Average Age at Death
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Why Is This Important?
Average age at death is a measure of longevity.
Definition
The arithmetic mean age, in years, at which a group of persons died Average age at death does not take into account the average age of the corresponding population. This can bias results in demographic groups whose age composition varies greatly from that of the overall population.
Data Source
Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health(https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/)
How the Measure is Calculated
Numerator: | The sum of ages at death among decedents in a given time period |
Denominator: | Total number of decedents in that time period |
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.