How Long Do People Live in Fredericksburg? (ICYMI)

This item was first posted on April 28, 2015.

A new study says that on average, residents of Fredericksburg and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties will live to the ripe old age of 80.2 years.

That puts residents of Virginia’s 1st congressional district in the top third for life expectancy among all U.S. congressional districts. The study ranks the 1st District as 136th of the 435 districts in Congress. The district covers a large portion of Virginia’s Tidewater region, from the Fredericksburg area down to Yorktown and Williamsburg.

The study, called Geographies of Opportunity, was published last week by the Social Science Research Council as part of its 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. A neighboring California district, the 18th, came in second at 83.7 years on average.

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.

Two Virginia congressional districts to the north ranked among the top 10 in life expectancy. The 11th District came in third out of 435 districts, with an average age of 83.6, the study said. The 11th includes Fairfax City, most of Fairfax County and eastern Prince William County.

And the 8th District came in fifth at 83.5 years of age. The 8th includes Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church and portions of Fairfax County.

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.

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