To date, 88,027,926 Americans are confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 — and over 1 million have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the Roanoke metropolitan area, located in Virginia, a total of 74,146 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 23,667 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 26,906 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Roanoke is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Roanoke metro area comprises six counties or county equivalents — and of them, Franklin County in Virginia has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 11,849 confirmed infections in Franklin County, or 21,071 for every 100,000 people.

Though Franklin County has the lowest per capita infection rate in the Roanoke metro area, its per capita fatality rate is closely in line with the regional average.

There have been a total of 356 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Franklin County, compared to 349 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Roanoke metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of July 17, 2022.

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

Rank	Geography	COVID cases per 100,000 people	Total cases	Deaths per 100,000 people	Total deaths
1	Franklin County, VA	21,071	11,849	356	200
2	Craig County, VA	22,961	1,174	391	20
3	Roanoke City, VA	23,505	23,416	383	382
4	Salem City, VA	24,131	6,158	388	99
5	Botetourt County, VA	24,427	8,115	316	105
6	Roanoke County, VA	25,041	23,434	307	287

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