Highest Achievers
Counties in the northern Plains and on the East and West Coasts saw the highest life expectancies, the study showed. Overall, life expectancy at birth in 2007 was 75.6 years for men and 80.8 years for women. The U.S. lags the top 10 countries in life expectancy by 3.2 years, according to the report.
Between 1987 and 2007, life expectancy increased by 4.3 years for men and 2.4 years for women, the study showed. Some counties, such as La Paz in Arizona, saw expected life spans shrink in that time.
Changes in life expectancy have been particularly poor for women, Murray said. Between 2000 and 2007, 661 U.S. counties for men fell more than five years behind the 10 best-performing nations, compared with 1,373 for women, the report showed.
"It's pretty dramatically worse for women," he said.
Black men and women have lower life expectancies than whites across all counties, the study showed. For black women, life expectancy ranged from 69.6 years to 82.6 years, and for men, from 59.4 years to 77.2 years. For white women, the range is 75.5 years to 86.2 years, and for men, 66.8 years to 81.1 years, the data show.
The institute will next track specific causes of death to the county level, Murray said. Focusing on preventable causes of death, such as tobacco use, obesity, blood pressure and modifiable parts of the diet, will help lead to improvements in life expectancy, he said.
"These are major risks that account for a huge part of the pattern we see, and for which there are known primary care or public health strategies that can be used," Murray said.