San Diego County residents are living longer, but new data shows where you live still plays a major role in how long you live and what you die from.
Life expectancy now averages just over 81 years in San Diego County, according to the county’s Community Health Statistics Unit. But that number varies widely across the region.
In Coronado, residents live more than 87 years on average — the longest in the county. Just a few miles away in Lemon Grove, life expectancy drops to just under 79 years, the shortest in the region.
These gaps reflect access to care, housing and support, according to public health experts. They also show how where you live can shape your health over a lifetime.
Lemon Grove is also one of the communities hit hardest by drug overdoses. In 2024, the overdose death rate there was nearly double the county average.
At the same time, overdose deaths were declining across San Diego County, from more than 1,200 in 2023 to under 1,000 in 2024.
Overdoses are included in the unintentional injuries category in the county’s measures of mortality.
The decline is reshaping life expectancy data. Cancer is still the leading cause of death. And heart disease remains second. But when overdoses went down, stroke rose to the number three spot above unintentional injuries.
“I’ve definitely noticed a decrease in the amount of people that community members are reporting having seen overdosed,” said Kayla Houston, an outreach worker with Father Joe’s Villages Street Health team.
A big part of her work is harm reduction. That includes handing out naloxone, the overdose-reversing medication.
“I've also seen a lot more people requesting fentanyl and xylazine testing strips so they can test their product,” Houston said. “Hopefully becoming more aware of what products they’re consuming.”
The county’s data supports what she said she is seeing on the ground: the harm reduction approach is working.
“So that feels like progress for us, to know … not only the tools, but the education that we’re trying to provide the community members is being put to use,” she said.
Still, broader disparities remain, she said.
“What we're exposed to and our experiences from the culture that we're within have an impact on our physical health and our mental health. And I think that both of those can contribute to someone's quality of life,” Houston said.
