A new study has found that people with higher levels of education tend to live much longer than those with less education.Over time, this gap in life expectancy has widened.
The research, published in The Lancet Public Health, was conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
A Growing Gap in Lifespan
Researchers studied data from more than 3,000 counties across the United States.
They found that in the year 2000, people with the most education lived about eight years longer than those with the least education. By 2019, this gap had increased to nearly 11 years.
College graduates had the biggest increase in life expectancy, gaining an additional 2.5 years and reaching an average lifespan of 84.2 years. People who attended some college but did not graduate gained 0.7 years, reaching 82.1 years.
High school graduates gained only 0.3 years, reaching 77.3 years. People who did not finish high school saw no improvement, with their life expectancy staying at 73.5 years.
Why Does Education Matter?
Education plays a big role in shaping a person’s health and well-being. According to IHME researcher Laura Dwyer-Lindgren, people with more education tend to get better jobs. These jobs often pay more and have fewer health risks. Higher income allows people to live in healthier environments, afford better food, and access high-quality healthcare when needed.
Differences Across the U.S.
Life expectancy also varied widely across different counties. On average, people in the U.S. lived between 68.2 and 93.2 years, depending on where they lived. However, the biggest differences were among those with the least education.
People who did not finish high school had the shortest and most uneven lifespans. Their life expectancy ranged from just 57.9 years in some counties to 90.1 years in others—a difference of 32.2 years. Meanwhile, college graduates had the smallest variation, with lifespans ranging from 75.2 to 93.9 years—a difference of 18.7 years.
In simple terms, a college graduate in the longest-living county had a lifespan of nearly 94 years, while someone who did not finish high school in the shortest-living county had a lifespan of just 58 years. That’s a staggering 36-year difference.
A Global Perspective
The study also compared U.S. life expectancy to that of other countries. If American college graduates were a country, their life expectancy in 2019 would have ranked fourth out of 199 countries. Meanwhile, people who did not finish high school would have ranked much lower—137th in the world.
Where Life Expectancy Declined the Most
Not all parts of the U.S. experienced the same trends. Some counties, particularly in the Southeast, parts of Appalachia, and parts of South Dakota, had much lower life expectancy, especially among people without a high school diploma.
Among those with some college education, counties in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida saw large declines in life expectancy.
High school graduates in parts of Virginia, the Carolinas, Texas, Louisiana, and Nebraska also had bigger declines than other counties.
For those who did not finish high school, the biggest declines were in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia. However, one exception was California, where life expectancy for this group actually increased.
This may be due to the state’s large immigrant population. Research has shown that immigrants often live longer than U.S.-born individuals, possibly because of healthier habits and lifestyle factors before moving to the U.S.
Gender Differences in Lifespan
Women generally lived longer than men across all education levels. For example, women without a high school diploma had an average lifespan of nearly 72 years, while men in the same group had an average of just 68 years.
The gap between the most and least educated grew even more for men than for women over the 20 years studied.
What This Study Shows
This research is the first to analyze how education affects life expectancy for both men and women in all U.S. counties. It provides clear evidence that education is strongly linked to how long people live. The findings suggest that improving access to education could be an important way to reduce health inequalities and help people live longer, healthier lives.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about Vitamin D deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, and Oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and results showing flavonoid-rich foods could improve survival in Parkinson’s disease.
The research findings can be found in The Lancet Public Health.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
