The average American lifespan rose to 79 years in 2024, according to a Thursday report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Female life expectancy increased slightly to 81.4 years, with male life expectancy increasing by nearly an entire year in 2024 to 76.5.
The new life expectancy marked an all-time high for Americans, years after recording the largest decline in life expectancy since World War II due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Life expectancy historically grew each year and initially peaked in 2014 at 78.9 years. Expectancy generally plateaued until the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, when the life expectancy dropped to 77.3 years.
With the rise in expectancy, did the leading causes of death change too? Heart disease, cancer, and accidental injuries remained the top three leading causes of death in 2024, according to the report. However, suicide eclipsed COVID-19 as the tenth leading cause of death, with COVID dropping back to the 15th leading cause of death.
Additional top causes of death in 2024 included stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, Kidney disease, and chronic liver disease. Death rates across all racial and ethnic groups, and both sexes, all saw a decline. Infant mortality remained largely the same, and the age-adjusted death rate decreased by nearly 4% in 2024.
This story originally appeared in WORLD. © 2026, reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.