Segregations fuels life expectancy gaps.

U.S. cities with higher levels of racial and ethnic segregation also experience greater life expectancy gaps between neighborhoods just a few miles apart.

The finding comes from researchers in the Department of Population Health at New York University School of Medicine, who released a new analysis of data from the City Health Dashboard in June. Launched in 2017 with 26 measures in four pilot cities, the City Health Dashboard now offers data on 36 indicators in 500 of the country's largest cities. In the recent analysis, researchers found that 56 cities have large life expectancy gaps between census tracts, with such gaps occurring most frequently in highly segregated cities.

For example, Chicago had the largest life expectancy gap across neighborhoods at just more than 30 years. Following Chicago was Washington, D.C., with a life expectancy gap of more than 27 years, New York City, with a gap of also more than 27 years, and New Orleans and Buffalo, with gaps of nearly 26 years.

Each of the cities also had neighborhood racial and ethnic segregation scores that were more than double the average score for all 500 cities studied.

"The data on life expectancy gaps are an invitation for city leaders to dig deeper into the conditions that influence health, to better target action to close these gaps and ultimately improve health for everyone," said APHA member Marc Gourevitch, MD, MPH, a principle architect of the dashboard, in a news release.

"Your neighborhood shouldn't influence your odds of seeing your grandchildren grow up," Gourevitch said.