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Mortality by Socioeconomic Category in the United States - Extending the Analysis to 2023

September 2025

Author(s)

Magali Barbieri, Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley

Project Overview

This report builds on a series of projects previously funded by the Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA), which developed life tables by sex from 1982 to 2022 for each of ten socioeconomic groupings of U.S. counties (Barbieri, 2020, 2021, 2023). The current study extends the series through 2023 to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced long-term mortality trends by socioeconomic category in the United States.

The initiative was driven by growing actuarial interest in understanding recent mortality differences—particularly those accentuated by the pandemic—to enhance pricing accuracy and refine models of mortality improvement. Broader public interest also underscores the importance of this work, especially in policy discussions around economic inefficiencies and variation in health outcomes. Since approximately 1980, survival differences have widened across the U.S., a trend exacerbated by the pandemic. Prior studies show these variations have contributed to stagnating life expectancy gains nationally and increased divergence in survival compared to other high-income democracies (Wilmoth, Boe, and Barbieri, 2011; Barbieri, 2022).

Evidence indicates that the pandemic was particularly severe in the U.S. and has disproportionately affected disadvantaged populations. Within this context, the study aims to support:

  • Enhanced mortality pricing in the insurance and reinsurance sectors
  • Monitoring of socioeconomic variations in mortality linked to COVID-19
  • Improved understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving differences
  • Policymaking and intervention evaluation related to variations in health outcomes
  • Assessment of crisis recovery impacts across population subgroups

Materials

Mortality by Socioeconomic Category – through 2023

Mortality Rate Estimates by Age, Sex & Socioeconomic Quintile

Mortality Rate Estimates by Age, Sex & Socioeconomic Decile

Past Reports

Mortality by Socioeconomic Category in the United States 1982-2022

Questions or Comments?

If you have comments or questions, please send an email to Research@soa.org