United States life expectancy, 1960 to 2024
United States life expectancy stood at 78.9 yrs in 2024, up 0.6% on the previous period.
Life expectancy at birth estimates how many years a newborn would live if the mortality rates of the birth year held for their whole life, from the World Bank's compilation of national and UN data. The series runs from 1960, when the United States recorded 69.8 years, to 78.9 years in 2024, up from 78.4 years the period before.
It is a snapshot of current mortality, not a forecast: actual cohorts usually live longer than their birth-year figure because mortality keeps improving. Sharp dips mark shocks such as pandemics and wars, and recoveries show how quickly mortality normalizes.
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