How Long Do People Live in Buckhead?

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

Planning to live forever? Buckhead residents are living a few months less than the rest of the country, ranking 265th out of the 448 congressional districts in the United States, according to a new study.

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.

In Georgia Congressional District 5, which contains Buckhead, the average life expectancy is 78.6 years. Next door, Congressional District 4’s life expectancy at birth is 79.2 years, slightly above the national average. If you want to tack on a few more years to your next born child’s life, head up to Gwinnett County; the average life expectancy at birth for Congressional District 7 has reached 81.1 years, making it the 81st most long lived district in the country and the highest in Georgia.

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.

Apart from life span, the study also measures median income and access to education; Congressional District 5’s median income is $30,368, right in line with the national median income of $30,454. Buckhead residents can boast a higher access to education than the average American; the data show’s Congressional District 5’s access to education sits at 5.92, above the national average of 5.06.