Move to Marin County--Live Longer

Bay Area Life spans (in years)

                           Men Women
Alameda County     78.6 82.8
Contra Costa Cty   78.5 82.7
Marin County         81.6 85.1
San Francisco Cty  78.5 84.4
San Mateo County 80.4 84.9
Solano County       76.7 81.8
Sonoma County     78.2 82.3
— Source: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

The Marin IJ's  article, Marin County men have the highest life expectancy in the nation, women rank No. 2 illustrates the benefits of wealth despite scientists arguing otherwise.

Dr. Ali Mokdad who heads the research team that prepared the report, said Marin life expectancy rates are high and getting higher because most residents don't smoke, aren't obese, are physically active and eat a healthy diet.

The wealthy can afford to add more fruits and vegetables in their diet. The rich tend to be better educated, and, as a whole, avoid tobacco and get more checkups (and better health care overall) than the poor. The rich also have more time to exercise and can afford gym memberships. It's true that the warm Northern California sun begs residents to go for a run or a bike ride, but income counts. Mokdad disagrees with me.

"Income has an impact on health but it's not a big player in terms of this variation of life expectancy." Some countries where life expectancy is increasing do not have high incomes.

Life expectancy may increase in middle income areas as word gets out about proper lifestyle changes but there is no substitute for wealth. I find the link between affluence and life expectancy to be quite strong. Look at the chart (Bay Area Life spans) at the top of the page. The top two richest counties, Marin and San Mateo, have the highest lifespans. The poorest, Solano County, has the shortest lifespan average. The difference for males is close to five years. Solano County weather isn't bad--one can run just as many days in Vallejo as in Novato. The difference between the two counties is lifestyle, and that is greatly affected by income.