For years, the life expectancy in New York City was lower than that in the rest of the country. But since 1990, it has risen by 6.3 years for women and 10.5 years for men, according to the study, by the University of Pennsylvania's Population Studies Center.
In 2010, the most recent year for which there is complete data, life expectancy in New York City for women was 83 and for men it was 78.
The magnitude of the gains recalls those that followed major public health improvements, like the advent of sewage systems at the end of the 19th century.
By the early 2000s, New Yorkers were living as long as Americans generally, but by 2010 New Yorkers were living 1.9 years longer, according to the study.
The study's authors, Samuel Preston, a professor of demography and sociology, and Irma Elo, a professor of sociology, used federal health and mortality data to measure what drove the faster increases in the city.
They found that a sharp decline in deaths from AIDS and homicides accounted for about 33 percent of the improvement, the drop in drug- and alcohol-related deaths for about 15 percent, and the growing immigrant population for about 10 percent. A decline in smoking-related deaths contributed about 5 percent.
A preview of the study was published in Population and Development Review on Wednesday.
Sam Harper, an epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal who did not participate in the study, called the magnitude of the improvements "astounding."
That New York has come so far is a remarkable accomplishment, Professor Preston said. The benefits of the declines in deaths from AIDS and homicides have been known for some time, he added, but the contribution of immigrants was unexpected.
In 2010, 38 percent of New Yorkers were born in other countries, an increase from 29 percent in 1990.
Foreign-born New Yorkers had lower mortality rates for every one of the 16 causes of death the researchers measured, including AIDS and drug- and alcohol-related deaths. Homicide and lung cancer death rates are nearly 50 percent lower among the foreign-born, according to the study. Immigrants live significantly longer than native-born Americans, a pattern that demographers have puzzled over for decades.
Researchers as early as the 1970s were aware of the pattern, although immigrants tended to have less education and lower income, factors often associated with poor health. The phenomenon, known as the "immigrant advantage," wears off over generations.
Professor Preston said that much of the current two-year advantage that New Yorkers enjoy over the rest of the country comes from the immigrants.
"We never would have guessed this," he said.
Immigrants have much lower rates of smoking, AIDS and alcohol-related illnesses than native-born Americans, he said. The significant fall in homicides, down by 77 percent in the city since 1990, and death rates from AIDS, down by 85 percent over the same period, have helped drive improving life expectancies, according to the study.
The city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, said Wednesday that decreased mortality rates among older adults and people with heart disease, cancer and H.I.V. infection accounted for most of the life expectancy increases since 2000. Life expectancy has risen more sharply among native-born Americans than among immigrants, he said.
"The fact that foreign-born people live longer and life expectancy is pulled up by that is true and has been true," he said, "but what we're excited about is the change over time."
The city has become a laboratory for health policies, like a ban on artery-clogging trans fats in restaurant food, a prohibition on smoking in bars and restaurants, and the requirement that restaurant chains post calorie counts.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has often pointed to the increasing life expectancy of New Yorkers as proof that those health policies are working.
While New Yorkers were slightly less obese than the rest of the country, that played a negligible role in their longevity advantage, the authors said. Obesity is believed to affect life span but researchers disagree about how much.
Diabetes, one of the main health hazards associated with obesity, is slightly higher in New York than in the rest of the country, the authors said.
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