A report by Measure of America says the life expectancy gap between Los Angeles County's wealthiest communities and poorest is more than 16 years.
The report, titled” A Portrait of Los Angeles County 2026,” was commissioned by the L.A. County Mental Health Department. It found that Brentwood-Pacific Palisades had the highest scores while Southeast Los Angeles had the lowest.
“People can only make choices within the place where they're living.” Kristen Lewis, Director of Measure of America, told KNX News’ Karen Adams. “So if they're living in a place that doesn't have any full-service grocery stores where they can't buy fresh fruits and vegetables and things like that, it's going to be really hard to make healthy choices."
She added that decades of deliberate decisions and policies in the county have created this inequality.
“And different policy choices can create a different, better, fairer future, one in which all Angelenos cannot just survive but also thrive,” Lewis said.
She also said it's going to be interesting to see in their next report how the L.A. fires will impact life expectancy.
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