Life expectancy for men in the United States reached 76.5 years in 2024, up from 75.8 the year before. Across developed nations, the average is slightly higher at 78.5 years. Both figures trail women’s life expectancy by a consistent margin, a gap driven by a mix of biology, behavior, and how men interact with the healthcare system.
Current Numbers in the U.S. and Globally
The 0.7-year jump from 2023 to 2024 represents a meaningful recovery after life expectancy for American men took a sharp hit during the pandemic years. Still, 76.5 years lags behind many peer nations. Across the 38 OECD countries (a group of high-income democracies), male life expectancy averaged 78.5 years in 2023, putting the U.S. roughly two years behind the pack.
Women in those same OECD countries lived to an average of 83.7 years, creating a gender gap of 5.2 years. In the U.S., the gap widened from 5.1 years in 2019 to 5.8 years in 2021 before beginning to narrow again. The gap exists in every country that tracks it, though its size varies.
Why Men Die Younger Than Women
The longevity gap isn’t just about risky behavior. Biology plays a real role. Testosterone, the hormone that drives male development and reproduction, also suppresses immune function. This makes men more vulnerable to infections throughout life. The same hormone plays a permissive role in several cancers that disproportionately affect men and contributes to higher rates of cardiovascular disease. In evolutionary terms, the male body appears to trade long-term durability for short-term reproductive capacity.
Women’s immune systems, by contrast, tend to mount stronger responses to pathogens and recover more effectively from illness. This biological advantage shows up as early as infancy, where male mortality rates are slightly higher even before lifestyle factors enter the picture.
The Biggest Killers
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for roughly 683,000 deaths per year across both sexes. Cancer follows closely at about 620,000 deaths annually. Accidents account for nearly 200,000, followed by stroke at about 167,000 and chronic lower respiratory diseases at roughly 146,000. Men carry a disproportionate share of each of these categories, particularly heart disease and accidents.
External causes of death hit men especially hard. Nearly 92% of workplace fatalities in 2024 were male, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Transportation and material-moving occupations recorded the most deaths at 1,391, followed by construction and extraction at 1,032. These aren’t just statistics about dangerous jobs. They reflect the reality that men are far more likely to work in physically hazardous environments.
Suicide adds another layer. The suicide rate among men in 2023 was approximately four times higher than among women. Men make up half the population but account for nearly 80% of all suicides. This disparity is one of the most striking in public health and contributes meaningfully to the life expectancy gap.
Smoking, Alcohol, and Years Lost
Men historically smoke and drink at higher rates than women, and both habits carry a steeper toll for men. A Canadian study published in Frontiers in Public Health quantified the damage: a man who drinks five alcoholic beverages per day loses roughly the same number of life-years as someone smoking about five cigarettes daily. At lower consumption levels (one to four drinks per day), alcohol is less harmful per unit than a cigarette, but the cumulative effect still shortens life.
Heavy drinking amplifies the risks men already face from heart disease and certain cancers. At five drinks a day, the estimated years of life lost per 1,000 men was 2,639, compared to 2,347 for women at the same intake. The difference reflects how alcohol interacts with male-pattern disease risks, particularly liver disease and cardiovascular damage.
Men Use Less Preventive Healthcare
One of the most fixable contributors to the gap is how rarely men see a doctor when they’re not already sick. CDC data shows that women make preventive care visits at a rate 69% higher than men: 76.6 visits per 100 women compared to just 45.4 per 100 men. That’s a massive difference in opportunities to catch problems early.
Preventive visits are where doctors screen for high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, early-stage cancers, and diabetes. These are conditions that respond well to early treatment but become dangerous when ignored. The pattern of men avoiding routine care until symptoms become serious means diseases are often caught at more advanced stages, when treatment is harder and outcomes are worse. This single behavioral difference likely accounts for a meaningful portion of the longevity gap that isn’t explained by biology.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities
Life expectancy for men in the U.S. varies significantly by race and ethnicity, though the most recent CDC data reports only the overall male figure of 76.5 years. Historically, Black men have had life expectancies several years shorter than white men, driven by differences in access to healthcare, rates of chronic disease, exposure to environmental hazards, and socioeconomic factors. Hispanic men have consistently shown life expectancies at or above white men, a pattern researchers call the “Hispanic paradox” because it persists despite higher poverty rates. Asian American men typically have the longest life expectancies of any racial group in the U.S.
What Actually Moves the Needle
The controllable factors that most influence how long men live are cardiovascular health, cancer screening, substance use, and mental health. Heart disease alone kills more Americans than any other cause, and its primary risk factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, inactivity, and poor diet) are all modifiable. Colorectal cancer screening, lung cancer screening for smokers, and prostate-specific antigen discussions with a doctor all catch problems at stages where survival rates are dramatically higher.
Regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, several cancers, diabetes, and depression. Even modest exercise, roughly 150 minutes per week of brisk walking, is associated with measurable gains in lifespan. Strength training adds further protection against falls and fractures as men age.
The life expectancy figure of 76.5 years is a population average, not a ceiling. Men who don’t smoke, drink moderately or not at all, stay physically active, maintain a healthy weight, and get routine screenings can reasonably expect to live well beyond that number. The gap between the average and what’s achievable is wider for men than for women, precisely because so many of the factors dragging the average down are within individual control.