I bet the main cause of early death is poverty, which leads to poor diet, poor health care, etc. Of course rich people can eat poorly, too. But they can afford healthier food and do not live in food deserts, and can afford better healthcare, and probably have paid sick leave. Also, educated people probably take better care of themselves, and earn more, so have better food choices, healthcare, and paid sick leave. If we had universal healthcare and free college, I wonder if it would even out more. Yet we would still have poverty.
@JoyfulSilence Poverty is a huge factor. As is, like you said, education. But just a few days ago there was this from the Washington Post: Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded program to give food assistance to hungry children during the summer months, denying benefits to 8 million children across the country.
There was also a federal program via the ACA for Medicaid Expansion to the poor that kicked off recently. 10 states are not recognizing the expansion. All Republican states with lower life expectancy. Go figure.
Oh, I was just noticing that a few red states on the map had high life expectancy.
There also seems to be a north-south divide. Maybe the southern diet is more fatty? Maybe the humidity breeds disease? Also, the south has more rural areas, which have more poverty. Yes, there is urban poverty, but this is balanced by rich suburbs. I also notice lower life expectancy for some rust belt states, likely due to poverty.
