One would think that with the hustle and bustle of Northern VA life, combined with the worst traffic in the country, that health of the average resident would be diminished. On many occasions I have helped homeowners sell their Northern VA home in hopes of moving to an area with less stress. With this said, I was surprised when I discovered a recently released study of life expectancy statistics broken down into each county in the United States. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington conducted the study and released it in July of this year. There were a surprising number of Northern VA Communities in the top 20 of the Male and Female Life Expectancy List out of 3143 Counties. (Based on 2010 Statistics and Broken Down By Sex)

Male Life Expectancy

Rank

County

Life Expectancy

1

Fairfax County

81.67

8

Loudoun County

81

15

Arlington

80.39

16

Falls Church

80.39

117

Prince William County

78.67

137

Alexandria

78.49

800

Manassas

76.53

801

Manassas Park

76.53

910

Fairfax City

72.29

Female Life Expectancy Female Life Expectancy

Rank

County

Life Expectancy

5

Fairfax County

84.52

12

Loudoun County

84.16

37

Arlington

83.49

38

Falls Church

83.49

213

Alexandria

82.46

262

Prince William County

82.29

646

Fairfax City

81.34

947

Manassas

80.82

948

Manassas Park

80.82

This would seem to point directly to educational, income, and overall economic inequality but this is not the case though it is one important factor. The article points out, “…the consistently high life expectancies seen in rural and below-median-income counties in Minnesota, Iowa, and parts of the Dakotas indicate that there are more complex factors that may also be important.” Forbes recently listed America’s Wealthiest Counties and Prince William was in the top 10, but was quite a bit further down the Life Expectancy list and is an indication to this point.

Living in Fairfax County affords its residents an excellent overall quality of life and obviously promotes good health with many positive aspects. A healthy lifestyle with access to fresh food at many local Farms Markets, like this one in Vienna, and grocery stores like Fresh Market and Whole Foods to name a few. Physical activity is a major determinant for long life expectancy and Fairfax County has many Parks to enjoy, here is a list, and community centers offering many fitness classes. The 45-mile W & OD Trail, one of my personal favorites, runs through Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington and Falls Church. Compare these to the list above.

The excellent job market and below average unemployment rate surely plays a role in the health of the residents in much of Northern VA. The federal government budget spent here helps promote the local job market and attracts many big businesses to the area including Tyson’s Corner, one of the largest business centers in the country. Let’s not forget the Fairfax County School system, which has consistently ranked one of the best for many years, check out The Best Schools in Northern VA.

As you can see there is still a gap between men and women life expectancies, however the gap between the two has shrunk from 7 years in 1985 to 4.6 in 2010. The United States average life expectancy still lags behind 36 other countries, but we spend substantially more money per capita then any other country, check here. The dramatic disparity between the top and bottom of the life expectancy in the US is inexcusable with some counties below that of Bangladesh or Algeria. This is a clear indication as to the dysfunction of our health care system but let’s save this conversation for another day.

The Full Research article can be found here.