6 Tennessee Locales Among U.S. Cities With The 'Worst Life Expectancy'
By Sarah Tate
April 23, 2024
Did you know that where you live could be a good indicator for how long you might live? Life expectancy can vary wildly from place to place. Depending where you live, you could have more access to programs and opportunities to ensure a high quality of life, from top-notch hospitals to low-stress environments.
24/7 Tempo compiled a list of the cities around the country with the "worst life expectancy," basing its rankings on 2023 county-level life expectancy at birth data from the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The 44 cities featured on the list have a life expectancy of less than 75 years.
Six cities in Tennessee were included in the list:
- No. 21: Jackson
- No. 26: Morristown
- No. 28: Memphis (Tennessee/Mississippi/Arkansas)
- No. 34: Johnson City
- No. 36: Clarksville (Tennessee/Kentucky)
- No. 41: Kingsport-Bristol (Tennessee/Virginia)
Of the Tennessee cities on the list, Jackson ranked the worst with a life expectancy of 74.27 years. Additionally, the area has an adult smoking rate of 23.2%, 35.4% don't get enough sleep and 27.1% of adults don't exercise.
These are the Top 10 U.S. cities with the worst life expectancy:
- Beckley, West Virginia
- Gadsden, Alabama
- Florence, South Carolina
- Charleston, West Virginia
- Anniston-Oxford, Alabama
- Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia/Kentucky/Ohio
- Monroe, Louisiana
- Alexandria, Louisiana
- Albany, Georgia
Check out the full report at 247tempo.com to see which other cities have some of the worst life expectancy in the country.