Life Expectancy Calculator
See the average remaining life expectancy for your age and sex from a US period life table, then how common lifestyle factors such as smoking, activity, weight, alcohol, diet and sleep may shift it. A rough, research-based estimate calculated privately in your browser.
Lifestyle (rough adjustments for adults)
Factor by factor
Chance of being alive at each age
This is a statistical average for groups of people, not a prediction of when any individual will die. It leaves out health conditions, family history and many other factors. If thinking about this worries you, talking to your doctor is a good next step.
How to use the Life Expectancy Calculator
- Enter your age in years and choose your sex.
- Answer the lifestyle questions honestly; pick the option closest to your habits over the past few years.
- Press Calculate life expectancy to see the table average, your adjusted estimate and the likely range.
- Look at the factor list to see which habits add or subtract the most years, and at the chart for your chances of reaching each age.
Baseline: US period life expectancy, 2019
The starting point is the average remaining life expectancy for your exact age and sex from the United States period life table for 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily lowered US life expectancy (to about 76.4 years for both sexes in 2021, before it began to recover). Period life tables for 2019 are published by the Social Security Administration's Office of the Chief Actuary and by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (United States Life Tables, 2019); the calculator embeds values rounded to 0.1 year at the ages below and interpolates linearly between them.
| Age | 0 | 20 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male, years left | 76.3 | 57.2 | 38.9 | 30.0 | 22.0 | 18.2 | 14.8 | 8.7 | 4.4 |
| Female, years left | 81.4 | 62.1 | 42.8 | 33.6 | 24.9 | 20.8 | 16.9 | 10.0 | 4.9 |
Notice that expected age at death rises as you get older: a 65-year-old man can expect to reach about 83, not 76, because he has already survived the risks of earlier life. For official figures to more decimals, see the SSA "Actuarial Life Table" page.
How lifestyle adjustments work
Each answer carries a rough all-cause mortality hazard ratio (HR) relative to the average US adult, rounded from large studies and meta-analyses:
- Smoking: current smokers have about 3 times the death rate of never-smokers and lose more than 10 years; quitting before 40 avoids about 90% of the excess (Jha et al., NEJM, 2013).
- Physical activity: compared with no leisure activity, 150–300 minutes of moderate activity a week is linked with about 31% lower mortality, and 3–5 times that with about 39% lower (Arem et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015).
- BMI: relative to BMI 22.5–25, mortality is higher with BMI 30–35 (HR ≈ 1.45), 35–40 (≈ 1.94), 40+ (≈ 2.76) and under 18.5 (≈ 1.5) (Global BMI Mortality Collaboration, Lancet, 2016).
- Alcohol: drinking more than about 100 g of alcohol a week (≈ 7 US drinks) was associated with shorter life; 350 g+ a week with roughly 4–5 fewer years at age 40 (Wood et al., Lancet, 2018).
- Fruit and vegetables: about 5 servings a day was linked with 13% lower mortality than 2 servings (Wang et al., Circulation, 2021).
- Sleep: short sleep (under 6 h) was associated with about 12% higher mortality and long sleep with about 30% higher, though long sleep is partly a sign of existing illness (Cappuccio et al., Sleep, 2010).
The ratios are multiplied together (capped between 0.4 and 6) and converted into years using the Gompertz law: adult death rates rise about 8.5% per year of age, doubling roughly every 8 years. A hazard ratio of HR is therefore equivalent to being ln(HR) ÷ 0.085 years older (or younger), and the calculator reads the life expectancy for that "risk age" from the table. For example, a combined HR of 2 is like being about 8 years older. The likely range and survival chances come from a Gompertz survival curve fitted to your estimate, so they are approximations too.
Limits of this estimate
Studies of habits are observational, habits overlap (people who exercise also tend to smoke less), and the ratios were measured in specific populations, so combining them is only a rough guide. Income, education, chronic disease, family history and access to care are left out. Treat the result as a conversation starter about what you can change; for tools that help with that, try the BMI calculator, calories burned calculator or sleep calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is a life expectancy calculator?
Not very, for any single person. Life expectancy is an average for a large group. Half of people live longer than the average and half shorter, and the spread is wide: for a 40-year-old the middle half of outcomes covers roughly 15 to 20 years. Use the result to see how habits shift the odds, not as a prediction.
What is a period life table?
A period life table uses the death rates of one calendar year, here 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, and asks how long people would live if those rates stayed the same for the rest of their lives. Because death rates usually fall over time, people often live a little longer than a period table suggests.
How much does smoking reduce life expectancy?
A large US study (Jha et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2013) found that current smokers lose at least 10 years of life expectancy compared with people who never smoked. Quitting before age 40 avoids about 90% of the excess risk, and quitting at any age helps.
Why do women live longer than men?
In the United States women live about 5 years longer on average. Reasons include higher rates of smoking, heavy drinking, accidents and heart disease in men, and biological factors. The gap narrows at older ages.
How are the lifestyle adjustments calculated?
Each answer has a rough hazard ratio from large studies, expressed relative to the average American. The ratios are multiplied together and applied with the Gompertz law of mortality (death rates roughly double every 8 years of age), which converts a higher or lower death rate into an older or younger 'risk age'. Because habits overlap, the combined effect can be overstated.
Does this include health conditions?
No. Diseases such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer, family history, income and access to health care all affect life expectancy but are not included. A doctor can give a far better picture of your personal health risks.