Twin Cities poor people die younger than the rich

Image by chefranden on Flickr

Craig Helmstetter of the Wilder Foundation mapped the life expectancy of people in the Twin cities in a new report.

Then, using Census data and mortality information from the Minnesota Department of Health, Helmstetter overlaid the life expectancy map with median income. His results are dramatic: an eight-year gap correlated with income.

In households making less than $35,000--which were clustered in St. Paul and Minneapolis--the average life expectancy for these people was less than 75.

But in tonier second-ring suburbs like Chanhassen, Minnetonka, and Eagan, where median household income was more than $75,000, people had life expectancies of 82 or higher.

It's a second bout of bad news for the metro area's poor. Hennepin County Medical Center just announced it will no longer treat non-emergency patients who are uninsured and live outside the county.