Description: This publication examines life expectancy gaps between neighborhoods within 948 U.S. cities. The average within-city gap was 11.8 years, with substantial disparities present across all regions, including smaller and higher-life-expectancy cities. Larger gaps were associated with lower overall city life expectancy and were most strongly correlated with racialized residential segregation, child poverty, and lower household income. These within-city life expectancy gaps are a powerful and practical health equity metric that cities can use to guide local public health priorities, investments, and interventions aimed at reducing neighborhood-level disparities.

Citation: Spoer, B. R., Nelson, I. S., Lee, M., Vierse, A., Chen, A. S., Titus, A. R., Thorpe, L. E., & Gourevitch, M. N. (2026). Within-City Average Life Expectancy “Gaps”: A Useful Health Equity Metric. Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 10.1007/s11524-025-01023-5. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-025-01023-5