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Life expectancy by state

Life expectancy at birth was highest in Hawaii, at 80.0 years in 2022, and lowest in West Virginia, at 72.2 years. The U.S. figure was 77.5 years. Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. State Life Tables, 2022, 2022.

These are the latest state life tables from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Life expectancy summarizes death rates at every age in a single year, so it reflects accidents, overdoses and COVID-19 as well as chronic disease. It is not a forecast for anyone alive today.

Data year: 2022Source released Dec. 4, 2025Last updated Oct. 23, 2026NVSR 74-12, tables 1 and 4

50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best. Ranks reflect point estimates; close values may not differ statistically.

Lowest state estimate 72.2 years West Virginia
Highest state estimate 80.0 years Hawaii
Hawaii: 80.0 years Massachusetts: 79.8 years New Jersey: 79.6 years New York: 79.5 years Connecticut: 79.4 years California: 79.3 years Minnesota: 79.3 years Rhode Island: 79.2 years Utah: 79.0 years New Hampshire: 78.7 years Colorado: 78.5 years Idaho: 78.4 years Washington: 78.4 years Nebraska: 78.3 years Vermont: 78.3 years Wisconsin: 78.1 years North Dakota: 77.9 years Iowa: 77.9 years Florida: 77.9 years Maryland: 77.8 years Oregon: 77.7 years Illinois: 77.5 years Virginia: 77.5 years Pennsylvania: 77.3 years South Dakota: 77.3 years Montana: 77.3 years Texas: 77.1 years Wyoming: 76.8 years Michigan: 76.8 years Arizona: 76.7 years Maine: 76.6 years Delaware: 76.5 years Kansas: 76.5 years Nevada: 76.4 years Georgia: 75.9 years North Carolina: 75.9 years Alaska: 75.8 years Ohio: 75.6 years Indiana: 75.4 years Missouri: 75.2 years South Carolina: 75.1 years New Mexico: 74.5 years Arkansas: 73.9 years Oklahoma: 73.8 years Tennessee: 73.8 years Alabama: 73.8 years Louisiana: 73.8 years Kentucky: 73.6 years Mississippi: 72.6 years West Virginia: 72.2 years
Each dot is a state. The scale runs from the lowest to highest estimate; intervals are not shown here. Read about uncertainty.

The 10 states with the highest life expectancy

  1. Hawaii: 80.0 years
  2. Massachusetts: 79.8 years
  3. New Jersey: 79.6 years
  4. New York: 79.5 years
  5. Connecticut: 79.4 years
  6. California: 79.3 years
  7. Minnesota: 79.3 years
  8. Rhode Island: 79.2 years
  9. Utah: 79.0 years
  10. New Hampshire: 78.7 years

The 10 states with the lowest life expectancy

  1. West Virginia: 72.2 years
  2. Mississippi: 72.6 years
  3. Kentucky: 73.6 years
  4. Louisiana: 73.8 years
  5. Alabama: 73.8 years
  6. Tennessee: 73.8 years
  7. Oklahoma: 73.8 years
  8. Arkansas: 73.9 years
  9. New Mexico: 74.5 years
  10. South Carolina: 75.1 years

State distribution and comparisons

The middle of the 50-state distribution is 77.3 years: the average of the 25th and 26th ordered state estimates. This treats each state equally, so it answers a different question from a population-weighted national estimate.

One other state is statistically tied with Hawaii at 90% confidence: Massachusetts. This is not a confidence interval for rank, and testing multiple pairs increases false-positive risk.

See the top ten estimates with their 90% margins of error72.0 years80.1 yearsHawaiiMassachusettsNew JerseyNew YorkConnecticutCaliforniaMinnesotaRhode IslandUtahNew Hampshire

Shared axis spans the complete 50-state estimate ± MOE range. Intervals describe individual estimates; overlapping intervals alone are not our significance test.

Do states with high obesity rates also have shorter lives?

These states’ ranks change the most between life expectancy and adult obesity rate. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.

StateLife expectancyAdult obesity rate
Hawaii80.0 years · #126.4% · #49
Mississippi72.6 years · #4940.4% · #1
Massachusetts79.8 years · #227.0% · #47

Inspect these states, definitions and pairwise differences.

The state-by-state view

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Ranked among 50 states; District of Columbia shown for reference. Rank 1 = highest value.

