Housing

Live Long and Prosper in These 10 US Counties

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The median lifespan in the United States today is nearly 79 years. Like all medians and averages, your mileage may vary. In some U.S. towns and cities, the median falls to around 68, and in others, it rises to more than 85.

What’s different? It’s not just the air or the scenery. According to a report from Realtor.com, the road to a longer lifespan is not the same everywhere, but there are commonalities such as veggie-rich diets and plenty of exercise.

Dan Buettner, founder of a movement called Blue Zones that helps communities set policies to help residents live longer, comments, “If you want to live a long time, the best thing you can do is move to a place where people are verifiably living the longest.”

To come up with their list of U.S. counties where residents live the longest, researchers looked at death certificates in every U.S. country for 2014 to calculate life expectancy from birth. In the following longevity list, they’ve added population data for a notable city in the county and the median home listing price.

  1. Summit County, Colorado
    Median lifespan: 86.8 years
    City: Breckinridge
    Population: 30,585
    Median home listing price: $930,500
  2. Billings County, North Dakota
    Median lifespan: 84 years
    City: Medora
    Population: 940
    Median home listing price: $331,200
  3. Marin County, California
    Median lifespan: 83.8 years
    City: San Rafael
    Population: 260,651
    Median home listing price: $1.43 million
  4. Fairfax County, Virginia
    Median lifespan: 83.7 years
    City: Herndon
    Population: 1.15 million
    Median home listing price: $608,700
  5. Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
    Median lifespan: 83.7 years
    City: King Cove
    Population: 3,370
    Median home listing price: $226,500
  6. Presidio County, Texas
    Median lifespan: 83.7 years
    City: Marfa
    Population: 7,156
    Median home listing price: $297,000
  7. San Juan County, Washington
    Median lifespan: 83.7 years
    City: Friday Harbor
    Population: 16,715
    Median home listing price: $774,400
  8. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
    Median lifespan: 83.5 years
    City: Los Alamos
    Population: 18,738
    Median home listing price: $384,400
  9. Teton County, Wyoming
    Median lifespan: 83.5 years
    City: Jackson
    Population: 23,265
    Median home listing price: $1.3 million
  10. Collier County, Florida
    Median lifespan: 83.4 years
    City: Naples
    Population: 372,880
    Median home listing price: $479,400

More details and information are available at the Realtor.com website.

 

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