Life expectancy gaps in US cities linked to racial, ethnic neighborhood segregation
Jun. 6, 2019
Anthony Vecchione
NJ Biz
According to an analysis by researchers in the Department of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine, using data from the City Health Dashboard, among the 500 largest U.S. cities, 56 have very large life expectancy gaps between census tracts, where on average people in one neighborhood can expect to live 20 to 30 years longer than their neighbors a few miles away.
These large life expectancy gaps occur most frequently in cities that have higher levels of racial/ethnic segregation.
The City Health Dashboard, released last year with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is an online resource that allows users to view and compare data on 500 U.S. cities with populations of 66,000 or more, from multiple national data sources on health and the factors that shape health to guide solutions that create healthier and more equitable communities.