What Are Life Expectancy Tables and How Are They Used to Calculate Future Damages?

Life expectancy tables are actuarial charts that show the average remaining years a person of a given age and sex is expected to live. They are published by the Social Security Administration and the CDC. In New York personal injury cases, courts use these tables to calculate future damages: medical costs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.

If you have suffered a serious or permanent injury, this single number quietly shapes the value of your entire claim. Think about every forward-looking part of your damages. The decades of medical care ahead of you. The income you can no longer earn. The years you will live with pain. Each one gets measured against how long you were expected to live. Knowing where that number comes from, and how it can be challenged, helps you understand how your case is actually being valued.

One detail surprises most people. In New York, life expectancy is measured from the date of the incident, not the date of trial. New York's Pattern Jury Instructions (PJI 2:290) direct juries to use the injured person's life expectancy as of the day they were hurt. So a case that takes years to resolve is still valued from that original starting point.

Where Do Life Expectancy Tables Come From?

The tables courts rely on are not estimates pulled from thin air. They are built from national mortality data and updated as that data changes.

The most commonly cited source in both state and federal proceedings is the Social Security Administration's period life table. It lists, for each age and sex, the average number of additional years a person is expected to live. For example, the SSA's 2023 data shows that a 65-year-old man has roughly 18 additional years of life expectancy, while a 65-year-old woman has about 21. (SSA 2023 Period Life Table)

The CDC's National Vital Statistics Reports give a more detailed picture. The most recent edition, Volume 74, Number 6, was published in July 2025. It presents U.S. life tables broken down by age, sex, and race or ethnicity using 2023 data. (CDC NVSR Vol. 74, No. 6) For context, overall U.S. life expectancy at birth was about 75.8 years for men and 81.1 years for women. (CDC NCHS Life Expectancy)

New York also has its own data. The New York State Department of Health publishes a life expectancy table that is sometimes cited in state and Medicaid-related proceedings. (NY State DOH Life Expectancy Table)

More than one authoritative table exists. So the two sides in a lawsuit do not always agree on which one to use. That is one of the first places disputes over future damages begin.

How Life Expectancy Tables Are Used in a Personal Injury Case

In a personal injury claim, the life expectancy number works like a multiplier. Once you know how many years a person is expected to live, you can figure out the duration of every cost and loss that stretches into the future.

Future medical expenses. Suppose a 35-year-old Queens resident suffers a spinal cord injury. The tables show roughly 43 to 44 additional years of expected life. A medical expert prepares a life care plan that projects the annual cost of care: attendant care, equipment, medication, therapy, and surgeries. That yearly figure is then multiplied across the remaining life expectancy to reach the total future medical damages. New York courts then reduce these economic damages to present value. That is the lump sum which, invested today, would cover those future costs (CPLR § 5031).

Lost earning capacity. This calculation uses a related but different tool. Economists rely on work-life expectancy tables to estimate how many working years a person had left, not how many years of life. Life expectancy still matters, because it sets the outer boundary of the calculation. But the two numbers are not the same.

Pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. Here life expectancy has an especially direct effect. Under New York law, future non-economic damages (pain and suffering) are not reduced to present value. The jury awards a sum meant to compensate the person for every year they are expected to live with the consequences of the injury. A longer life expectancy therefore means more years of compensable suffering.

The per diem method. Some attorneys present pain and suffering using a per diem approach. They assign a dollar value to each day of suffering and multiply it by the number of remaining days of life. The life expectancy table supplies that day count.

The New York Car Accident Law video below walks through the categories of compensation that life expectancy tables ultimately feed into.

How Life Expectancy Tables Are Used in a Wrongful Death Case

Wrongful death claims run on a different legal framework. The role of the life expectancy table changes with it.

New York is one of the very few states that limits wrongful death recovery to pecuniary injuries. That means financial losses to the surviving family, not the pain and suffering the deceased person experienced (EPTL § 5-4.3). Lawmakers have debated reforming this restriction in recent years. But as the law currently stands, the damages are economic in nature. Only certain family members, defined by statute, may bring the claim (EPTL § 5-4.1).

Within that framework, life expectancy tables help establish how long the financial losses would have continued. They support several calculations. How many years the person would have worked and provided income. How many years of household services the family lost. How many years of guidance and nurture minor children were deprived of.

Consider a 40-year-old parent killed in a Queens crash. The tables project roughly 40 additional years of life. The family's claim might include around 25 years of lost financial support running until retirement age. It might also include the years of care and guidance their young children would otherwise have received. New York's Surrogate's Court wrongful death petition explicitly asks for the decedent's life expectancy, drawn from U.S. health vital statistics tables (NY Surrogate's Court wrongful death petition).

The video below explains how wrongful death lawsuits work in New York and why this number is so central to them.

What Factors Can Adjust the Standard Table?

A published table reflects the average person of a given age and sex. Real people are not averages, and New York law recognizes that. The table is a starting point. Several factors can push an individual's projected life expectancy above or below it. So never assume the number listed for your age applies exactly to your case. It is an average, and your own circumstances matter.

