What Is The Life Expectancy Of Millennials Vs Boomers?

Sorry, millennials. When it comes to life expectancy, the baby boomers may have you beat. While we don't yet know how long millennials will live, we do have studies examining mortality trends that can provide us with some clues. According to a 2025 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, boomers have the edge on millennials and even Generation X in terms of mortality improvements.

The researchers say that with baby boomers born between 1950 and 1959, there was a reversal of the trend toward improving mortality rates. "This group has experienced worse outcomes than the generations before them. And the generations that followed them had mortality improvements that weren't as strong as prior generations had," said study author Leah Abrams in a Tufts Now article. "We see concerning trends for those born from around 1970 to 1985 — the late Gen Xers and elder Millennials," she added, noting that deaths from cardiovascular disease, cancer — most notably, colon cancer — were on the rise in that particular cohort. 

But that's not all. According to a 2026 study published in Population Studies, millennials and Gen Z are more likely to be obese and struggle with mental health than their baby boomer and Generation X counterparts. "We're seeing the consequences of preventable social and environmental exposures that have shaped population health over time and across generations," the study's lead author, Ph.D. student Laura Gimeno, said in a press release about the findings. "The generational health drift has serious implications for policy, planning, and the funding allocations needed to be able to support a greater number of people living with long-term health conditions," she explained.

Unfortunately, research shows that millennials are also aging faster than boomers. According to a 2026 study published in Nature Medicine, millennials had a larger gap between their biological age and their chronological age, compared to that of baby boomers. According to the study's lead author Yin Cao, Sc.D., it is imperative to learn the why behind the increased cancer risk to close that gap. "Our ultimate goal is to decode how modern environments become biologically embedded to drive cancer risk, transforming prevention from broad recommendations to personalized interventions," she explained in a press release. "This brings us closer to identifying risk earlier and developing prevention strategies that are tailored to an individual's biology."

It should be noted, however, that the generation one is born into isn't the only factor when it comes to personal life expectancy. Frequent use of antibiotics, skipping breakfast, and even not getting consistent sleep are all unexpected factors that could cut your life expectancy. Conversely, you're likely to live longer if you are particularly athletic, walk regularly, responsibly count your calories, eat your fruits and veggies (longevity diet, anyone?), and practice good oral hygiene. Even good relationships can extend your lifespan. "Over the past few decades now, growing evidence shows people who are more socially connected live longer and people who are more isolated or lonely are at increased risk for early mortality," Brigham Young University psychology professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad told Deseret News in 2022. In case you needed any more convincing to get out there and be more social, here's your sign.