The average American woman lives to about 81.4 years, based on the most recent CDC data from 2024. That figure rose 0.3 years from 2023, continuing a rebound after the sharp drop caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
How the Number Has Shifted Recently
Female life expectancy in the U.S. took a significant hit during the pandemic years, largely because COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death for women, accounting for 11.1% of all female deaths in 2021. Before the pandemic, the number sat higher, and the climb back to 81.4 in 2024 signals a recovery that’s still in progress. That 81.4 figure is a period life expectancy, meaning it reflects mortality rates across all age groups in a single year. It’s not a prediction of how long a baby born today will actually live, since medical advances and social changes will shift the number over a full lifetime.
If You’ve Already Reached 65
The 81.4-year average includes every death at every age, including infant mortality and deaths in early adulthood. If you’re a woman who has already reached 65, the math changes in your favor. Social Security Administration actuarial tables show that a 65-year-old American woman can expect to live an additional 20.1 years on average, putting her expected lifespan at roughly 85. The longer you’ve already lived, the more the average shifts upward, because you’ve already survived the risks that pull the overall number down.
Where You Live Matters
There’s a striking 7.9-year gap in female life expectancy between the best and worst performing states. Women in Hawaii live to an average of 83.0 years, the highest in the nation. Women in West Virginia average 75.1 years, the lowest. That gap is larger than the difference between the U.S. and many lower-income countries, and it reflects deep regional differences in poverty rates, access to healthcare, diet, smoking prevalence, and environmental factors.
How the U.S. Compares Globally
Despite spending more on healthcare than any other nation, the United States falls behind most wealthy countries on female life expectancy. The average across all OECD member nations was 81.1 years in 2023. Spain, Japan, and Switzerland lead a group of 27 countries where life expectancy exceeds 80 years. The U.S. sits in a second tier, grouped with countries where the average falls between 75 and 80 years for the overall population. Japanese women, for context, routinely live past 87 on average.
What Shortens the Average
Heart disease is the single biggest killer of American women, responsible for 19.1% of female deaths. Cancer follows closely at 17.6%. After COVID-19 at 11.1%, stroke accounts for 5.7% and Alzheimer’s disease for 5.1%. Together, these five causes explain nearly 60% of all deaths among U.S. women.
Heart disease is particularly notable because many women don’t recognize their risk. Women tend to develop heart disease about a decade later than men, partly due to the protective effects of estrogen before menopause, but it still kills more women than all cancers combined.
Why Women Outlive Men
American men live to an average of about 76.3 years, roughly five years less than women. This gender gap exists in virtually every country on earth, and biology plays a real role. Estrogen appears to reduce overall mortality risk by protecting cardiovascular health and supporting immune function. Research has found that women whose physical traits reflect higher estrogen levels, such as shorter height and lower muscle mass, tend to live longer than those with traits associated with higher testosterone.
There’s also a cellular component. The protective caps on the ends of chromosomes, called telomeres, shorten with each cell division and serve as a kind of biological clock. Estrogen helps maintain telomere length, which may slow cellular aging in women compared to men. Beyond hormones, the fact that women carry two X chromosomes provides a genetic backup: if a harmful mutation appears on one X chromosome, the second copy can compensate. Men, with only one X, don’t have that safety net.
Biology isn’t the whole story, though. Men are more likely to die from accidents, suicide, and drug overdoses, and they historically smoke and drink at higher rates. Behavioral differences account for a meaningful share of the gap.