Life Expectancy

Differences in life expectancy by race and region reflect inequities across the lifespan.

Life expectancy reflects all of the factors that can improve or harm health that individuals experience throughout their lifetimes. Life expectancy at birth is defined as the total number of years a newborn can expect to live given current death rates. From 2018-2022, the King County life expectancy was 81.4 years, which remains higher than the national average. However, we still experience stark differences in life expectancy by place and race/ethnicity in King County. 

  • Trends: Life expectancy in King County has decreased in recent years. For most of the past 10 years, life expectancy remained relatively stable, but in 2020-2022 average life expectancy declined by about half of a year among King County residents. During this time, existing inequities in life expectancy grew as some of the largest declines were among groups that already had the lowest life expectancies.  For Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPI), life expectancy has decreased by 5.5 years from the 2013-2015 average life expectancy of 74.7 years to 69.2 years in 2020-2022. American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) residents experienced the steepest decline, from 72.7 in 2014-2016 to 66.8 years in 2020-2022. By region, average life expectancy among South King County residents dropped to its lowest rate in nearly two decades in 2020-2022 (78.7 years).   

  • Race and ethnicity: Life expectancy is highest among Asian (86.1) residents. Among Black residents (75.3 years), life expectancy is about 6 years shorter than that of white residents (81.2 years). Gaps are even greater by race and gender, where life expectancy for Black male residents is 11 years less than white female residents (72.1 and 83.4 years, respectively). At 69.0 years, American Indian/Alaska Native residents have the lowest life expectancy of all racial/ethnic groups across King County. 

  • Region and city/neighborhood: Residents of King County’s South Region (79.2 years) have lower life expectancy than the King County average. Residents of East Region (84.3 years) and Seattle (82.0 years) both had higher life expectancies than North and South Regions. On a neighborhood level, residents of Mercer Island and the Point Cities have the highest life expectancy of 87.1 years, while Seattle’s Downtown, Belltown, and First Hill residents have the lowest life expectancy of 72.4 years, a difference of almost 15 years. 

  • Income: Residents living in low poverty neighborhoods (84.6 years) live an average of 6.6 years longer than those in very high poverty neighborhoods (78.0 years). 

  • Gender: Gender differences in life expectancy mirror national trends. Female (83.8 years) residents are expected to live on average 4.7 years longer than males (79.1 years). 

To understand what could be driving these differences in life expectancy, explore this visualization of the Leading Causes of Death in King County, or read this article about the impacts of the social determinants of health on life expectancy. This article addresses the impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy at the national level.  

 

Notes & Sources

Source: Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics.

To learn more about the birth and death certificate data and view their data biographies, click here (death data) and here (birth data).