Average life expectancy in Chicago rebounds to 78.7 years, following worst years of pandemic

Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune on Sep 10, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

CHICAGO — Chicago’s average life expectancy bounced back to 78.7 years in 2023, nearly hitting its prepandemic peak — though large gaps remain between races and neighborhoods, according to the city health department.

City health officials attributed the overall improvement to a drop in COVID-19 deaths, after leaving the worst years of the pandemic behind, as well as fewer people dying early from chronic diseases.

The highest average life expectancy ever recorded in Chicago was 78.8 years in 2019, according to the health department. In 2020, that number plummeted to 75.2 as Chicago and the nation grappled with the devastation of COVID-19.

“Nearly eliminating COVID-19 deaths, once the largest driver of the racial life expectancy gap, has been key,” said Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo “Simbo” Ige, in a news release. Ige also cited a reduction in deaths from heart disease, diabetes, cancer and homicide, especially among Black Chicagoans.

The new data comes after the city health department announced a plan late last year aimed at addressing life expectancy gaps in Chicago.

Large disparities have long existed between the life expectancies of Black Chicagoans and other city residents — gaps that city health officials have attributed to long-term disinvestment in predominantly Black neighborhoods and systemic racism. Factors such as access to health care, education, nutritious food, neighborhood safety, environmental conditions, employment, physical activity and stable housing can contribute to life expectancy.

The situation improved slightly in 2023, with the gap between Black and white Chicagoans narrowing from 11.4 years to 10.6 years.

In 2023, Black Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 71.8 years; white Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 81.3 years; Latino Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 82.7 years; and Asian and Pacific Islander Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 86.8 years.

“Life expectancy tends to change fairly slowly, so an almost one-year narrowing of a gap, if that were sustainable over time, to continue to drop at that rate that would be very remarkable,” said Dr. Marc Gourevitch, a professor in the Department of Population Health at New York University medical school and a leader of the City Health Dashboard, a public database, speaking of the gap narrowing between Black and white Chicagoans.

A 10-year gap between the life expectancies of different racial groups in a city is striking but not uncommon across the country, Gourevitch said.

In Chicago, nearly half of that gap is because of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Homicides, opioid overdoses and accidents also contribute to that gap, according to the city health department.

Ige noted that gun violence in Chicago decreased by 33% between 2024 and 2025, and opioid overdose deaths dropped 38% between 2023 and 2024.

Chasms also persisted between Chicago neighborhoods, according to the health department. In 2023, residents of Chicago’s downtown Loop neighborhood had an average life expectancy of 87.3 years, while residents of the West Garfield Park neighborhood had an average life expectancy of 66.6 years — a more-than-20-year difference.

“We’ve had disinvestment when it comes to health care options and food options,” said Mike Tomas, executive director of Garfield Park Community Council.

Tomas said the council has been working to improve access to healthy foods, citing farmers markets held twice a month and the reopening of the Save A Lot grocery store in West Garfield Park.

But he said years of disinvestment in the community have taken a toll.

“While the overall number is good, and we’re encouraged by that,” Tomas said of the citywide improvement in average life expectancy, “we can’t lose focus on these five priority neighborhoods and the resources and investment that they need.”

West Garfield Park is one of five neighborhoods the city health department is prioritizing in its Healthy Chicago 2025 Strategic Plan, which aims to address life expectancy gaps. The other neighborhoods include East Garfield Park, Englewood, West Englewood and North Lawndale.

In those neighborhoods, the health department is trying to focus on causes of the gap, which include chronic disease, violence, substance use, infectious disease, infant and maternal health and mental health.

A coalition of health care and community organizations called West Side United has also been working in recent years to eliminate the life expectancy gaps in Chicago through a variety of programs and initiatives.

_____