A Brown University study that followed more than 73,000 adults for about a decade found that Americans died earlier than Europeans at every level of wealth. In northern and western Europe, mortality among the wealthiest people was about 35% lower than among the wealthiest Americans, whose survival was statistically equivalent to that of the poorest people in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The United States spent $14,775 per person on health care in 2024, nearly $7,000 more than comparable wealthy countries, where average life expectancy was 82.7 years, compared with 79 years in the United States in 2024. Despite record income and longevity, unequal access to care, lifestyle, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other avoidable causes of death partly explain the gap. Researchers conclude that wealth and country-specific social factors influence longevity, while health and income inequalities widen the divide between the United States and Europe.
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