The Tragic Reason Behind Indiana’s Low Life Expectancy Rate

Indiana's life expectancy rate has been in decline for the past 25 years, but the reason behind this trend is even more devastating.

When we think about our home state of Indiana, it's easy to imagine a peaceful setting of cornfields, county fairs, IndyCar races, and jumbo pork tenderloin sandwiches. However, beneath the surface of all that positive fluff lies a darker truth. We Hoosiers are undoubtedly a resilient bunch, but there’s one issue we’ve yet to conquer.

Indiana Life Expectancy Continues to Decline

In 1959, life expectancy in the Hoosier State at birth was 70.5 years. At the time, that was above the nation’s 69.9-year average, which placed Indiana among the states with the highest longevity. According to the Indiana Business Review (IBR), that trend continued for a few decades before declining in the 1990s. Indiana’s life expectancy peaked in 2010 at 77.5 years but has since dropped to 74.6 years.

Why Indiana's Life Expectancy Is So Low

IBR reports that Indiana’s decline in life expectancy continues despite progress in the fight against the two dominant causes of death: heart disease and cancer. Heart disease-related deaths have declined by 10% in Indiana, while cancer-related deaths have dropped by about 14%. Unfortunately, however, one more factor has risen to the top.

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The primary driver of Indiana’s decline in life expectancy is the dramatic rise in deaths caused by substance abuse. In fact, the state’s mortality rate from drug- and alcohol-induced causes has more than doubled in the last 10 years. What's worse is that drug overdoses alone have increased by 107% over this same span and accounted for 71% of all drug- and alcohol-induced deaths between 2017 and 2019.

How Indiana is Fighting Substance Abuse

Over the last decade, the state of Indiana has taken on the substance abuse problem head-on. The state has conducted studies surrounding the problem, added NARCAN to various locations, and provided funding to boots-on-the-ground nonprofits. Because of these efforts and more, Indiana had the second-largest decrease in overdose deaths in 2023. While there is still work to be done, it looks like we’re at least beginning to head in the right direction.