Use these data to better understand disparities and make important decisions about public transportation and grocery stores, requirements for physical activity and healthy foods in schools, community safety, access to health care, and much more. A sample address search in San Antonio, Texas.įortunately, the USALEEP’s new tools and resources can help you work with others in your community to help provide opportunities so that everyone has the ability to live a long, healthy life.Īnd here are 4 big ways to use the data you find: In a “culture of health,” everyone, regardless of ZIP code, has the right and opportunity to live their healthiest life possible. It also determines our access to transportation, affordable housing, places to play, early education, and more. Where we live determines our access to healthy food, as many Latino areas are surrounded by food swamps and food deserts. ZIP code has a greater impact than having adequate healthcare access. Furthermore, babies in Maryland’s Montgomery County can expect to live 6 to 7 years longer than babies born to mothers just a subway ride away in nearby Washington, D.C.

Social researchers have long insisted that ZIP codes tell a far more informative story than our genetic code, and it’s true: ZIP code greatly influences educational attainment, income, and physical and mental health.įor example, in New Orleans the average life expectancy for babies born to mothers in different neighborhoods can vary by as much as 25 years. In the United States, residents in many cities and counties have significant gaps in life expectancy. “These very localized data give us a more robust understanding of where there are disparities in life expectancy and the tangible things we can do to improve conditions in neighborhoods to enable people to live longer.” ZIP Codes & Life Expectancy “Everyone deserves a fair shot at living a long life, but as these data show, that isn’t happening,” said Oktawia Wojcik, an RWJF program officer. The expectancy estimates-released by The United States Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates Project (USALEEP), a joint effort of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)-shows how people living just a few neighborhoods apart may have vastly different opportunities for a long life. is raising a generation of children who may live sicker and shorter lives than their parents, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.įor the first time ever, a census-tract-level data on life expectancy at birth has been released to help stimulate change. ZIP Code is a bigger predictor of our life expectancy than our genetic code.įor the first time in our country’s history, the U.S. These days, ZIP code isn’t only for your mail.

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