John Elflein
Research expert covering health and health care
Women's health - Statistics & Facts
In 2022, the life expectancy of women in the United States was 80.2 years on average. Although this is longer than women in many other countries around the world, it is a decrease from previous years. Women in the United States generally live long and healthy lives, but they still face serious health issues and barriers to healthcare access still exist. For example, in 2023, around 10 percent of women in the United States did not have health insurance and 20 percent rated their overall health as just "fair" or "poor". The states with the highest share of women reporting fair or poor health are West Virginia, Arkansas, and Mississippi, while women in Vermont are the least likely to report their health as fair or poor.
The leading causes of death among U.S. women
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States accounting for around 20 percent of all deaths among women in 2022. However, death rates due to diseases of the heart among women have decreased significantly since the 1950's and continue to steadily drop. This decrease is likely due to better diagnosis and treatment and increased awareness of some of the leading causes of heart disease such as smoking tobacco, poor diet, and physical inactivity. Cancer is the second leading cause of death among U.S. women, accounting for almost 19 percent of deaths in 2022. The most common type of cancer among women in the U.S. is breast cancer, of which there were estimated to be around 316,950 new cases in 2025. Although rates of breast cancer have increased, deaths have been steadily decreasing since 1950. Cancer screenings and other prevention measures are important tools to minimize the risk of disease and are especially important for women in early prevention, detection, and treatment of breast cancer and cervical cancer. In 2021, nearly 76 percent of women aged 50 to 74 reported having a mammogram in the past two years.The increased focus on mental health
Focus on mental health and mental health issues has increased in recent years, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although everyone is susceptible to mental health problems, women are more likely to suffer from mental health issues than men, with the share of adult women in the United States who reported some form of mental illness in the past year increasing over the past decade. However, more women are also seeking treatment for their mental health problems than in previous years, in part due to an increased availability of such services and a decrease in social stigma surrounding mental illness. This decrease in stigma may also help explain why rates of mental illness have increased among women, as women may feel more open to reporting mental illness than in the past. Nevertheless, the death rate from suicide among U.S. women has also increased over the past couple of decades, highlighting the importance of mental health management and treatment.
