Texans are living 17 years longer by simply living in a certain neighborhood, according to a new analysis released by the Episcopal Health Foundation.
A new interactive map shows life expectancy rates for more than 4,700 neighborhoods in the state.
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The analysis found residents who live in low-income neighborhoods with high rates of poverty, low education levels, and large minority populations live significantly shorter lives compared to those who live in communities with high incomes, low poverty rates, high education levels, and large white neighborhoods.
"Drive 15 minutes through the biggest counties in Texas and you can go from a neighborhood where people usually live more than 85 years to another where the average person dies before he or she is 65," said Elena Marks, president and CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation.
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Researchers found that in the neighborhoods with the lowest life expectancy 27% of residents lived below the federal poverty rate, while only 11% of people living in highest life expectancy neighborhoods had incomes below the poverty rate.
In addition, 65% of households in the lowest life expectancy neighborhoods had annual incomes below $50,000, while two-thirds of households in the neighborhoods with the highest life expectancy had incomes above $50,000.