Special Report

This Is the County in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: July 22, 2022 4:30 am

More than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 – more than the total number of Americans killed in World War I and World War II combined.

In the Des Moines-West Des Moines metropolitan area, located in Iowa, a total of 1,492 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 235 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 310 deaths have been attributed to the virus per 100,000 people.

Though deaths attributable to the virus are less common across the metro area than they are nationwide, this is not the case in some parts of the city.

The broader Des Moines metro area comprises five counties or county equivalents — and of them, Guthrie County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Guthrie County stands at 440 for every 100,000 people.

Though it has the highest per capita death rate in the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro area, Guthrie County ranks among the middle 50% of all U.S. counties or county equivalents by COVID-19 death rate per capita.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of July 19, 2022.

These are all the counties in Iowa where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).