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1 / 12#12. Anchorage
- Life expectancy: 77.1 years
--- Same as state average
Boroughs with the shortest life expectancy in Alaska
Life expectancy can be affected by a variety of factors. About 25% of your lifespan is determined by genetics, according to the National Library of Medicine. Health and wellness habits—like following a balanced, nutrient-rich diet; not smoking; drinking minimal alcohol; maintaining a healthy weight; and staying physically active—can add more than a decade to your life, research from the National Institutes of Health shows. While these factors are significant, another important element that you might not have considered is your environment and community.
While life expectancy generally increases annually in the United States—jumping from about 70.8 years old to 77.5 between 1970 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—this particular metric can vary from state to state or even county to county. In some parts of the country, the average lifespan is getting shorter based on a variety of risk factors on top of health, including socioeconomic factors like poverty, unemployment, income, and education.
According to a 2020 study from researchers at Penn State, West Virginia, and Michigan State Universities, communities with a higher population density, more fast food restaurants, and a high number of extraction industry-based jobs tend to have shorter life expectancies.
To find out how life expectancy varies within Alaska, Stacker used 2024 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to identify the boroughs with the shortest life expectancy. Life expectancy measures the average number of years from birth a person can expect to live and is calculated based on the number of deaths in a given time period and the average number of people at risk of dying during that period. Boroughs with unreliable or insufficient data were excluded from the analysis. Mortality data came from the National Vital Statistics System.
Read on to see if your borough is on the list.
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2 / 12#10. Hoonah–Angoon Census Area (tie)
- Life expectancy: 77.0 years
--- 0.1 years lower than the state average
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3 / 12#10. Matanuska-Susitna Borough (tie)
- Life expectancy: 77.0 years
--- 0.1 years lower than the state average
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4 / 12#8. North Slope Borough (tie)
- Life expectancy: 75.4 years
--- 1.7 years lower than the state average
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5 / 12#8. Southeast Fairbanks Census Area (tie)
- Life expectancy: 75.4 years
--- 1.7 years lower than the state average
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6 / 12#7. Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area
- Life expectancy: 72.0 years
--- 5.1 years lower than the state average
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7 / 12#6. Northwest Arctic Borough
- Life expectancy: 70.7 years
--- 6.4 years lower than the state average
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8 / 12#5. Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area
- Life expectancy: 70.2 years
--- 6.9 years lower than the state average
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9 / 12#4. Bethel Census Area
- Life expectancy: 69.8 years
--- 7.3 years lower than the state average
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10 / 12#3. Nome Census Area
- Life expectancy: 68.5 years
--- 8.6 years lower than the state average
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11 / 12#2. Dillingham Census Area
- Life expectancy: 68.4 years
--- 8.7 years lower than the state average
Marlene Moore // Shutterstock
12 / 12#1. Kusilvak Census Area
- Life expectancy: 65.2 years
--- 11.9 years lower than the state average
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Kiersten Hickman, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 49 states.
