Life expectancy climbed back to near pre-pandemic levels in Chicago in 2023
After falling dramatically amid the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy in Chicago climbed back to the point of being near pre-pandemic levels in 2023, the Chicago Department of Public Health announced this week.
The department said in a news release issued Wednesday that life expectancy has grown in Chicago for the third consecutive year — reaching 78.7 years in 2023. This figure represented an increase of a year and a half since 2022, when the life expectancy was 77.2 years.
The 2023 figure also brought Chicago close to its pre-pandemic peak of 78.8 years in 2019, which was the highest life expectancy figure ever recorded in the city, the department said.
In 2020 amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy in Chicago plummeted to 75.2 years.
The department also noted that the life expectancy gap between Black Chicagoans and all other Chicago residents slightly narrowed in the timeframe it studied — from 11.4 years in 2022 to 10.6 years in 2023. The department attributes this to reductions in premature deaths due to COVID-19 and chronic diseases.
Life expectancy improved for all race and ethnicity groups in 2023, but only white Chicagoans surpassed their pre-pandemic life expectancy, the department said. Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino, and Black Chicagoans did not rebound to their 2019 life expectancy levels.
Asian and Pacific Islander Chicagoans had the highest life expectancy in 2023 at 86.8 years, while Black Chicagoans had the lowest at 71.8 years. The largest increase in life expectancy since 2020 was among Black Chicagoans — for whom life expectancy rose 6.1%, or 4.1 years — and Latino Chicagoans — for whom it rose 5.8% or, 4.5 years, the department said.
By community area, residents of the Loop had the highest life expectancy at 87.3 years, while residents of West Garfield Park had the lowest at 66.6 years.
