How Long Do People Live in the Rivertowns?

A new study shows that people in New York’s 17th Congressional District, which includes Dobbs Ferry and Irvington, have an average life expectancy of 82.6 years.

That statistic means we rank 14th among the country’s 435 congressional districts.

In Ardsley and Hastings-on-Hudson, which rest in the 16th Congressional District, residents have an average life expectancy of 81.6 years, or 58th among all of the nation’s districts.

The study, called Geographies of Opportunity, was published last week by the Social Science Research Council, as part of their ongoing effort to track disparities in quality of life across America. It includes data not only on life expectancy but also education, median earnings, age, and amount spent on housing.

According to the study, the average life expectancy in the United States is now 79.1 years, an increase of almost four years over life expectancy in 1990. But according to the researchers, some Americans, especially African Americans and some Southerners, have seen far less of an increase. A few parts of the South have seen no increase at all.

The longest life expectancy in the U.S. is in California’s 19th Congressional district, which includes San Jose and part of Santa Clara County, where people live 83.9 years on average, or roughly as long as people in Japan.

The lowest life expectancy is in rural southeastern Kentucky, where people live just under 73 years, or about as long as residents of the Gaza Strip.

At 14th and 58th, Districts 17 and 16, which comprises central and northeast Westchester and all of Rockland County (17th) and southern Westchester (16th), are much higher ranked than its Lower Hudson Valley neighbors in the 18th.

At 112th, the 18th Congressional District, which spans the horse country of northeast Westchester to the black dirt region of Orange County, is down in the second quartile.

The study’s authors say a variety of factors affect life expectancy, from access to health insurance to race and employment opportunities. But the study also lists four factors it dubs the “fatal four,” which can shorten lifespan dramatically: smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise and alcohol abuse.

MAP: Geographies of Opportunity, The Social Science Research Council, Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis.

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