How Long You Were Expected to Live the Year You Were Born
- - How Long You Were Expected to Live the Year You Were Born
September 2, 2025 at 11:19 PM
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Lisa-Blue/istockphoto
After more than a century of medical breakthroughs and public health gains, the average American born today can expect to live nearly eight decades. However, that headline number has never been static; it climbed steadily through the postwar era, stalled during the opioid crisis, plummeted during the pandemic, and, according to the final 2023 data, has begun to rebound.
U.S. life expectancy jumped to 78.4 years in 2023 as COVID-19 deaths plunged and mortality rates fell across nearly every age group and demographic. Yet the story is far more nuanced. Women still outlive men by more than five years, some states enjoy life spans approaching 80 while others barely break 70, and projections suggest only modest gains in the decades ahead.
This guide walks through life expectancy figures for every year since 1940, explains the forces that shaped those numbers, including vaccines and public health campaigns, and helps you see how long someone born in your year was expected to live.
1940
Bettmann/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 62.9
Women: 65.2
Men: 60.8
The United States began the ’40s on an upswing, with life expectancy up sharply from 58.5 years in 1936, when the nation was still struggling with the economic devastation of the Great Depression. The 1940s would also bring significant public health landmarks, including the mass production of penicillin and the DTP shot, which combined the pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines.
1941
Keystone/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 64.8
Women: 66.8
Men: 63.1
1942
Fred Morley/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 66.2
Women: 67.9
Men: 64.7
1943
Keystone/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 63.3
Women: 64.4
Men: 62.4
Life expectancy dropped almost three years from 1942 to 1943. Though World War II may have driven a decline, a change in how life expectancy was calculated beginning in 1948 may have made the drop look more dramatic than it really was, scholars say.
1944
Archive Photos /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 65.2
Women: 66.8
Men: 63.6
1945
National Archives – Stills/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 65.9
Women: 67.9
Men: 63.6
1946
Keystone /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 66.7
Women: 69.4
Men: 64.4
1947
Reg Speller/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 66.8
Women: 69.7
Men: 64.4
1948
Bettmann/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 67.2
Women: 69.9
Men: 64.6
1949
Lost_in_the_stars
Overall life expectancy: 68
Women: 70.7
Men: 65.2
1949 marked the first year women’s life expectancy eclipsed 70 — a milestone men would not reach for another three decades. Experts have long documented that women tend to outlive men, attributing the difference to several factors. Among them: Men take more risks, are less likely to seek medical care, and are more likely to die of heart disease and suicide. 1949 was also the last time the U.S. saw an outbreak of smallpox.
1950
Harold M. Lambert/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 68.2
Women: 71.1
Men: 65.6
1951
Ernst Haas/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 68.4
Women: 71.4
Men: 65.6
1952
Bettmann/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 68.6
Women: 71.6
Men: 65.8
1953
The Image Bank Unreleased/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 68.8
Women: 72
Men: 66
1954
Harold M. Lambert/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.6
Women: 72.8
Men: 66.7
1955
Bettmann/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.6
Women: 72.8
Men: 66.7
In 1955, a nationwide push to inoculate children against polio began after trials found Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine to be safe and effective. New polio cases dropped to less than 6,000 in 1957 from 58,000 in 1952.
1956
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.7
Women: 72.9
Men: 66.7
1957
Bettmann/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.5
Women: 72.7
Men: 66.4
Though it was nowhere near as devastating as the 1918 pandemic that killed 50 million worldwide, the flu killed more than 116,000 in the United States and 1.1 million worldwide in 1957-58.
1958
Ernst Haas/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.6
Women: 72.9
Men: 66.6
1959
Silver Screen Collection/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.9
Women: 73.2
Men: 66.8
1960
NNehring/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.7
Women: 73.1
Men: 66.6
By 1960, life expectancy numbers had settled into a long-term pattern of slow but steady growth compared with more dramatic jumps at the beginning of the century. From 1950 to 1960, life expectancy grew 1.5 years, compared with a jump of more than five years from 1940 to 1950, more than three years from 1930 to 1940, and more than five years from 1920 to 1930.
