In June 2026, Boston pledged $1 million a year to a problem most people never see on a map. The city wants to close a widening gap in life expectancy between Black residents and others. WGBH reports that at its first Black Men’s Health Activation Summit, officials shared a stark figure. Black men in Boston now live about nine years less than every other group in the city. Boston is not alone, either.
Across the country, Black life expectancy still trails most other racial and ethnic groups. The reasons are tangled, and they reach well beyond personal choices. Let’s unpack what the data actually shows, why the gap exists and what can help.
Does ethnicity affect lifespan?
Yes, though probably not in the way the question implies. Race and ethnicity are not biological destiny. Instead, they track closely with the conditions people live in. According to KFF, life expectancy in 2023 ranged widely by group. Asian Americans had the longest life expectancy at 85.2 years. Hispanic people followed at 81.3 years, then White people at 78.4 years.
Black people lived to about 74 years, and American Indian and Alaska Native people had the shortest span at 70.1 years. These gaps are real, yet researchers stress that they grow from social and economic forces. In other words, income, insurance, neighborhood and exposure to discrimination shape these numbers far more than genetics do. As a result, lifespan reflects opportunity as much as biology.
What is the leading cause of death in Black people?
CDC data for 2024 lists heart disease, cancer and unintentional injuries as the top three causes of death for Black Americans. In fact, Black Americans are about 30% more likely to die from heart disease than White Americans.
Cancer follows closely, and the disparities there are sharp, too. For example, Black men face prostate cancer at roughly 70% higher rates and die from it at about twice the rate of White men.
One cause also stands apart from the national pattern. Homicide ranks among the top causes of death for Black Americans, largely reflecting disparities in gun violence. Together, these patterns help explain why the overall death rate in 2024 was highest for Black Americans.
What is the average lifespan of a Black person?
As of 2023, the average Black life expectancy at birth was about 74 years, according to federal data analyzed by KFF. That figure is rising again after the pandemic. Between 2021 and 2023, Black life expectancy grew by 2.8 years, mostly because COVID-19 deaths fell sharply.
Still, the number sits below the national average of roughly 78.4 years. It also masks important differences within the group. Black women, for instance, live longer than Black men, mirroring a gender gap seen across every population. Geography matters as well, since a Black resident’s lifespan can swing widely from one city or neighborhood to the next. The 74-year figure works as a useful benchmark, not a fixed fate.
What the science says
Researchers have a name for the pattern behind these numbers: weathering. The CDC notes that the weathering hypothesis, first described by public health scholar Arline Geronimus, holds that the chronic stress of racism wears the body down over time. That stress speeds up biological aging, so illness and death tend to arrive earlier.
Dr. John H. Stewart IV, a surgeon and physician executive, calls this the most misunderstood driver of the gap. He notes that achievement does not shield anyone from it. “Even high levels of education and income do not protect Black individuals, including physicians,” he says, “from increased risks of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and premature death.” Boston’s health commissioner, Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, put the root cause just as plainly at the summit, saying the inequities are “about racism” and the chronic stress it creates.
Place matters too. A peer-reviewed study on residential segregation found that segregation alone widens the Black-White gap by roughly 16 years for men and five years for women. The same research traced more than 90% of the national gap to conditions inside individual counties, especially healthcare access, safety and public health resources.
The real risks
It is tempting to reduce these gaps to individual habits. The evidence, however, points elsewhere first. Dr. Adwoafuaa Nwokocha, a board-certified physician, tells Blavity Health that the gap often gets misread as a story about willpower. “The life expectancy gap is not simply a reflection of individual decisions,” she explains. “It is also a reflection of unequal opportunities to achieve and maintain health.”
In her own practice, she sees patients delay care for lack of insurance, transportation or trust, while chronic stress quietly drives up rates of hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. Those forces, she notes, are often invisible in a medical chart but shape health for years. People of color are also less likely to have health insurance and a regular source of care, which delays diagnosis and treatment. Income, education and housing matter as well, and historic policies like redlining still echo through segregated neighborhoods today.
Mental health belongs in this picture, too. At the Boston summit, behavioral health officials noted that Black men report high rates of persistent sadness yet often avoid care, partly because the system has not felt safe or welcoming. Anna Zhadan, a mental well-being specialist who works with people through long stretches of stress, sees that toll build over time. She stresses that people also “require environments where those choices are reasonable and sustainable.”
None of this means personal choices do not matter. Rather, it means those choices play out on an uneven field. Knowing that helps you push for the screenings, the providers and the policies that close the gap, instead of carrying the blame alone.
What habits can help slow aging?
Even on an uneven field, daily habits add real years. A landmark study in Circulation tracked five low-risk habits: never smoking, staying physically active for at least 30 minutes a day, eating a high-quality diet, keeping a healthy weight and drinking alcohol only in moderation.
People who followed all five at age 50 lived an estimated 14 years longer for women and 12 years longer for men than those who followed none. The benefits also stack. Each habit you add brings roughly two more years, so progress counts even if you cannot do everything at once.
Sleep, stress management and regular checkups round out the picture. Most powerful of all may be early screening, since catching heart disease and cancer sooner saves lives. Dr. Nwokocha encourages readers to build a relationship with a primary care doctor they trust, know their family history, stay active and speak up for themselves. Even so, she is candid that “personal responsibility has limits,” and that lasting gains also depend on policy and access. Small, steady changes, paired with consistent care, can meaningfully shift your odds.
Bottom line
Black life expectancy still trails most other groups in America, and structural forces drive most of that gap, including access to care, economic opportunity and the chronic stress of racism, rather than personal failure. The encouraging news is that the gap has narrowed before and is climbing again, while proven habits and early screening can add years to individual lives. Closing it for good will take both personal action and the kind of community investment that cities like Boston are now pledging.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which gender usually dies first?
Men, on average, because U.S. women outlive men by about 4.9 years (81.4 versus 76.5 years in 2024), a gap that holds across racial and ethnic groups.
What is the gap in life expectancy between white and Black people?
As of 2023, White Americans lived about 4.4 years longer than Black Americans (78.4 versus 74 years), and the gap runs even wider for men.
Citations
Ndugga N, Hill L, Artiga S. Racial Disparities in Life Expectancy. KFF. Published March 6, 2026. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/racial-disparities-in-life-expectancy/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. FastStats: Health of Black or African American Population. CDC. 2024 data via CDC WONDER. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/black-health.htm
Li Y, Pan A, Wang DD, et al. Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancies in the US Population. Circulation. 2018;138(4):345-355. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047
Where Does the Black-White Life Expectancy Gap Come From? The Deadly Consequences of Residential Segregation. National Library of Medicine, PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11258794/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital Signs: Racial Disparities in Age-Specific Mortality Among Blacks or African Americans, United States, 1999-2015. MMWR. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6617e1.htm
Adame D. Boston vows $1M a year to close racial lifespan gap at first-ever Black men’s health summit. GBH News. Published June 3, 2026. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2026-06-03/boston-vows-1m-a-year-to-close-racial-lifespan-gap-at-first-ever-black-mens-health-summit