The gap is measured in years

There is a 12-year or greater difference in life span among neighborhoods in Fulton County, Georgia, of which Atlanta is the county seat. That is the clearest way to understand health inequity here: it is not a small statistical variation, it is a difference in how long people live based on which side of the county they live on.

What the county tracks

The Fulton County Board of Health's 2020 Community Health Assessment is the county's own accounting of these conditions. It organized community conversations around health disparities among Black residents, New American wellness, and HIV, and it remains the most useful countywide document for anyone trying to understand where the gaps are and what the county knows about them.

How to use this entry

Life expectancy and mortality figures are updated continuously and vary by the geography used — county, census tract, or ZIP code can tell three different stories about the same block. Any number quoted from this entry should name its source, its year, and its geography.