Study Reveals Wealthiest Americans Live Shorter Lives Than Poorest Europeans
- A study found that even wealthy Americans live shorter lives than poorer Europeans, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 2, 2025.
- The wealthiest 25% in the U.S. Had a death rate 40% lower than those in the poorest 25%, but death rates were still higher in the U.S. Overall compared to Europe.
- Americans live six years shorter than Europeans due to various factors, including health care access and lifestyle choices, as highlighted by researchers from Brown University.
- The poorest Americans had the highest mortality rates among all groups due to health and social factors affecting all wealth levels, according to researchers.
67 Articles
67 Articles
Charted: How American Life Expectancy Compares to Its Peers
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization How American Life Expectancy Compares to Its Peers This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways American life expectancy at birth is falling further behind that of comparable nations The gap has increased from 2.2 years in 2000, to 4.1 y…
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While Scotland is consistently dubbed the “sick man of Europe” due to having the lowest life expectancy of Western European countries, it has – like much of the world – also seen lifespans increase over the decades.

Americans die earlier at all wealth levels, even if wealth buys more years of life in the US than in Europe
Wealth can buy health – but only to a point. marekuliasz/iStock via Getty Images PlusAmericans at all wealth levels are more likely to die sooner than their European counterparts, with even the richest U.S. citizens living shorter lives than northern and western Europeans. That is the key finding of our new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. We also found that while the wealthiest Americans live longer than the poorest, the…
Some of Europe's Poorest Live Longer Than America's Wealthiest. Study Explains Why
New research highlights a striking contrast in mortality rates between the US and Europe, revealing that even the wealthiest Americans are at a higher risk of dying early compared to their European counterparts, and in some cases, even when compared to the poorest in Europe. While higher income generally correlates with lower mortality risk in both regions, the disparity between the richest and poorest populations is notably greater in the US. T…
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