How Long Do People Live in Stamford?

By Feroze Dhanoa (Patch Staff).

Connecticut’s Fourth Congressional District has a life expectancy that exceeds the national average and is among the top 20 in the country, according to a new study.

The life expectancy at birth is 82.5 years in the district. The congressional district covers a wide swath of towns including Greenwich, Oxford, Trumbull, Darien, Monroe, Redding, Weston, Easton, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Westport, Fairfield, Norwalk, Stamford, Wilton and part of Shelton.

The district ranks 17th in the country on the human development index, which takes into account life expectancy, education and median earnings. There are 435 districts across the country.

The study, called Geographies of Opportunity, was published last week by the Social Science Research Council, as part of their ongoing effort to track disparities in quality of life across America.

According to the study, the average life expectancy in the United States is now 79.1 years, an increase of almost four years over life expectancy in 1990. But according to the researchers, some Americans, especially African Americans and some Southerners, have seen far less of an increase. A few parts of the South have seen no increase at all.

The longest life expectancy in the U.S. is in California’s 19th Congressional district, which includes San Jose and part of Santa Clara County, where people live 83.9 years on average, or roughly as long as people in Japan.

The lowest life expectancy is in rural southeastern Kentucky, where people live just under 73 years, or about as long as residents of the Gaza Strip.

The study’s authors say a variety of factors affect life expectancy, from access to health insurance to race and employment opportunities. But the study also lists four factors it dubs the “fatal four,” which can shorten lifespan dramatically: smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise and alcohol abuse.

The study also looked into the education of the district. About 89.2 percent of the district’s residents can be expected to obtain at least a high school degree and about 48.3 percent will obtain at least a bachelor’s degree.

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MAP: Geographies of Opportunity, The Social Science Research Council, Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis.