Interesting Life Expectancy by State from our buds at Visual Capitalist, of course!

J.K. Financial, Inc. Life Expectancy Analysis by state and smoking popularity

Found this neat chart from Visual Capitalist very interesting, especially with friends, clients and followers scattered all across the country!

Have always wondered if the temperatures would be a factor? Far north versus far south ??

While Hawaii has the longest life expectancy, there are certainly unique situations with regards to the residents…but there are many other states that are very close to Hawaii’s rock star 80 years average…

“….West Virginia came in last at 72.2 years, behind Mississippi at 72.6 and Kentucky at 73.6…..”

Logo of JK Financial Inc. featuring a stylized 'JK' in black, surrounded by the text '$TREET - C¢ENTS' and the website 'JKFINANCIALINC.COM' in green and black.

A map infographic titled "Life Expectancy by State" produced by Visual Capitalist using 2022 CDC data released in March 2026.

Key Statistics: The overall U.S. average life expectancy is 77.5 years, with a 7.8-year gap between the highest state (Hawaii at 80.0 years) and the lowest (West Virginia at 72.2 years).

Top Ranked States: Hawaii (1st, 80.0 years), Massachusetts (2nd, 79.8 years), and New Jersey (3rd, 79.6 years).

Lowest Ranked States: West Virginia (72.2 years), Mississippi (72.6 years), and Kentucky (73.6 years).

Gender Disparity Note: States with lower life expectancy generally have wider gender gaps, ranging from New Mexico with the largest female-male gap (6.9 years) to Utah with the smallest (3.6 years).

Logo of JK Financial Inc. featuring the text 'Street Cents' with a stylized 'JK' in the center.

BREAK IN – Ta dah!! Accidentally ran across this while researching — again from Visual Capitalist

Hardly ever get an exact match with any information like this, but there is no doubt some type of correlation!

An infographic titled "CIGARETTE SMOKERS" created by Visual Capitalist, featuring a color-coded map of the United States based on the percentage of adults who smoke cigarettes (ranging from 6% in light yellow to 20% in dark brown/black).

Key Extremes:

Lowest State: Utah at 6%.

Highest State: West Virginia at 20%.

Highest Prevalence States (15%–20%): West Virginia (20%), Kentucky (18%), Tennessee (17%), Mississippi (16%), Louisiana (16%), Oklahoma (16%), Missouri (15%), Arkansas/Arizona/Alaska/Pennsylvania/South Dakota (15%).

Lowest Prevalence States (6%–10%): Utah (6%), Connecticut (8%), California, Washington, Hawaii, New York, Maryland, New Jersey (9%), Colorado, Idaho, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Arkansas/DC (10%).

Health Callout: Notes that smoking and secondhand smoke exposure cause about one in five deaths in the U.S. each year.

Data Source: CDC data as of 2023 (with Kentucky and Pennsylvania figures based on 2022 American Lung Association estimates).

Logo of JK Financial Inc with the words '$TREET - ¢ENTS' and the website 'jkfinancialinc.com' around a stylized 'JK' in the center.

One of the favorites is having two totally different measures that leads to a similar outcome!

I like Capital Market related items…but you get those here very frequently, and with less than 100% health after a long travel week last week, something softer seemed correct! Hope you found it interesting too!!

Have a Great “Cause and Effect Life Expectancy” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

AI Content Authenticity: All of the following text content has been completed by myself and has not been edited or created by AI. Occasionally we do use AI for images and will note when appropriate.

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Logo of JK Financial Inc featuring the words 'Street Cents' with a stylized 'JK' in the center and the website address jkfinancialinc.com

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