1961
John Pratt/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.2
Women: 73.6
Men: 67.1
1962
Schafer/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.1
Women: 73.5
Men: 66.9
1963
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 69.9
Women: 73.4
Men: 66.6
1964
Wikimedia Commons
Overall life expectancy: 70.2
Women: 73.7
Men: 66.8
The U.S. government made waves in 1964 when the surgeon general released a landmark report that said cigarettes caused lung and throat cancer in men, and likely caused lung cancer in women.
1965
Hulton Archive / Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.2
Women: 73.8
Men: 66.8
1966
Peter Keegan/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.2
Women: 73.9
Men: 66.7
1967
Reg Burkett/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.5
Women: 74.3
Men: 67
1968
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.2
Women: 74.1
Men: 66.6
About a decade after the 1957-58 pandemic, yet another flu pandemic killed about 100,000 people in the U.S. and more than 1 million worldwide.
1969
Hulton Archive/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.5
Women: 74.4
Men: 66.8
1970
Archive Photos/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 70.8
Women: 74.7
Men: 67.1
Life expectancy was relatively flat in the ’60s, rising less than a year from 1960 to 1970. Women added about 18 months to their lifespans, while men added only half a year. The ’60s also brought three significant vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella, which were eventually combined into the MMR shot in 1971.
1971
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 71.1
Women:75
Men: 67.4
1972
Robert Alexander/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 71.2
Women: 75.1
Men: 67.4
1973
Express/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 71.4
Women: 75.3
Men: 67.6
1974
Michael Putland/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 72
Women: 75.9
Men: 68.2
1975
Bettmann/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 72.6
Women: 76.6
Men: 68.8
1976
Susan Wood/Getty Images
Overall life expectancy: 72.9
Women: 76.8
Men: 69.1
1977
David Redfern/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 73.3
Women: 77.2
Men: 69.5
1978
Scott McPartland/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 73.5
Women: 77.3
Men: 69.6
1979
Barbara Alper/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 73.9
Women: 77.8
Men: 70
1980
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 73.7
Women: 77.4
Men: 70
A particularly deadly flu season again was to blame for the drop in life expectancy in 1980, the nation’s first since 1968.
1981
Bettmann /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.1
Women: 77.8
Men: 70.4
1982
Tom Gates/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.5
Women: 78.1
Men: 70.8
1983
Barbara Alper/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.6
Women: 78.1
Men: 71
1984
Michel Philippot/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.7
Women: 78.2
Men: 71.1
Three years after the CDC identified the first-known cluster of AIDS cases in the U.S. in 1981, researchers determined the cause of the disease: HIV. The first commercially available HIV test became available in 1985, and the first antiretroviral to fight HIV followed in 1987.
1985
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.7
Women: 78.2
Men: 71.1
In 1985, New York became the first state to require drivers to wear seat belts or risk a fine. Every state but New Hampshire eventually followed suit. In the early ’80s, seat belt use was only about 14%; today, it’s about 90%.
1986
Karen Kasmauski /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.7
Women: 78.2
Men: 71.2
1987
KMazur/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.9
Women: 78.3
Men: 71.4
This year marked a major milestone for the fight against heart disease, when lovastatin became the first such cholesterol-lowering drug approved for commercial use in the U.S. Several other statins followed, including familiar names such as atorvastatin (perhaps better known as Lipitor).
1988
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 74.9
Women: 78.3
Men: 71.4
1989
Barbara Alper/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 75.1
Women: 78.5
Men: 71.7
1990
Gie Knaeps/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 75.4
Women: 78.8
Men: 71.8
1991
Peter Turnley/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 75.5
Women:78.9
Men: 72
1992
Michael Brennan/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 75.8
Women: 79.1
Men: 72.3
1993
Jeffrey Markowitz/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 75.5
Women:78.8
Men: 72.2
In 1993, the U.S. notched its first significant decline in life expectancy since 1980, a blip that experts attributed to several factors: AIDS, a deadly flu season, and high accidental-death and murder rates for the year.
