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Important Facts for Average Age at Death

Definition

The arithmetic mean age, in years, at which a group of persons died

Numerator

The sum of ages at death among decedents in a given time period

Denominator

Total number of decedents in that time period

Why Is This Important?

Average age at death can be used as an easier-to-calculate proxy for life expectancy.

How Are We Doing?

Average age at death is highest among Whites, followed, in order, by Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics. (Note that this may be due, in part, to the underlying age composition of each racial/ethnic group.) The average age at death among females is 7 years higher than among males. Among all causes of death, Alzheimer's disease has the highest average age (87.7 years). Unintentional injury has the lowest average age (52.0) among the ten leading causes of death. Deaths due to non-chronic conditions generally have much lower average ages at death than deaths due to chronic conditions.
The information provided above is from the Department of Health's NJSHAD web site (https://nj.gov/health/shad). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: " Retrieved Sat, 20 April 2024 1:10:14 from Department of Health, New Jersey State Health Assessment Data Web site: https://nj.gov/health/shad ".

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