How Chicago Uses Life Expectancy Data to Drive Health Equity: Lessons from CDPH
Life expectancy is more than a number, it's a window into your community’s true health.
For the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), life expectancy has become a guiding metric for understanding where health inequities exist and how to address them. In a recent webinar with Metopio, CDPH epidemiologists Darlene Nolasco Magana and Bridget Brassil walked us through their approach to measuring, analyzing, and acting on life expectancy data. Here’s what we learned.
Why Life Expectancy Matters
Life expectancy is defined as the number of years a person born in a particular year could expect to live if death rates remain constant. It's a standardized measure that allows public health teams to compare outcomes across demographics, geographies, and time periods.
For CDPH, life expectancy serves as both a diagnostic tool and a progress indicator. Since 2014, the department has used life expectancy gaps — particularly between Black and non-Black Chicagoans — to identify health inequities and inform strategic planning.
The Numbers Tell a Story
In 2023, the life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black Chicagoans stood at 10.6 years. Black Chicagoans had a life expectancy of 71.8 years, compared to 82.4 years for non-Black residents.
Using the Arriaga methodology, CDPH identified the top contributors to this gap:
Chronic disease (nearly half of the gap)
Homicide
Opioid overdose
Heart disease
Cancer
Geography matters, too. West Garfield Park had the lowest life expectancy at 66.6 years, while the Loop had the highest at 87.3 years — a 20.7-year difference.
From Data to Action
CDPH doesn't just collect this data — they use it to reshape interventions. One example is the Play Streets program, which was restructured based on life expectancy findings.
Previously, Play Streets events happened across the city with a focus on creating safe community gatherings. Now, the program targets 8 community areas with the lowest chronic disease outcomes and incorporates heart health education and physical activities for children and adults.
The 2023 life expectancy analysis also revealed that two additional community areas have some of the lowest life expectancies in the city, signaling where future interventions should be prioritized.
Making Data Accessible
All of this analysis lives on the Chicago Health Atlas, powered by Metopio. The Life Expectancy topic page allows anyone — policymakers, community organizations, researchers, or residents — to explore trends by race, sex, geography, and cause of death.
Interactive maps and charts show life expectancy over time, regional disparities, and mortality drivers. The data is transparent, traceable, and designed to build accountability.
Plus, CDPH has made their Life Expectancy Toolkit publicly available for other state and local health departments. The toolkit includes SAS programs and files that calculate life expectancy for specific stratifications and allow comparisons between groups or over time.
You can access the toolkit and explore the Chicago Health Atlas Life Expectancy page at chicagohealthatlas.org/life-expectancy.
What's Next
CDPH continues to refine its approach, with plans to analyze life expectancy not just by race and ethnicity, but also by sex, to further pinpoint where interventions can have the greatest impact.
Chicago's work shows what's possible when data meets action. Life expectancy isn't just a metric; it's a roadmap for closing health gaps and building healthier, more equitable communities.