We Live Shorter Lives Than People in Neighboring Counties: Study

By: Heather Martino

Life expectancy for people in Summit County isn't quite as long as for those in our more-rural neighboring counties.

Using the map above, you can see how Summit County residents compare with the rest of Ohio and the nation. 

Women in Summit County live, on average, 80 -- up from a 77.1-year life expectancy back in 1985.

Men here can expect to live 75.2 years -- also up from 1985, when the average was 70.9.

By comparison, the average woman in Medina County lives to be 81.8, and men hit 78.4.

In Geauga County, it's even higher -- 82 for women and 79.2 for men. 

Across the country, people are living long than ever, according to a new study from the University of Washington, which analyzed life expectancy rates for both men and women from 1985-2010.

Throughout the US, major improvements in life expectancy occurred in areas with large metropolises, like parts of California, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Iowa, New York and Virginia. But the disparity is widening, with counties in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama seeing declines or stagnations in residents’ average age of death.

Researchers also found that women were living longer than men in every county in 2010. But men are catching up, having adding 5.3 years to their lives since 1985, while women only added 3.

Even more worrisome is that 45 percent of women in counties nationwide are dying younger now or at the same rate than they were in 1985. So while men are living longer in counties across the country, women are remaining stagnant in much of the country.

“As a nation, what we can do about that is have a concerted effort to tackle the key preventable causes in those communities where there is no improvement,” said IHME Director Christopher Murray. He told Patch that in places where there is stagnation, local communities should “focus on changing things there that we know can make a difference, like diet, tobacco, high blood pressure and physical inactivity.”