New Yorkers–you may love us, you may hate us, but the thing is you’re not getting rid of us…at least not as quickly as before. The city Health Department recently released its Annual Summary of Vital Statistics for 2023, and according to the numbers New Yorkers are living longer than ever before! More time to spend eating pizza and bagels? We’ll take it!
According to the data, life expectancy in New York City in 2023 was 82.6 years, a record high for New York City and up more than one full year from the life expectancy of 81.5 reported just one year prior in 2022–largely due to the decline in COVID-19 deaths from 2022 to 2023.
Still, the numbers show some demographic disparities across different genders, racial groups, and financial classes. For example in 2023, Asians and Pacific Islander people had the highest life expectancy at 86.9 years, while Non Hispanic/Latino Black people had the lowest at 78.3 years.
In 2023, life expectancy was as follows:
- Non Hispanic/Latino Black people – 78.3 (+1.4 years from 2022)
- Hispanic/Latino people – 82.8 (+0.7 years from 2022)
- Non-Hispanic/Latino white people – 83.3 (+1 year from 2022)
- Asians and Pacific Islander people – 86.9 (+0.9 years from 2022)
And when bringing financial status into the data, numbers show that neighborhoods with higher rates of residents living in poverty had lower life expectancies. Neighborhood poverty is defined by the percentage of residents living below the federal poverty line.
In neighborhoods with low levels of poverty (<10%), life expectancy was 85.4 years, while in neighborhoods with very high levels of poverty (≥30%), life expectancy was 78.6, 6.8 years lower (and the same as in 2022). According to Staten Island Live, acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse stated:
The 2023 data show meaningful progress, but the data also affirm that structural racism, classism, gender inequity, and numerous other factors shape health outcomes across our city.
For 2014-2023, New York City’s life expectancy at birth was highest in:
- Sunnyside/Woodside – 90.3
- Midtown Business District – 89.5
- Chelsea/Clinton – 89.4
- Greenwich Village/SoHo – 89.0
- Murray Hill – 88.0
New York City’s life expectancy at birth was lowest in:
- Brownsville – 75.0
- The Rockaways – 76.2
- Central Harlem – 76.9
- Morrisania – 76.9
- East Tremont – 76.9
Consistent with its past, life expectancy for women in New York City was higher than men, at 85.2 years and of 79.7 years, respectively.
Moreover, New York City’s life expectancy remains higher than that of the United States (78.4 years in 2023) as a whole–another relatively historical constant. The disparity between the U.S. and citywide life expectancies gradually increased between 2014 and 2019, sharply decreased between 2019 and 2020, and increased again from 2021 through 2023.
The top ten leading Causes of Death in 2023 by rank are as follows:
1. Diseases of the Heart
2. Malignant Neoplasms
3. Use of or Poisoning by Psychoactive Substance
4. Cerebrovascular Diseases
5. Diabetes Mellitus
6. Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases
7. Influenza and Pneumonia
8. Accidents Except Drug Poisoning
9. Septicemia
10. Essential Hypertension and Renal Diseases
Morse noted:
The Health Department is committed to strengthening the agency’s ability to use data to identify, understand and address health inequities in New York City.
Staten Island Live notes that preliminary data for 2024 shows that the city reached its goal with a life expectancy of 83.2 years, though those numbers have yet to be finalized and are subject to change.