Life Expectancy by State, 2018 to 2023

Hawaii and New Jersey tied for the highest life expectancy at 80.6 years in 2023, while Mississippi had the lowest at 73.8.

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What the data shows

In 2023, Hawaii and New Jersey share #1 with 80.6 yrs, ahead of Massachusetts (80.5 yrs).
Back in 2018, Hawaii was #1 with 81.0 yrs.
Biggest climber: New Jersey, from #9 in 2018 to #2 in 2023.

About this chart

Hawaii led the nation in life expectancy in 2018 (81.0), 2020 (80.7), 2021 (79.9) and 2022 (80.0), tied California at 80.9 in 2019 and tied New Jersey at 80.6 in 2023. The pandemic years cut deeply: Hawaii fell from 81.0 to 79.9 by 2021, and New Jersey dropped from 80.1 in 2019 to 77.5 in 2020 before recovering to 80.6. In 2021 the gap between Hawaii and Mississippi (70.9) was 9.0 years.

The figures are life expectancy at birth for both sexes across the 50 states, from CDC and NCHS state life tables. Only 2018 to 2023 is shown, because earlier state tables are not available in a consistent form. The 2020 to 2021 dip reflects COVID-19 mortality. The 2022 and 2023 values come from Wikipedia's tabulation of NCHS reports rather than a CDC data file. Mississippi was lowest in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023, and West Virginia in 2018 and 2022 (72.2).

The data

Source: CDC/NCHS U.S. State Life Expectancy (State Life Tables), both sexes: 2018-2021 from data.cdc.gov datasets a5a8-jsrq, ncvk-7amm, ss2j-8ajj, it4f-frdc; 2022-2023 from NCHS NVSR 74(12) and the 2023 State Life Tables working paper as tabulated on Wikipedia (List of U.S. states and territories by life expectancy), cross-checked: Wikipedia 2021 column equals the CDC dataset for all 50 states.. Retrieved November 4, 2026. Life expectancy at birth, both sexes, 50 states; District of Columbia excluded. Only six annual points (2018-2023) are shown because NCHS state life tables for earlier years are not available as a consistent data download. 2022 and 2023 values come from Wikipedia's tabulation of the NCHS reports, not from a CDC file. The 2020-2021 dip reflects COVID-19 mortality.

Life Expectancy by State, Life expectancy at birth, years, 2018-2023, 2018–2023
Date	Hawaii	California	New York	Minnesota	Connecticut	Massachusetts	New Jersey	Washington	Colorado	Utah	Rhode Island	New Hampshire
2018	81.0 yrs	80.8 yrs	80.5 yrs	80.5 yrs	80.4 yrs	80.1 yrs	79.8 yrs	80.0 yrs	80.0 yrs	79.6 yrs	79.8 yrs	79.1 yrs
2019	80.9 yrs	80.9 yrs	80.7 yrs	80.4 yrs	80.3 yrs	80.4 yrs	80.1 yrs	80.0 yrs	80.0 yrs	79.7 yrs	79.5 yrs	79.4 yrs
2020	80.7 yrs	79.0 yrs	77.7 yrs	79.1 yrs	78.4 yrs	79.0 yrs	77.5 yrs	79.2 yrs	78.3 yrs	78.6 yrs	78.2 yrs	79.0 yrs
2021	79.9 yrs	78.3 yrs	79.0 yrs	78.8 yrs	79.2 yrs	79.6 yrs	79.0 yrs	78.2 yrs	77.7 yrs	78.2 yrs	78.5 yrs	78.5 yrs
2022	80.0 yrs	79.3 yrs	79.5 yrs	79.3 yrs	79.4 yrs	79.8 yrs	79.6 yrs	78.4 yrs	78.5 yrs	79.0 yrs	79.2 yrs	78.7 yrs
2023	80.6 yrs	80.2 yrs	80.4 yrs	80.0 yrs	80.4 yrs	80.5 yrs	80.6 yrs	79.0 yrs	79.3 yrs	79.6 yrs	79.7 yrs	79.5 yrs

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Frequently asked questions

Which state has the highest life expectancy?

Hawaii and New Jersey tied at 80.6 years in 2023, followed closely by Massachusetts at 80.5. Hawaii was highest outright in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Which state has the lowest life expectancy?

Mississippi, at 73.8 years in 2023. It was also lowest in 2019 (74.4), 2020 (71.9) and 2021 (70.9). West Virginia was lowest in 2022 at 72.2.

What is the life expectancy in the United States?

The national figure was 78.8 years in 2019 and fell to 77.0 in 2020, according to NCHS state tables. It was 78.7 in 2018.

Where does this data come from?

CDC/NCHS U.S. State Life Expectancy (State Life Tables), both sexes: 2018-2021 from data.cdc.gov datasets a5a8-jsrq, ncvk-7amm, ss2j-8ajj, it4f-frdc; 2022-2023 from NCHS NVSR 74(12) and the 2023 State Life Tables working paper as tabulated on Wikipedia (List of U.S. states and territories by life expectancy), cross-checked: Wikipedia 2021 column equals the CDC dataset for all 50 states.. Retrieved November 4, 2026. Life expectancy at birth, both sexes, 50 states; District of Columbia excluded. Only six annual points (2018-2023) are shown because NCHS state life tables for earlier years are not available as a consistent data download. 2022 and 2023 values come from Wikipedia's tabulation of the NCHS reports, not from a CDC file. The 2020-2021 dip reflects COVID-19 mortality. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

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