DETROIT — New research finds that Metro Detroit’s poor not only live shorter lives than other low-income people in the nation’s big cities, but Detroiters die up to 16 years sooner than their suburban neighbors.

Wayne County had the lowest life span for a poor 40-year-old — 77 years — among the nation’s largest 100 counties, according to the Health Inequality Project, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April. 

The Metro Detroit area also ranked at the bottom — 95 out of 100 — for the life spans of its poor, which was nearly 78 years.

Low-income people fare better in Queens, New York, where they are expected to live to age 83; Florida’s Miami Dade County, where they live to 81 and Chicago’s Cook County, 80.

And inside Wayne County alone there are dramatic differences in how long residents live, depending on their ZIP codes.

In Northville Township, a baby born today is expected to live to age 85, while 30 miles away, life expectancy in Detroit’s Cass Corridor is as low as 69 years, a 16-year gap.

Researchers say the link between a person’s income and how long he or she lives is well established, while the recent studies show a web of other factors can influence life spans, including geography, especially when comparing those of similar economic means.