Life Expectancy by Income Calculator
In the US, the richest 1% of men lived 14.6 years longer than the poorest 1%, and the richest 1% of women 10.1 years longer. Enter a household income to see the average for people like you, from 1.4 billion tax and death records (Chetty et al., JAMA 2016).
Use your household's pre-tax income. The study measured it in 2012 dollars; today's dollars are higher, so this places you slightly too high.
Enable JavaScript to use the calculator. The full method and key figures are below.
Educational estimate, not medical advice. These are population averages for US adults from 2001–2014 tax and death records. They show an association, not a cause: earning more money will not by itself add these years. Your own health and habits matter much more for you as an individual. Nothing you enter is stored or sent.
Source: Chetty R, Stepner M, Abraham S, et al. JAMA 2016;315(16):1750–1766, Online Table 1 (race-adjusted).
Worked examples
| Person | Income percentile | Life expectancy at 40 | vs 50th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man, $30,000 | 23rd | 78.3 | −3.4 |
| Woman, $61,175 | 53rd | 85.1 | +0.1 |
| Man, $150,000 | 88th | 85.1 | +3.4 |
| Woman, $15,000 | 11th | 82.0 | −3.0 |
How the calculator works
The researchers linked about 1.4 billion de-identified US tax records (1999–2014) to Social Security death records, covering ages 40 to 76. Each person was ranked from 1 to 100 by pre-tax household earnings against people of the same sex and age. For each sex and percentile, the study reports the average age at death for a 40-year-old.
- We find the percentile whose average household income is closest to the one you enter (the split is halfway between neighbouring percentiles). The slider skips this step.
- We show the race-adjusted life expectancy for that sex and percentile, exactly as published, with its 95% range (±1.96 standard errors).
- We compare it with the 50th percentile for the same sex.
Neighbouring percentiles can differ by a few tenths of a year in either direction. That is statistical noise, and we show the published values without smoothing them. The full table is free to download as CSV (public domain, CC0, from the Health Inequality Project).
Limits of these numbers
- An association, not a cause. The authors say the results "should not be interpreted as the causal effects of having more money".
- Older data. Deaths from 2001–2014, incomes in 2012 dollars. Life expectancy and incomes have changed since.
- Extrapolated after 76. Death rates were observed up to age 76 and projected beyond it, so the results at older ages are modelled.
- Household income at one point. Income was measured 2 years earlier (or at 61 for people over 63). People with zero income were left out.
- US only, two sexes. The data cover the United States and record only male and female.
Frequently asked questions
Do richer people live longer?
Yes, on average, and all the way up the income scale. In US tax and death records for 2001–2014, men in the top 1% of household income lived 14.6 years longer than men in the bottom 1% (87.3 vs 72.7 years, counted from age 40). For women the gap was 10.1 years (88.9 vs 78.8). The study found no income level above which the link stopped.
Does earning more money make you live longer?
Not by itself. The researchers state that these results should not be read as the causal effect of having more money. Income goes together with many other things, such as health habits, the kind of work people do and their health earlier in life. Among the lowest-income Americans, places where people lived longer had lower smoking rates, more immigrants, more college graduates and higher local government spending.
Has the life expectancy gap between rich and poor grown?
Yes. From 2001 to 2014, life expectancy rose by 2.34 years for men and 2.91 years for women in the top 5% of incomes, but by only 0.32 years for men and 0.04 years for women in the bottom 5%.
What income puts me in the middle?
In this data the 50th percentile is a household income of about $62,600 a year for men and $57,000 for women (2012 dollars, ranked against people of the same sex and age). At that point, life expectancy from age 40 was 81.7 years for men and 85.0 years for women.
Does this apply outside the United States?
No. These are US figures from 2001–2014. Other countries have their own, usually smaller or differently shaped, gaps. For country averages, see our life expectancy by country table.
Related pages
Life expectancy by age · Life expectancy by country · Healthspan calculator · Add years to your life
Sources and method
- Chetty R, Stepner M, Abraham S, Lin S, Scuderi B, Turner N, Bergeron A, Cutler D. The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001–2014. JAMA 2016;315(16):1750–1766. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.4226 · full text (PMC4866586)
- The Health Inequality Project. Online Data Table 1: national life expectancy estimates (pooling 2001–14) for men and women, by income percentile. CC0 licence. healthinequality.org/data
Values are copied unchanged from Online Table 1 (captured 2026-10-28): hh_inc for the income bands, le_raceadj and sd_le_raceadj for the result. See our methodology and editorial policy.
Educational estimate, not medical advice. These figures are US population averages by income. They describe groups, not individuals, and do not account for your health, habits or family history. Talk to a doctor about your own health. See our medical disclaimer.