U.S. life expectancy on track for record high as death rate drops to historic low in 2025
The United States appears to be on course for a new record in life expectancy, according to fresh mortality data from the federal government. The age-adjusted death rate fell to approximately 689 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025, the lowest level recorded in more than a century of tracking, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
That represents a 22 percent drop from the peak in 2021, when the toll of the Covid-19 pandemic pushed mortality rates to modern highs. The rate now stands about 4 percent below the pre-pandemic level of 2019. While final life expectancy calculations will not be released until all death records are processed, demographic experts say a record-low death rate almost certainly translates into a record-high life expectancy.
The leading causes of death in 2025 followed long-established patterns: heart disease, claiming nearly 695,000 lives, followed by cancer with roughly 623,000 deaths. Unintentional injuries — including drug overdoses — ranked third. Overdose deaths, while still high at about 70,000, have declined sharply in recent years, and that drop is considered a key factor in pulling down the overall death rate.
“Life expectancy is going to be affected a lot by what’s happening at younger age groups more than at older age groups,” said Mark Mather, associate vice president at the Population Reference Bureau. “As we see a dramatic decline in drug overdose among younger adults, that will have a more measurable impact on life expectancy at older ages and the overall life expectancy of the population.”
The data arrives amid a growing longevity movement, particularly among higher socioeconomic groups, that promotes the use of artificial intelligence, supplements and medical treatments to extend life. But experts stress that the most effective strategies remain the basics: staying active, maintaining social ties, sleeping seven to nine hours a night, eating a plant-based diet and managing daily stress. A 2023 study linked each of these habits to 18% to 22% improvements in longevity odds.
Yet even as the national numbers improve, deep disparities persist. Death rates among Black and American Indian populations remain more than twice as high as those for Asian Americans. “There’s a lot of policy choices that affect these death rates,” said Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus at the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health. “Americans die at higher rates from these diseases than people in other countries largely because of the conditions they live in.”
Woolf noted that while public health and medical advances have driven mortality down for a century, the U.S. experienced a troubling plateau around 2010 as deaths among young and middle-aged adults rose. “Most of those problems responsible for the flatlining have not been resolved,” he said. Death rates for people ages 45 to 54 saw the smallest decline in 2025 — less than half the overall reduction — and deaths from firearms, suicide, alcohol-related disease, diabetes and heart disease continue to challenge these age groups.
Gender differences also remain stark: the age-adjusted death rate for men in 2025 was 811 per 100,000, compared with 583 per 100,000 for women. Genetics and higher risk‑taking behavior among younger men help explain the gap.
“Mortality rates are a good starting point for getting a snapshot for what our health situation looks like,” Woolf said. “But there’s more to health than mortality. It’s not just how long we live, it’s the quality of our life.”
A record-high life expectancy, he added, would be “encouraging but not satisfying — the systemic issues affecting the health of Americans are still claiming lives.”
CNN’s Madeline Holcombe contributed to this report.
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