Per capita, West Virginia in 2021 led the nation in deaths caused by cancer in 2021. (Getty Images)
Life expectancy for West Virginians fell by nearly two years in 2021 compared to 2020, according to data released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the data — which shows the average life expectancy for someone born in a state in a specific year — people born in West Virginia in 2021 will live for an average of 71 years, compared to 72.8 years for those born in 2020.
That’s a nearly 2.5% decline between the two years, which is the second highest percentage decrease of any state over that time. Alaska — with a 2.7% decrease, from 76.6 years in 2020 down to 74.5 in 2021 — was the only state to outpace West Virginia in the decline of life expectancy between the two years.
Overall, West Virginia holds the second lowest life expectancy of any state. The Mountain State trails slightly behind Mississippi, which showed a 70.9 year life expectancy for those born in 2021. Nationwide, only 11 states saw an increase in life expectancy between 2020 and 2021. No state has experienced an overall increase in life expectancy between 2018 and 2021, according to the data.
The national average for life expectancy in 2021 was 76.4 years compared to 77 years in 2020, which is about a .78% decline. In 2021, that represented a more than 7% difference, or 5.4 year difference, between the national average and the West Virginia state average.
West Virginia’s life expectancy — along with life expectancy on the national level — has dropped every year since 2019, when it was 74.5 years. That was the first year the state’s life expectancy increased, however, raising 0.1 from the 74.4 years reported in 2018. That’s the first year the CDC reported the data in this format.
Life expectancy by gender
Women in West Virginia have the worst life expectancy of those in any other state, while men have the second lowest, again trailing behind Mississippi, according to the data.
The average life expectancy for a female born in West Virginia in 2021 is 74.2 years, compared to 76.1 years in 2020 — a 2.5% decline. That was the highest drop in life expectancy for women in any state.
Since 2018, the life expectancy for women in West Virginia has dropped more than 4%, or 3.1 years, the third highest decline in the nation behind Mississippi (4.1% drop) and New Mexico (4.2% drop).
Males saw a 2.4% decrease in average life expectancy between 2020 and 2021 — from 69.8 years to 68.1 — which is the third highest in the nation behind New Mexico (2.66% decrease) and Alaska (2.8% decrease).
Between 2018 and 2021, men in West Virginia saw the fifth highest decline in average life expectancy in the nation, from 71.7 years down to 68.1.
At the county level
The counties with the lowest life expectancies in West Virginia are all centered in the southern part of the state, according to an analysis from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, which pulled information from the CDC as well as the Census to create county-level data for life expectancy.
Per that analysis and using data from 2019 to 2021, residents born in McDowell County had the lowest life expectancy in the state, at 66.3 years. McDowell County was followed by Logan County (66.7 years), Mingo County (67.2 years), Lincoln County (69.8 years) and Boone County (69.8 years).
The state’s southern coalfields have long been in decline both by health and economic metrics. The region regularly reports higher rates of fatal drug overdoses, poverty and negative health outcomes from various factors compared to other regions of the state.
Comparatively, the counties with the highest life expectancies are mostly in the northern part of the state.
Monongalia County leads the state with the highest life expectancy at 78.6 years. That’s a 10% difference from the state’s average and a nearly 17% difference in life expectancy — or more than 12 years — for someone born in Monongalia County compared to McDowell County.
Monongalia County is followed by Doddridge County (78.3 years), Jefferson County (77 years), Gilmer County (76.7 years) and Grant County (75.9 years).
Causes of death in 2021
Per capita, West Virginia in 2021 led the nation in deaths caused by cancer (184.7 deaths per 100,000), accidents (134.7), drug overdoses (90.9), diabetes (47.6) and kidney disease (25.8), according to mortality data from the CDC.
The CDC releases mortality data annually for 18 different causes of death.
Of those 18 causes, in 2021 West Virginia was in the top 10 nationwide for number of deaths per capita in 10 of the categories (COVID-19, flu and pneumonia, heart disease, chronic lower respiratory disease and infant mortality in addition to the five listed above).
The leading causes of death in the state in 2021 were heart disease (with 223 deaths per capita), cancer, COVID-19 (156.8 deaths per capita), accidents and fatal drug overdoses.
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