing safe, affordable housing. They may not have access to high-quality jobs that pay a living wage. There may be safety issues. There may be issues with air quality or walkability,” she said.
Even within smaller subdivisions the disparities can be dramatic.
For example, a resident of a section of Upper Arlington, where the poverty rate is less than 2 ½ percent, can expect to live a little more than 84 years while for someone living on the West Side, less than nine miles away, where 33.5 percent of resident live in poverty, the life expectancy is only 65.2 percent.
The research also found life expectancy tends to be lower in areas with a higher percentage of black residents than in neighborhoods with majority white populations, though Warren cautions that while statistically significant, the correlations do not prove causation.