HOBOKEN, NJ - FEBRUARY 14: The sun sets on the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City as people stand on a pier in the Hudson River on February 14, 2026, in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK CITY - Living up to 100 years old is a rare milestone achieved by a small portion of the population.
In the United States, life expectancy rose to its highest mark in history at 79 years in 2024 — but how does that number shift when it comes to life in major cities?
By the numbers:
The estimated life expectancy at birth for New York City was 82.3 years in 2023, according to data released by the City Health Dashboard.
New York City's age is 5 years younger than the average life expectancy of the analyzed cities, which is 77.3 years.
Here's how New York City compares to other cities:
- Philadelphia: 75 years
- Washington DC: 77.4 years
- Los Angeles: 79.6 years
- Chicago: 77.9 years
- Houston: 74.8 years
Women in New York City will likely live longer than men on average, with a life expectancy of 85.2 years, compared to men's at 79.2 years.
The study also broke down the city's life expectancy based on rase/ ethnicity:
- Asian: 86 years
- Black: 77.2 years
- Hispanic: 82.9 years
- White: 83.5 years
Big picture view:
Life expectancy in the United States reached 79 years in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The age is an all-time high for the country and that is thanks to the decline of the COVID-19 pandemic and decreasing death rates from all the nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer and drug overdoses.
Preliminary statistics also suggested a continued improvement in 2025.
Data also suggests that the number of Americans ages 100 and older is projected to more than quadruple over the next three decades, from just 0.03% in 2024, to 0.1% in 2054.
Dig deeper:
The City Health Dashboard, a program created by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine's Department of Population Health, offers data on over 1,200 U.S. cities with populations over 50,000.
To determine life expectancy in these cities, the Dashboard analyzed the Multiple Cause of Death Data, National Vital Statistics System, and the National Center for Health Statistics from 2023 with a 3-year estimate.
The Source: Information from this article was provided by the City Health Dashboard, CDC and Pew Research Center.