We often ponder the question of how long we will live.

Yet, a more pressing and often overlooked question lingers: How many years will you remain healthy enough to truly enjoy life—and continue working if necessary?

Longevity doesn’t necessarily equate to a better quality of life.

As people age, many find themselves managing chronic conditions, dealing with medications and medical appointments, and gradually losing the capability to engage in everyday activities—whether it’s climbing stairs without discomfort, traveling, exercising, socializing, or maintaining employment.

Researchers now believe they can estimate the number of ‘healthy years’ a person has left, thanks to models that factor in age, gender, ethnicity, and location.

Inspired by this approach, the Daily Mail has developed an interactive tool that lets users input their details to discover not just their potential lifespan, but also how long they might stay free from major illnesses or disabilities.

The zip code element is crucial. It’s not simply a blunt measure of how rich or poor you are. Instead, it reflects the conditions of the place you live, which research shows can shape your health for decades.

Where you live influences everything from how easy it is to see a doctor, to the air you breathe, the quality of your housing, the food you can buy locally and whether your neighborhood makes it easy – or hard – to stay active.

The Daily Mail’s new calculator determines not just how long you will live, but how many years you can expect to live well

It can also capture exposure to pollution, traffic, crime, extreme heat or cold, and how early people tend to get preventive care. 

Over time, those factors quietly add up. Two people of the same age and sex can end up with very different numbers of healthy years simply because one lives in an area that supports good health, while the other does not.

Unlike life expectancy, which measures how long people live, healthy life expectancy looks at how long they can expect to live without major illness or disability. And many of the chronic conditions that so detrimentally impact everyday life are surging in the US.

The American Heart Association estimates that more than 127 million Americans (nearly half of all adults) are living with some form of cardiovascular disease, from high blood pressure to heart disease and stroke.

Each year, hundreds of thousands more join that group after a heart attack or major cardiac event, many surviving thanks to modern treatment – though, they’re often left managing a lifelong condition that requires medication, monitoring and lifestyle changes.

Meanwhile, one in six US adults (56 million people) are living with diabetes, and the CDC estimates as many as one in five of them don’t know they have it.

Alongside this sits a quieter epidemic of liver disease. Experts estimate that up to one in three American adults now has fatty liver disease, a condition closely linked to obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Often symptomless for years, fatty liver disease can quietly progress to liver inflammation, scarring and, in severe cases, cirrhosis or liver cancer – further eroding the number of years people remain healthy, mobile and able to work.

And while overall cancer death rates have fallen nationwide, colon cancer has ravaged Americans under 50 and is now the leading cause of cancer death in this age group, cutting thousands of lives short every year.

Lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking, exercise and diet all play a role in determining healthy years. They’re modifiable, which means you can adjust these factors in accordance with your desire to live healthier longer.

But other influences – including sex, ethnicity, disability and economic status – are harder to change, or are set in stone.

Unsurprisingly, people in affluent states like Massachusetts or New York are more likely to have access to better healthcare – meaning increased chances of longer healthy lifespans – than those in more disadvantaged states like West Virginia and Mississippi.

According to our calculator, a baby born today in West Virginia, which has the country’s lowest overall life expectancy, may have just 60 healthy years ahead of them. That’s nearly a decade less than babies born in Massachusetts, America’s longest-lived state.

The figures also show stark differences between America’s richest and poorest cities.

Data from US News and World Report shows Flint, Michigan, is the poorest city in the US, with an average household income of $33,141 per year and 41 percent of residents making less than $25,000. In addition, Flint is known for its historic water crisis, which involved water being contaminated with lead and bacteria. 

In Flint, according to our calculator, a 30-year-old white man has 38 healthy years ahead of him and is expected to spend a fifth of his life in poor health.

US News and World Report also found Sammamish, Washington – 20 miles from Seattle – is the country’s richest city with an average household income of $238,750 and 83 percent of residents making at least $100,000 a year.

The Daily Mail’s calculator shows a 30-year-old white man in Sammamish has 43 more healthy years, and will spend just 18 percent of his life in poor health.

However, there are numerous steps that can be taken to stretch out those good years, regardless of where you live. These include not smoking, staying physically active, getting enough sleep, keeping a healthy weight, eating a whole-food diet rich in fruits and vegetables and keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar under control.

Drinking less alcohol can help too, with health authorities warning excessive intake can raise the risk of conditions including high blood pressure, stroke, liver disease and some cancers.

But experts stress your efforts don’t have to be overwhelming.

‘Think intentionally about what you can do today,’ said Dr Corey Rovzar, a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Prevention Research Center within the university’s school of medicine.

‘Add greens to your meal, walk a little bit longer – those things add up. People approach lifestyle changes as all or nothing, but we need to shift that mentality to recognizing that every little bit counts.’