Life expectancy is one of the most important and commonly cited indicators of population health — and in the United States, life expectancy is falling at a historic rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, life expectancy at birth declined by 1.5 years in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II.

The CDC attributes the decline to the COVID-19 pandemic and 93,000 drug overdose deaths — an all-time one-year high. Homicide, diabetes, and liver disease were also contributing factors.

While the national trend is alarming, there are considerable regional variations in life expectancy across the country.

As of 2019, the most recent available year of state-level data, life expectancy at birth in Georgia is 77.9 years, the 38th highest among states and lower than the comparable national average of 79.2 years.

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Both at an individual and population level, life expectancy is closely linked to certain economic factors, such as poverty. Lower-income Americans are less able to afford adequate health care or a range of healthy options related to diet and lifestyle. Recent studies have shown that life expectancy among the wealthiest 1% of Americans exceeds that of the poorest 1% by well over a decade — and many Georgia residents are struggling financially. The state’s poverty rate of 13.3% is a full percentage point above the national poverty rate of 12.3%.

Data on average life expectancy at birth is from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program’s 2021 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps report. Additional data is from both CHR and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.

Rank	State	Life expectancy at birth (yrs.)	Adults who smoke (%)	Median household income ($)	Poverty rate (%)
1	Hawaii	82.3	14.4	83,102	9.3
2	California	81.7	11.5	80,440	11.8
3	New York	81.4	13.0	72,108	13.0
4	Connecticut	80.9	12.5	78,833	10.0
4	Minnesota	80.9	15.5	74,593	9.0
6	Massachusetts	80.6	13.7	85,843	9.4
6	Colorado	80.6	14.7	77,127	9.3
8	New Jersey	80.5	13.2	85,751	9.2
9	Washington	80.4	12.1	78,687	9.8
10	Florida	80.2	14.9	59,227	12.7
11	Utah	80.1	9.1	75,780	8.9
12	Arizona	80.0	14.5	62,055	13.5
13	Oregon	79.9	15.7	67,058	11.4
14	Rhode Island	79.8	15.2	71,169	10.8
14	Vermont	79.8	14.7	63,001	10.2
16	North Dakota	79.7	19.7	64,577	10.6
16	New Hampshire	79.7	16.6	77,933	7.3
18	Nebraska	79.6	16.6	63,229	9.9
18	Virginia	79.6	15.1	76,456	9.9
20	Wisconsin	79.5	17.2	64,168	10.4
21	Illinois	79.4	15.9	69,187	11.5
21	Idaho	79.4	15.0	60,999	11.2
21	Iowa	79.4	17.4	61,691	11.2
24	Texas	79.2	14.2	64,034	13.6
24	Maryland	79.2	12.6	86,738	9.0
26	Alaska	79.0	18.5	75,463	10.1
27	Montana	78.9	18.9	57,153	12.6
27	South Dakota	78.9	20.2	59,533	11.9
27	Wyoming	78.9	19.2	65,003	10.1
30	Nevada	78.7	15.7	63,276	12.5
30	Maine	78.7	19.4	58,924	10.9
32	Pennsylvania	78.5	17.9	63,463	12.0
32	Kansas	78.5	17.9	62,087	11.4
32	Delaware	78.5	17.4	70,176	11.3
35	North Carolina	78.1	17.9	57,341	13.6
35	Michigan	78.1	20.1	59,584	13.0
37	New Mexico	78.0	15.9	51,945	18.2
38	Georgia	77.9	16.3	61,980	13.3
39	Missouri	77.3	20.1	57,409	12.9
40	South Carolina	77.1	18.7	56,227	13.8
40	Indiana	77.1	21.7	57,603	11.9
42	Ohio	77.0	21.4	58,642	13.1
43	Louisiana	76.1	21.1	51,073	19.0
43	Arkansas	76.1	23.7	48,952	16.2
43	Oklahoma	76.1	19.9	54,449	15.2
46	Tennessee	76.0	20.8	56,071	13.9
47	Kentucky	75.6	24.1	52,295	16.3
47	Alabama	75.6	20.0	51,734	15.5
49	Mississippi	74.9	21.0	45,792	19.6
50	West Virginia	74.8	26.9	48,850	16.0