What's the Average Lifespan for People Living in Belmont?

By Warren St. John

If you want to live a long time, move to Belmont.

That’s the finding of a new study, which reports that the he average life expectancy for people living in the Fifth Massachusetts Congressional district, which includes Belmont, is 81.6 years -- the highest number in all of Massachusetts, according to a study dubbed Geographies of Opportunity.

The study, published last week by the Social Science Research Council as part of their ongoing effort to track disparities in quality of life across America, says people in Massachusetts’ Fifth District live 2 1/2 years longer than the national average of 79.1 years.

That number represents 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.

While Belmont’s 81.6-year average is among Massachusetts’s highest, the rest of the Bay State’s presumed lifespan is only slightly lower. The Massachusetts district with the lowest average life expectancy - District 1, out in eastern Mass. - is 79.7 years. The rest of the state at least hovers above the 80-year mark.

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.

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