Chicago Life Expectancy Reaches All-Time High

For the fourth consecutive year, CDPH has announced an increase in life expectancy for Chicagoans, reaching a record 79.5 years in 2024. This is the highest life expectancy ever recorded for the City and a new baseline for future progress. The previous record was 78.8 years, recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

All racial and ethnic groups in Chicago have seen improvements in life expectancy since the pandemic. As of 2024, Black Chicagoans saw the largest increase from the previous year, reaching 73.3 years. This represents an increase of 1.5 years and marks an all-time high for Black Chicagoans. 

The data also show progress in narrowing Chicago’s racial life expectancy gap. In 2024, the gap between Black Chicagoans and non-Black Chicagoans decreased to 9.4 years, down from 10.6 years in 2023, a reduction of 1.2 years. 

Chronic disease continues to be the largest contributor to the racial life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black Chicagoans, accounting for 4.7 years of the 9.4-year gap in 2024. Other major contributors to the 2024 racial life expectancy gap include homicide, opioid overdose, infant mortality, unintentional injury, infectious disease, and other causes.  

To access the data brief providing an update on the life expectancy of Chicagoans, please visit the CDPH Public Health Reports, Data, and Publications webpage. For more data on life expectancy, please visit the Chicago Health Atlas.