1994
Rick Stewart/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 75.7
Women: 79
Men: 72.4
1995
Archive Photos /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 75.8
Women: 78.9
Men: 72.5
1996
Hulton Archive/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 76.1
Women: 79.1
Men: 73.1
1997
David Hume Kennerly/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 76.5
Women:79.4
Men: 73.6
1998
Karen Kasmauski /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 76.7
Women: 79.5
Men: 73.8
1999
Hulton Archive/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 76.7
Women: 79.4
Men: 73.9
2000
Brooks Kraft /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 76.8
Women: 79.7
Men: 74.3
2001
Michel Setboun/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 77
Women: 79.5
Men: 74.3
2002
Bastiaan Slabbers/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 77
Women: 79.6
Men: 74.4
2003
Pando Hall/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 77.6
Women: 79.7
Men: 74.5
2004
Walter Bibikow/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 77.5
Women: 80.1
Men: 75
2005
James Leynse/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 77.6
Women: 80.1
Men: 75
2006
Jon Feingersh Photography Inc/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 77.8
Women: 80.3
Men: 75.2
2007
Vlada84/istockphotophoto
Overall life expectancy: 78.1
Women: 80.6
Men: 75.5
2008
Michael Nagle/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.2
Women: 80.6
Men: 75.6
2009
Pool/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.5
Women: 80.9
Men: 76
2010
eli_asenova/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 78.7
Women: 81
Men: 76.2
2011
Viviane Moos/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.7
Women: 81.1
Men: 76.3
2012
David McNew /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.8
Women:81.2
Men: 76.4
2013
svetikd/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 78.8
Women: 81.2
Men: 76.4
2014
Ezra Shaw /Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.9
Women: 81.3
Men: 76.5
2015
BackyardProduction/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 78.7
Women: 81.1
Men: 76.3
In 2015, life expectancy fell from its 2014 peak of 78.9. Several factors were at play, researchers say, including an increasing number of midlife deaths from the opioid crisis.
2016
Mark Makela/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.7
Women: 81.1
Men: 76.2
2017
Wavebreakmedia / istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 78.6
Women: 81.1
Men: 76.1
2018
Mark Makela/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.7
Women:81.2
Men: 76.2
2019
LeoPatrizi/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 78.8
Women: 81.4
Men: 76.3
2020
Powerofflowers /istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 77
Women: 79.9
Men: 74.2
The U.S. recorded a more than one-year drop in life expectancy after the coronavirus outbreak evolved into a pandemic in early 2020. Researchers express optimism that the number would rebound, but noted that deaths disproportionately affected communities of color.
2021
Anchiy/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 76.4
Women: 79.3
Men: 73.5
On average in 2021, life expectancy for men fell quicker than women, widening a gap that had been growing over the past decade. The CDC also noted that white people saw more deaths from COVID-19 in the second year of the pandemic than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S. The increased mortality rate resulted in white people experiencing the second-biggest decline in life expectancy.
2022
Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury/istockphoto
Overall life expectancy: 77.5
Women: 80.2
Men: 74.8
In 2022, there was a slight increase in life expectancy for men and women, following a two-year decline. Heart disease and cancer remained the top two leading causes of death. However, unintentional injuries overtook COVID-19 as the third leading cause.
2023
JasonDoiy/Getty
Overall life expectancy: 78.4
Women: 81.1
Men: 75.8
See What Else Happened the Year You Were Born
H. Armstrong Roberts/Getty -
The Minimum Wage the Year You Were Born — A quick look at how the federal minimum wage has climbed from 25 cents in 1938 to today, showing what it was the year you were born.
How Much a Dozen Eggs Cost the Year You Were Born — Using government data, we chart the price of eggs from 1940 through the late 1990s (adjusted for inflation) so you can see how much they cost when you were born.
How Much a Ford Truck Cost the Year You Were Born — An overview of Ford F‑Series truck prices through the decades, including MSRP figures and inflation‑adjusted totals for each model year since 1948.
Source: “AOL AOL Lifestyle”
