Babies don’t get to pick where they’re born. They also don’t get a say in the local smoking rate or how far the nearest hospital is, and both of those things end up affecting how long they live. The latest state-by-state numbers from the CDC put Hawaii at the top, with a life expectancy at birth of 80 years. West Virginia came in last at 72.2. Based on 2022 death rates, the newest state data available, that’s a difference of nearly eight years depending on which state a baby happens to be born in.Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut round out the top five, all within about a year of Hawaii. At the other end, Mississippi sits at 72.6 and Kentucky at 73.6, while Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana are all at 73.8. The same pattern also shows up among older adults. Someone who reaches 65 in Hawaii can expect another 20.5 years on average, compared with just 16.6 in West Virginia.The state numbers also differ by sex. Women outlive men everywhere, with the difference ranging from 3.6 years in Utah to 6.9 in New Mexico. There was some better news overall between 2021 and 2022, when life expectancy rose in 48 states and D.C. as pandemic deaths declined. The national average climbed again to 78.4 years in 2023.The States With the Highest and Lowest Life Expectancy in America, RankedState averages are only one glimpse of the bigger picture, though. A study in The Lancet divided the U.S. into ten groups based on geography, income, and race and found a 20.4-year difference between the longest- and shortest-living groups in 2021. Asian Americans averaged about 84 years, while American Indian and Alaska Native people living in the West averaged 63.6. In 2000, that spread was 12.6 years.The researchers called the gap “intolerable” in a country as wealthy as the U.S. Some Americans are living with health outcomes closer to those seen in countries with far fewer resources. And once you zoom in below the state level, the averages hide even more. Two kids can be born a few miles apart and grow up with very different odds because one has better access to healthcare and more money.These figures are based on death rates from a single year, so they’ll keep changing as those rates do. A baby born in West Virginia today could absolutely live to 90. The point is that where you’re born still changes your odds before you ever get a say.The post People Live the Longest in These 5 U.S. States. Here’s Why. appeared first on VICE.