ANALYZING ZIP CODE DATA

TO EXPOSE HEALTH INEQUITIES AND TARGET SOLUTIONS

Being born in the wrong ZIP code can shorten your life – is the jarring headline in a story about disparity published in The Conversation by Jessica Owens-Young, Assistant Professor of Health Studies at the American University.

 

The average live expectancy in the U.S. is 78.8 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

“However, life expectancy varies widely across geography. A child born in Mississippi today could expect to never reach his or her 75th birthday. 

But a child born in California, Hawaii or New York could expect to reach their expect to live into the early 80s,” Owens-Young wrote.