Health Profile of Alexandria city, Virginia

Alexandria city Health Score

The Map AI Health Index is a score that reflects local life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and physical environment to help you quickly compare the overall health and well-being of different areas.

  • A
    Alexandria city Above average

Source: Map AI Methodology

Alexandria city
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Health grade

General Health Overview

See health data visualized

Metric Alexandria city Virginia Avg US Average
Life Expectancy (years) 81.3 77.3 78.3
Uninsured Population (%) 8.8% 6.9% 8.4%
Self-Rated Poor Health 9.8% 16.9% 16.3%

Life expectancy in Alexandria city is 81.3 years, about 4.1 years longer than the Virginia average of 77.3 years. The uninsured rate is 8.8%, higher than the Virginia average of 6.9%. Self-rated poor health is reported by 9.8% of residents, lower than the Virginia average of 16.9%.

Population by Age

Older residents

46,333 residents in Alexandria city are age 50 or older.

  • 85+ 2,167 671 men · 1,496 women
  • 75–84 5,006 2,032 men · 2,973 women
  • 65–74 10,851 4,888 men · 5,962 women
  • 50–64 28,310 13,803 men · 14,506 women

Younger residents

26,795 residents in Alexandria city are age 17 or younger.

  • 12–17 6,304 3,193 boys · 3,111 girls
  • 7–12 6,926 3,717 boys · 3,209 girls
  • 3–7 7,178 3,767 boys · 3,411 girls
  • 0–3 6,386 3,206 boys · 3,180 girls
Beyond life expectancy

About 3,699 residents in Alexandria city (2.4% of the population) are older than the area's life expectancy of 81.3 years.

81.3 yrs
Age 0 Age 100

The highlighted slice of the age axis is the share of residents older than the life-expectancy mark.

Disease Prevalence

Disease / Condition Alexandria city Virginia Avg US Average
Diabetes 7.6% 12.2% 11.3%
Cancer 5.1% 6.8% 6.9%
Heart Diseases 3.8% 6.8% 7.1%
Adult Obesity 26.9% 36.3% 34.3%

The rate of heart disease in Alexandria city is about 44% lower than in Virginia. The rate of diabetes in Alexandria city is about 38% lower than in Virginia. The rate of obesity in Alexandria city is about 26% lower than in Virginia.

Health Behaviors

Behavior Alexandria city Virginia Avg US Average
Smokers 11.5% 19.0% 19.0%
Binge Drinking 17.5% 15.2% 16.5%
Sedentary Lifestyle 16.7% 24.8% 25.1%

The rate of smoking in Alexandria city is about 39% lower than in Virginia. The rate of sedentary lifestyle in Alexandria city is about 33% lower than in Virginia.

Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 148,268 cigarettes a day, 4.4 million a month, or 54.1 million a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 1.6 million minutes a day and 595.3 million a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Alexandria city is 81.3 years, that's roughly equivalent to 0.04 lifetimes a day, or 14 lifetimes a year.

* Source: Shaw M, Mitchell R, Dorling D. "Time for a smoke? One cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes." BMJ. 2000;320:53.

Illustrative only. This is not an estimate of how many people actually die from smoking each day or year - it's a rough, order-of-magnitude comparison meant to help grasp the scale of smoking in this area. We take no responsibility for any decisions made based on this figure.

Air Quality

Metric Alexandria city Virginia Avg US Average
Air Pollution (μg/m³) 6.59 6.12 6.09

With an annual average of 6.6 µg/m³ of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), air quality in Alexandria city is good — generally safe air quality for the vast majority of residents.

Alexandria city, VA Health Compared With Nearby Counties

Alexandria city, VA is the smallest of the 4 counties compared here, 156,980 residents against a local median of 678,314. Where Alexandria city, VA breaks from the counties next to it is uninsured, sitting 66% above the local median of 5.3% at 8.8%. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.

The counties themselves spread 3.5% on uninsured, so Alexandria city, VA sits at one end of an already wide local range rather than apart from it. Alexandria city, VA has the 4th lowest uninsured of the 4 areas compared here.

Area Population Life expectancy Uninsured Obesity
Alexandria city, VA 156,980 81.3 yrs #3/4 8.8% #4/4 26.9% #3/4
Arlington County, VA 236,150 81.8 yrs 5.3% 27.1%
District of Columbia, DC 678,314 76.4 yrs 3.6% 25.3%
Fairfax County, VA 1,147,383 82.6 yrs 7.1% 22.6%

Conclusion

Considering all these factors, Alexandria city, Virginia has an overall health index grade of A, making it notably better than Virginia, and notably better than the country as a whole.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about health in Alexandria city, Virginia.

What is the health grade for Alexandria city, Virginia?

Alexandria city, Virginia has a Map AI Health Index grade of A, based on life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment; an A grade means residents are much healthier than the U.S. average.

Is Alexandria city, Virginia one of the healthiest counties in Virginia?

Alexandria city ranks 6th healthiest out of 133 counties in Virginia by the Map AI Health Index, which measures life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment.

What is the life expectancy in Alexandria city, Virginia?

People in Alexandria city, Virginia can expect to live 81.3 years on average, 4.1 years longer than the Virginia average of 77.3.

What percentage of Alexandria city, Virginia residents are uninsured?

8.8% of residents in Alexandria city, Virginia have no health insurance, about 1 in 11 people, 1.9 points above the Virginia rate of 6.9%.

How common is obesity in Alexandria city, Virginia?

26.9% of adults in Alexandria city, Virginia are classified as obese, about 1 in 4, 9.5 points below the Virginia rate of 36.3%.

How many cigarettes do smokers in Alexandria city, Virginia go through, and how much life does that cost?

Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 148,268 cigarettes a day, 4.4 million a month, or 54.1 million a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 1.6 million minutes a day and 595.3 million a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Alexandria city is 81.3 years, that's roughly equivalent to 0.04 lifetimes a day, or 14 lifetimes a year.

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