West Hollywood’s life expectancy at birth is at least 83 years and residents die from the usual things like cancer and heart disease. That is according to a report by WeHo by the Numbers based on data from the county, state and others.
The report starts with the life expectancy at birth in Los Angeles County: 81 years, according to a new analysis by the University of Washington. That puts Los Angeles toward the high end of the 67-to-87-year range for U.S. counties. The same analysis shows a three-year increase in the county’s life expectancy since 2000 and an eight-year jump since 1980.
The report uses a separate, older set of life expectancy estimates to get down to the city level. As of 2006, West Hollywood’s average life expectancy was 83 years. At the time, the city was toward the high (good) end of the range in the county, ranking 17th. Compared to nearby communities, West Hollywood’s life expectancy was two years longer than Santa Monica’s and two years shorter than that of Beverly Hills.
After life expectancy, the report turns to the causes of death for West Hollywood residents. The chart accompanying this article shows the causes in the city’s three primary zip codes. The zip-code-level data is used because city-level data is not publicly available. In some cities, the zip codes could be summed up to get city-level numbers. West Hollywood, however, shares its zip codes with Los Angeles, complicating the analysis. The report provides a population-weighted average of the three zip codes as a rough guide.
According to the cause of death statistics, cancer and heart disease are each responsible for a quarter of the deaths. All of the other causes are much less common. Pneumonia and the flu, emphysema and similar respiratory diseases, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease each cause about 5% of deaths. The number of fatal accidents varies by zip code. Diabetes, high blood pressure, and suicide each cause a few deaths.
The number of deaths of West Hollywood residents has dropped dramatically since the early 1990s. The biggest declines have been in deaths caused by HIV/AIDS and by heart disease.
For more information, see the full report, What do we know about life expectancy and causes of death in West Hollywood?
Aside from Weho…it looks basically like the poorer the neighborhood, the shorter the lifespan. I equate this to lack of medical care, availability of health insurance and the cost of quality food to eat. Simply put…the less money you have the shorter your lifespan. This shouldn’t be the case. But stress could also play a factor as financial worry always increases health issues.