This Is the Worst COVID-19 Hotspot in Each State

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
This Is the Worst COVID-19 Hotspot in Each State

© Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images News via Getty Images

The spread and intensity of COVID-19 in the U.S. population is measured in several ways. Among them are raw counts of cases and deaths. Another is cases and deaths per 100,000. Then are so-called hotspots, which measure the daily increase in confirmed cases using the most recent seven-day average per 100,000 people, compared to the previous seven days. Usually, these figures are reported at the county level.

Across the 50 states, the county in each that is the worst hotspot varies substantially by population, as well as the rate of growth. The largest is Honolulu County, Hawaii, which has a population of 987,638. It is followed by Fairfield County, Connecticut, with a population of 944,348. Third in population, Prince George’s County, Virginia, has a population of 906,202.

At the far end of the population scale, Issaquena County, Mississippi, has a population of 1,328. Statisticians might argue that its numbers are too small to be included. There are several other very small counties by population. Eddy County, North Dakota, has only 2,313 residents. Menominee County, Wisconsin, has only 4,579.

Suffice it to say that hotspot counties have no direct relationship to population.
[nativounit]
The core measurement of new cases per day based on the seven-day average also varies widely when chosen by the worst county in each state.

The worst county in the nation by far is Crowley County, Colorado, with a figure of 648.86. It is followed by Lee County, Kentucky, at 422.31.

At the far end of the spectrum of worst hotspot counties by state, Honolulu County’s figure is 7.93. But Hawaii has only five counties, so there is not much competition for the position. The next lowest is Franklin County, Washington, at 19.90.

Measurements and measurement methods have started to blur into one another as the spread of COVID-19 quickens at an astonishing pace, which will only accelerate into December. The United States has 13,617,362 confirmed cases, and the figure has started to rise by almost 200,000 a day. Deaths stand at 271,296, up daily by as much as 2,000 in recent days. Experts worry that the number could double in the coming weeks. It is very hard to make an argument against that.

These are the COVID-19 hotspot counties by state:

State County Population Cases per 100k New Cases per Day
Alabama Franklin County 31,542 8,059.10 50.53
Alaska Bethel Census Area 18,040 8,442.35 230.44
Arizona Yuma County 207,829 8,598.90 91.88
Arkansas Lincoln County 13,695 17,991.97 84.34
California Imperial County 180,216 8,888.78 91.13
Colorado Crowley County 5,630 17,957.37 648.86
Connecticut Fairfield County 944,348 3,925.57 53.35
Delaware Sussex County 219,540 4,726.70 44.43
Florida Lafayette County 8,744 15,118.94 28.71
Georgia Chattahoochee County 10,767 18,333.80 51.93
Hawaii Honolulu County 987,638 1,545.51 7.93
Idaho Madison County 38,705 10,722.13 146.95
Illinois Clinton County 37,628 8,791.33 148.17
Indiana Elkhart County 203,604 8,813.68 133.83
Iowa Buena Vista County 20,260 15,044.42 117.15
Kansas Norton County 5,486 18,939.12 108.25
Kentucky Lee County 6,751 13,672.05 422.31
Louisiana East Feliciana Parish 19,499 10,877.48 50.66
Maine Androscoggin County 107,444 1,391.42 21.52
Maryland Prince George’s County 906,202 4,531.77 38.68
Massachusetts Suffolk County 791,766 4,652.38 35.06
Michigan Delta County 36,190 6,733.90 69.59
Minnesota Nobles County 21,839 14,135.26 92.61
Mississippi Issaquena County 1,328 8,810.24 58.40
Missouri Sullivan County 6,317 8,928.29 81.74
Montana Big Horn County 13,376 13,292.46 57.37
Nebraska Dakota County 20,317 15,445.19 103.76
Nevada Washoe County 450,486 5,430.36 109.78
New Hampshire Hillsborough County 411,087 2,050.42 33.74
New Jersey Passaic County 504,041 5,921.94 73.96
New Mexico McKinley County 72,849 9,667.94 196.91
New York Rockland County 323,686 6,642.86 37.02
North Carolina Sampson County 63,561 5,780.27 52.18
North Dakota Eddy County 2,313 15,564.20 157.94
Ohio Marion County 65,344 7,627.33 106.56
Oklahoma Texas County 21,121 11,263.67 111.80
Oregon Malheur County 30,431 7,817.69 52.98
Pennsylvania Centre County 161,443 3,937.61 56.73
Rhode Island Providence County 634,533 5,670.31 95.68
South Carolina Newberry County 38,068 5,534.83 29.16
South Dakota Bon Homme County 6,969 19,529.34 147.30
Tennessee Trousdale County 9,573 19,931.06 28.99
Texas Hale County 34,113 11,878.17 166.67
Utah Utah County 590,440 8,215.74 111.39
Vermont Washington County 58,477 1,099.58 34.31
Virginia Galax city 6,638 8,556.79 72.25
Washington Franklin County 90,660 6,411.87 19.90
West Virginia Mineral County 27,278 4,600.78 176.56
Wisconsin Menominee County 4,579 12,142.39 82.90
Wyoming Albany County 38,102 7,763.37 83.56

[recirclink id=817628]
[wallst_email_signup]

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618