A new Oregon Health & Science University analysis of U.S. county data from 2019 to 2025 found that regularly getting less than seven hours of sleep per night is associated with shorter life expectancy. In the researchers’ models, the sleep–longevity link was stronger than associations seen for diet, physical activity and social isolation, and was exceeded only by smoking.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) report that insufficient sleep is strongly associated with shorter life expectancy in a nationwide analysis of U.S. counties.
The study, published on December 8, 2025, in SLEEP Advances, compared county-level life expectancy estimates with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey data collected from 2019 through 2025. In the statistical models described by the authors, the association between sleep and life expectancy was stronger than the associations for diet, physical activity, and social isolation, while smoking showed a larger association than sleep.
"I didn't expect it to be so strongly correlated to life expectancy," said Andrew McHill, Ph.D., the study’s senior author and an associate professor affiliated with the OHSU School of Nursing, the OHSU School of Medicine, and OHSU’s Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences. He added that people "should strive to get seven to nine hours of sleep if at all possible."
For the purpose of modeling, the researchers used the CDC definition of sufficient sleep as at least seven hours per night, which the OHSU summary said aligns with recommendations from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.
The work was carried out largely by graduate students in OHSU’s Sleep, Chronobiology and Health Laboratory, and the authors described it as the first study to show year-by-year connections between sleep and life expectancy across every U.S. state.
The analysis did not examine biological mechanisms behind the relationship. McHill noted, however, that sleep plays a role in cardiovascular health, immune function, and brain performance.
"This research shows that we need to prioritize sleep at least as much as we do to what we eat or how we exercise," McHill said, adding: "Getting a good night's sleep will improve how you feel but also how long you live."
The paper lists Kathryn E. McAuliffe as lead author, with co-authors including Madeline R. Wary, Gemma V. Pleas, Kiziah E.S. Pugmire, Courtney Lysiak, Nathan F. Dieckmann, Brooke M. Shafer, and Andrew W. McHill. OHSU said the research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as OHSU and Oregon state-related funding mechanisms described in the university’s release.
