The average life expectancy for an American male is 76.5 years, based on 2024 data from the National Center for Health Statistics. That’s an increase of 0.7 years from 2023, when the figure was 75.8. American women live an average of 81.4 years, putting the gender gap at about 4.9 years.
How This Compares Globally
Among developed nations, the U.S. falls toward the bottom. The average life expectancy across all OECD countries is 81.1 years (both sexes combined), and male life expectancy specifically averages 78.5 years. That puts American men roughly two years behind their peers in other wealthy nations. Spain, Japan, and Switzerland lead a group of 27 OECD countries where overall life expectancy exceeds 80 years. The United States sits in a second tier, between 75 and 80.
Several factors drag the U.S. number down, including higher rates of drug overdose deaths, gun violence, and obesity-related disease compared to other high-income countries.
Where You Live Matters
Life expectancy for men varies dramatically by state. Massachusetts ranks first, with male life expectancy at 77.4 years. Mississippi ranks last at 69.5 years. That’s a gap of nearly eight years between the top and bottom states, reflecting deep differences in poverty rates, access to healthcare, diet, and environmental factors.
Income plays an even more striking role. A landmark study published in JAMA found that men in the bottom 1% of the income distribution had an expected age of death of 72.7 years at age 40, while men in the top 1% could expect to live to 87.3. That’s a 14.6-year gap tied to income alone. Wealthier areas tend to have lower smoking rates, more physical activity, and better access to preventive care, all of which compound over a lifetime.
Leading Causes of Death for Men
Heart disease is the single biggest killer of American men, responsible for about 20% of all male deaths. Cancer follows at 17.5%. Together, these two conditions account for more than a third of all male mortality. The full top ten, based on 2021 CDC data:
- Heart disease: 20.1%
- Cancer: 17.5%
- COVID-19: 12.0%
- Unintentional injuries (accidents): 6.5%
- Stroke: 4.7%
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 4.1%
- Alzheimer’s disease: 3.4%
- Diabetes: 3.0%
- Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis: 1.6%
- Kidney disease: 1.6%
Several of these causes are heavily influenced by lifestyle factors like smoking, diet, alcohol use, and physical inactivity. Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, liver disease, and many cancers all have strong behavioral components, which is partly why the income and geographic gaps are so large.
Drug Overdoses and Younger Men
One reason the U.S. lags behind other wealthy countries is the toll of drug overdoses, particularly from opioids. Between 2009 and 2019, the drug overdose death rate among men doubled, climbing from 14.8 per 100,000 to 29.6 per 100,000. The rates have continued to rise since then.
Men aged 35 to 44 have been hit hardest. Their overdose death rate jumped from 25.2 per 100,000 in 2009 to 56.6 in 2019, surpassing every other male age group. Because these deaths occur in working-age adults rather than older populations, they pull down the overall life expectancy average more heavily than a similar number of deaths among people in their 70s or 80s would.
Why Women Live Longer
The 4.9-year gap between American men and women is consistent with a pattern seen worldwide. Across OECD nations, women outlive men by an average of 5.2 years. Biology accounts for part of this: estrogen appears to offer some cardiovascular protection during reproductive years, and women tend to have stronger immune responses to many infections. But behavior plays a major role too. Men are more likely to smoke, drink heavily, die in accidents, and delay seeking medical care. Men also die by suicide at roughly four times the rate women do.
What the Projections Show
The Social Security Administration projects that male life expectancy at birth will reach 77.2 years by 2030 and 79.3 years by 2050. For men who have already reached 65, the picture is somewhat better, since they’ve already survived the higher-risk younger years. A 65-year-old man today can expect to live about 18.7 more years on average, reaching roughly 83 to 84. By 2050, that figure is projected to climb to 20 additional years.
These projections assume continued, gradual improvements in medical care and public health. They could be thrown off by worsening trends in obesity, drug overdoses, or infectious disease, just as COVID-19 temporarily dropped male life expectancy below 74 in 2021 before it rebounded.