Study: Urban US Residents Have Higher Life Expectancy Than Rural Americans

Rural Americans have a lower average life expectancy than their urban counterparts, a new study finds. “A key reason is worse rates among rural people for smoking, obesity and chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease. These conditions are condemning millions to disability and shortened lives.”

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, Bryan Tysinger, and Jack Chapel outline the study results in an article for The Conversation, noting that in addition to reduced economic opportunities and an often car-centric lifestyle, “Living in rural areas, with their relatively sparse populations, often means a shortage of doctors, longer travel distances for medical care and inadequate investments in public health, driven partly by declines in economic opportunities.”

These insights matter for planners and policymakers who want to address the growing gap in life expectancy and health outcomes between urban and rural Americans. Factors such as economic opportunity, education, lifestyle, and health are interwoven in ways that are often hard to disentangle. “In tandem, these health and economic trends might reinforce each other and help fuel inequality between rural and urban areas that produces a profoundly different quality of life.”