Life expectancy · 2022 · Years
RankState / jurisdictionValue90% margin of errorDifference from previous rank
1Hawaii80.0 years± 0.2 yearsHighest estimate
2Massachusetts79.8 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
3New Jersey79.6 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
4New York79.5 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
5Connecticut79.4 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
6California79.3 years± 0.0 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
7Minnesota79.3 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
8Rhode Island79.2 years± 0.2 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
9Utah79.0 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
10New Hampshire78.7 years± 0.2 yearsDifferent at 90%
11Colorado78.5 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
12Idaho78.4 years± 0.2 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
13Washington78.4 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
14Nebraska78.3 years± 0.2 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
15Vermont78.3 years± 0.3 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
16Wisconsin78.1 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
17North Dakota77.9 years± 0.3 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
18Iowa77.9 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
19Florida77.9 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
20Maryland77.8 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
21Oregon77.7 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
22Illinois77.5 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
23Virginia77.5 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
24Pennsylvania77.3 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
25South Dakota77.3 years± 0.3 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
26Montana77.3 years± 0.2 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
27Texas77.1 years± 0.0 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
28Wyoming76.8 years± 0.3 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
29Michigan76.8 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
30Arizona76.7 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
31Maine76.6 years± 0.2 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
32Delaware76.5 years± 0.3 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
33Kansas76.5 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
34Nevada76.4 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
35Georgia75.9 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
36North Carolina75.9 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
37Alaska75.8 years± 0.3 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
38Ohio75.6 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
39Indiana75.4 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
40Missouri75.2 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
41South Carolina75.1 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
42New Mexico74.5 years± 0.2 yearsDifferent at 90%
43Arkansas73.9 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
44Oklahoma73.8 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
45Tennessee73.8 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
46Alabama73.8 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
47Louisiana73.8 years± 0.1 yearsNot distinguishable at 90%
48Kentucky73.6 years± 0.1 yearsDifferent at 90%
49Mississippi72.6 years± 0.2 yearsDifferent at 90%
50West Virginia72.2 years± 0.2 yearsDifferent at 90%
Ref.District of ColumbiaNot ranked among states76.6 years± 0.3 yearsReference jurisdiction

50 states plus 1 reference row.

Common questions

Which state has the highest life expectancy?

Babies born in Hawaii in 2022 had the longest life expectancy of any state, at 80.0 years.

Which state has the lowest life expectancy?

Babies born in West Virginia in 2022 had the shortest life expectancy of any state, at 72.2 years.

Why are the latest figures from 2022?

State life tables need final death counts and population estimates for every age, so they appear about three years after the data year.

What this ranking measures

Life expectancy at birth in 2022: the average number of years a baby born that year would live if death rates at each age stayed as they were in 2022.

A summary of 2022 death rates, not a forecast for anyone alive today. It reflects deaths from all causes, including accidents, overdoses and COVID-19, which was still a leading cause of death in 2022.

The size of the gap

The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is 7.7 years. The U.S. benchmark is 77.5 years. It is not a simple average of the states.

22 states have point estimates above the U.S. benchmark and 28 below it. These counts do not establish statistical significance.

How much should you read into a rank?

Margins are 90% intervals calculated as 1.645 × the NCHS standard error. They reflect random variation in the number of deaths only. For two different states, we flag a difference only when its absolute size exceeds the square root of the sum of their squared margins of error. The comparison tool applies this check to every selected pair.

Non-significance is not proof of equality. These pairwise tests are not adjusted for multiple comparisons and do not form ranking confidence intervals. Statistical method and limitations.

Ranks use the full precision of the source file, so only truly equal values share a rank (1, 2, 2, 4).

Keep exploring

Read the ranking methodology.

Explore the same states in a side-by-side comparison, or combine this measure with others in the custom ranking tool.

Source and method

Producer
CDC National Center for Health Statistics
Product / file
U.S. State Life Tables, 2022 · NVSR 74-12, tables 1 and 4
Period
2022
Unit
Years
Calculation
Published life expectancy at age 0 (ex) from each state’s table 1; 90% MOE = 1.645 × the standard error in table 4. The U.S. value, 77.5 years, is from Table A of the same report. Rank = 1 + number of eligible jurisdictions with a higher value.
Coverage
The 50 states are ranked. Washington, D.C., can be added with the toggle above the table; Puerto Rico is shown for reference only, where the source covers it.
Cadence
Annual, about three years after the data year. State life tables for 2023 not yet announced by NCHS.
Independence
Rank the States is independent. The agencies that produce the source data do not endorse these rankings.

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Download the default full table (CSV) or use the download above for the table’s current filter and order. Data dictionary and source metadata

Updates and corrections

Last updated Oct. 23, 2026. Earlier editions stay available on the data page, and every change is listed in the update log. If a number or definition looks wrong, report an error with the state, value, and source you checked.

Related rankings

State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row uses its own scale.

01

Obesity rate by state

2025 (2024 for three states) · CDC BRFSS

40.4% Mississippi · highest estimate 02

Uninsured rate

2024 · Census ACS

16.7% Texas · highest estimate

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