Indy ZIP code's life expectancy lower than Iraq's. Why?

There's no doubt that great disparities exist around the world when it comes to life expectancy. But an Indiana University report reveals that there are also significant gaps in life expectancy within Central Indiana, some as large as 14 years.

Life expectancy doesn't necessarily mean that a person in one neighborhood dies 14 years before his or her counterparts, says Tess Weathers, a research associate at the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and an author of the report.

Higher infant mortality rates in one area or more young adults dying in a neighborhood can explain some gaps in life expectancy. But the measure can gauge differences between areas.

Looking at life expectancy rates can tell us "how well society is doing in taking care of the people who live there," Weathers said. "We have to face the fact that people's lives are vastly different, depending on where they live in this city."

What they found in the Indianapolis area, where life expectancy in one Carmel ZIP code is more than a decade longer than in an urban ZIP code, surprised them.

"We did go into this expecting that we would find a gap, but it's a little bit bigger than I would have thought," Weathers said. "Fourteen years is pretty substantial when it comes to life expectancy."

Here are five stats from the report:

It's not such a small world after all. The average life expectancy in the United States is 78.8 years. In Indiana, that dips to 77.6 years. However, people in some countries, such as Switzerland, live on average for 83 years, 14 years longer than the average life span in Uzbekistan, 69 years.

A small distance can lead to a great gap. Around Central Indiana, different ZIP codes have vastly different life expectancies. Residents of Carmel's 46033 ZIP code have an average life expectancy of 83.7 years, rivaling Japan's life expectancy of 84 years. Just south of Downtown Indianapolis, however, residents in the 46225 ZIP code have an average life expectancy of 69.4 years, lower than the average of 70 years for people in Bangladesh and Iraq.

A trail runs through it. Over the course of the 10.4 miles of the Monon Trail, life expectancy decreases sequentially by 14 years, going north to south. At the northern end, it hits the high of 83.5 years. Just north of 75th Street, it dips to 81.5 years. By Broad Ripple, it's down to 80 years. Just north of 38th Street, the average life expectancy is 74.5 years. A few blocks away, near 22nd Street, it rises to 74.8, then reaches the area's nadir life expectancy of 69.4 years around 10th Street.

Counting by counties. Perhaps it will come as little surprise that Hamilton County has the longest life expectancy — 82 years — of any of the 11 counties closest to Marion County. Across the line in Madison County, though, you find the lowest life expectancy of any of the area counties at 76 years. Marion County is just a bit better, with an average life expectancy of 76.4 years.

You have a long way to go, Indy. The study analyzed 104 ZIP codes in the Indianapolis metropolitan statistical area and found that nearly a quarter of them, or 25, had life expectancies below the country's average for 1990, 75.4 years. Babies born today who live in the Indianapolis neighborhood with the lowest life expectancy have the same life expectancy on average as a baby born in the United States more than 60 years ago. That's a telling statistic, because life expectancy in the United States increased steadily from 1950 to 2013.

Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354. Follow her on Twitter: @srudavsky.