• Pre-injury health. Someone managing a condition like diabetes or prior heart disease may have a shorter-than-average projection. An active, healthy 45-year-old may exceed the table.
• Severity of the injury itself. Catastrophic injuries such as spinal cord injuries or severe traumatic brain injuries can sharply shorten life expectancy. The cause is usually secondary complications: respiratory infections, pressure ulcers, urinary tract infections, and cardiovascular disease. Proving this typically requires testimony from a physiatrist or other medical expert. Any specific reduction should be backed by sources such as the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC Life Expectancy Calculator).
• Age and sex. These are already built into the table. Younger plaintiffs have longer projected lifespans, which generally means larger total future damages.
• Lifestyle factors. Smoking, obesity, and substance use can shorten projections. An expert may adjust the estimate accordingly.
• Occupation. High-risk work can affect projections and often becomes relevant in construction accident cases.
• Family history. A documented family history of conditions like cancer or heart disease is something an expert can address.
• Medical advances. Newer treatments may extend life beyond what older tables reflect, and experts can argue for updated projections.

Both sides bring their own experts to this question. Insurance carriers generally try to shorten the estimate to reduce the value of future damages. The injured person's attorney works to apply the full table, or to extend it for an unusually healthy client. When the two sides disagree, the dispute goes to the jury.

How These Disputes Play Out in a New York Courtroom

When life expectancy is contested, it becomes a question of competing evidence rather than a fixed figure.

Each side presents its preferred table or an expert-adjusted estimate. The experts involved can include forensic economists, actuaries, physiatrists who speak to injury-related reductions in life expectancy, and life care planners who project the cost of future care.

The judge instructs the jury that a mortality table is evidence, not a binding number. Under the framework reflected in New York's Pattern Jury Instructions (PJI 2:290), published mortality tables are not conclusive. The jury weighs them alongside the person's specific health, habits, occupation, and all the other evidence. The jury may accept the standard table, accept an expert's adjusted figure, or settle on its own reasonable number.

The stakes are high. In a catastrophic injury case, even a five-year difference in life expectancy can shift the award by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those extra years multiply across future medical costs and pain and suffering alike.

This kind of permanent, decades-long injury is exactly the kind The Orlow Firm has handled for over 40 years. In one case, the firm recovered $3,375,000 for a construction worker who fell 12 feet off a ladder. He suffered neck, back, elbow, and shoulder injuries that required neck and back surgery. That is the type of lasting harm where life expectancy anchors decades of projected future medical and lost-earning damages.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can life expectancy tables be challenged in a personal injury case?

Yes. Mortality tables are treated as evidence, not a fixed rule. Either side can bring in an expert — a physiatrist, economist, or actuary — to argue that an individual's life expectancy differs from the average. The argument is based on health, injury severity, lifestyle, or other personal factors. The jury then decides which figure to accept.

How does a spinal cord or brain injury affect life expectancy in a damages claim?

Catastrophic injuries can reduce projected life expectancy because of long-term secondary complications such as infections, pressure ulcers, and cardiovascular problems. Proving a specific reduction requires medical expert testimony and data from sources like the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. A shorter projection can reduce future damages, which is why this point is often disputed.

Does New York reduce future pain and suffering damages to present value?

No. In New York, future economic damages such as medical costs and lost earnings are reduced to present value. But future non-economic damages — pain and suffering — are not. The jury awards a sum covering the full number of years the injured person is expected to live with the consequences of the injury.

How is life expectancy measured in a New York injury lawsuit — from the accident date or the trial date?

It is measured from the date of the incident. Under New York's Pattern Jury Instructions (PJI 2:290), the jury uses the injured person's life expectancy as of the day they were hurt, even if the case takes years to reach trial.

What is the difference between life expectancy tables and work-life expectancy tables?

Life expectancy tables estimate how many total years a person is expected to live. Work-life expectancy tables estimate how many working years a person had remaining. Economists use work-life expectancy to calculate lost earning capacity. Life expectancy governs lifelong costs such as future medical care and the duration of pain and suffering.

Do life expectancy tables consider race and gender?

The CDC's National Vital Statistics tables stratify life expectancy by sex and by race or ethnicity. The SSA tables are organized by age and sex. Whether a race-based table may be used in court varies by jurisdiction and is not handled uniformly. How these factors apply in a specific New York case is a question to raise with an attorney.

Sources & Official Resources

Federal Statistics

1. SSA Period Life Table — Actuarial Life Table (2023 data)
2. CDC National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 74, No. 6 — United States Life Tables, 2023 (July 2025)
3. CDC NCHS — Life Expectancy

New York State Laws Cited 4. CPLR § 5031 — Present Value of Future Damages 5. EPTL § 5-4.3 — Wrongful Death Damages (Pecuniary Injuries) 6. EPTL § 5-4.1 — Wrongful Death Action: Standing

New York State & City Resources 7. NY State DOH Life Expectancy Table (GIS 24 MA/05)

Medical & Statistical Resources 8. NSCISC Life Expectancy Calculator — National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center at UAB

Contact The Orlow Firm

If you or a family member has suffered a serious or permanent injury in New York City, or lost a loved one, life expectancy tables will almost certainly factor into how your damages are valued. Getting the calculation right can mean a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime. The Orlow Firm has handled these cases for over 40 years, working with economic and medical experts when the numbers are contested.

Call (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation. We work on contingency. You pay nothing unless we win.

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This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Every case is different. Contact an attorney to discuss your specific situation.