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Average Life Expectancy of White and Black Males in U.S. [1]

['Sharon Basaraba']

Date: 2025-01

From 2020 to 2021, the average life expectancy for males in the United States fell from 74.2 to 73.5 years—the lowest it has been since 1998.

By 2022, the downward trend started to reverse, increasing to 74.8 years. Even so, it was still well below the high-water mark in 2019 when the average life expectancy was 76.3 years.

Experts attribute the decline to the COVID pandemic, during which the virus was the third leading cause of death in males in 2020 and 2021 and the fourth leading cause in 2022. By 2023, with increased vaccinations and better medical treatments, COVID-19 has fallen to the 10th leading cause of death overall.

Although the increase in life expectancy in 2022 was seen among all racial and ethnic groups, certain groups fared worse than others. This included Black males who proportionately had 25% more deaths per capita than White males and 40% more than Hispanic males.

Illustration by Zoe Hansen for Verywell Health

Life Expectancy Yesterday and Today

Due to medical advancements, and improved hygiene and living conditions, life expectancy has risen significantly in the United States since the early 1900s. By the 1940s, it was uncommon to see life expectancy rates steadily increase year on year.

In rare instances where there was a decline (including 1943, 1957, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1980, 1988, and 1993), the drop was never more than 0.2 years. This included during the height of the AIDS pandemic in 1988 when life expectancy dropped by only 0.1 years among U.S. males.

So, what was seen between 2019 and 2021—when average life expectancy among males dropped by 2.8 years—is entirely unique in modern medical history.

While females in the U.S. were also affected, the impact of the pandemic was somewhat less, trimming 2.1 years from the average life expectancy.



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[1] Url: https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-live-longer-for-men-2223908

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