The acceleration in the spread of COVID-19 in the United States in the past month is nothing short of astonishing. Confirmed cases now routinely rise by over 150,000 a day, on the way to what experts think will be 250,000. Fatal cases per day have risen to 1,500, and experts fear that could double. Currently, total confirmed cases in the United States stand at 12,499,396 and fatalities at 261,387.

Some parts of the country are much worse off than others. Currently, the states in the upper Midwest are taking the brunt of the disease. This includes Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. Case counts in states where the growth has slowed also have picked up. This includes, in particular, New York, which was hit worse than any other state in terms of deaths during a horrible period from late March through April. The state still has more fatal cases than any other.

The effects of the disease on any area are measured in several ways. Among the most widely followed are cases per 100,000 people. This shows how deeply COVID-19 has spread in any given county. It also can be a sign of likely future spread because such a large portion of the population already has been affected.

Until vaccines can slow and eventually start to eliminate COVID-19, people have to be on guard for the spread of the disease in their own communities. 24/7 Wall St. has looked at each state to determine the counties where the cases per 100,000 are the highest. We also have shown a more grim figure, which is deaths per 100,000.

The ways that people can protect themselves regardless of the intensity of the spread of the disease have changed very little since the start of the pandemic. Wear masks, social distance, wash hands and when talking stay outside as much as possible. Just as important, do not gather inside in groups of more than a few people.

This list shows the five counties in each state where the cases per 100,000 are the highest. It provides a picture of which areas in a state are most dangerous in terms of the spread of the disease.

Alabama
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Franklin	31,542	2,436	33	7,723.04	104.62
Lowndes	10,236	785	29	7,669.01	283.31
Perry	9,486	668	6	7,041.96	63.25
Bullock	10,352	689	19	6,655.72	183.54
Clay	13,378	888	23	6,637.76	171.92
Alaska
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Bethel	18,040	1,149	1	6,369.18	5.54
Anchorage	296,112	14,702	64	4,965.01	21.61
Kusilvak	8,198	387	0	4,720.66	0.00
Northwest Arctic	7,734	338	0	4,370.31	0.00
North Slope	9,797	407	0	4,154.33	0.00
Arizona
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Yuma	207,829	16,700	375	8,035.45	180.44
Santa Cruz	46,584	3,588	68	7,702.22	145.97
Navajo	108,705	7,602	267	6,993.24	245.62
Apache	71,522	4,921	193	6,880.40	269.85
Graham	37,879	1,904	33	5,026.53	87.12
Arkansas
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Lincoln	13,695	2,389	18	17,444.32	131.43
Lee	9,398	1,159	18	12,332.41	191.53
Chicot	10,826	1,134	25	10,474.78	230.93
Sevier	17,193	1,648	17	9,585.30	98.88
Jackson	17,225	1,518	6	8,812.77	34.83
California
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Imperial	180,216	15,053	353	8,352.75	195.88
Kings	150,075	10,019	86	6,676.00	57.30
Tulare	460,477	19,752	303	4,289.47	65.80
Kern	883,053	37,403	445	4,235.65	50.39
Merced	269,075	10,849	176	4,031.96	65.41
Colorado
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Crowley	5,630	1,007	1	17,886.32	17.76
Logan	21,689	2,005	28	9,244.32	129.10
Adams	497,115	26,129	315	5,256.13	63.37
Morgan	28,257	1,445	51	5,113.78	180.49
Denver	693,417	32,533	506	4,691.69	72.97
Connecticut
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Fairfield	944,348	33,648	1,471	3,563.09	155.77
New Haven	859,339	25,248	1,190	2,938.07	138.48
Hartford	894,730	25,182	1,553	2,814.48	173.57
New London	268,881	5,352	163	1,990.47	60.62
Litchfield	183,031	3,602	156	1,967.97	85.23
Delaware
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Sussex	219,540	9,682	255	4,410.13	116.15
New Castle	555,133	17,587	370	3,168.07	66.65
Kent	174,822	4,439	123	2,539.15	70.36
Florida
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Lafayette	8,744	1,305	19	14,924.52	217.29
Union	15,239	1,210	58	7,940.15	380.60
Miami-Dade	2,715,516	214,943	3,766	7,915.36	138.68
Jackson	48,472	3,712	89	7,658.03	183.61
Suwannee	43,924	3,209	86	7,305.80	195.79
Georgia
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Chattahoochee	10,767	1,918	3	17,813.69	27.86
Stewart	6,042	572	17	9,467.06	281.36
Clinch	6,743	487	13	7,222.30	192.79
Whitfield	103,849	7,211	77	6,943.74	74.15
Appling	18,454	1,220	38	6,611.03	205.92
Hawaii
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Honolulu	987,638	14,794	182	1,497.92	18.43
Hawaii	197,658	1,541	32	779.63	16.19
Maui	165,281	607	0	367.25	0.00
Kauai	71,377	97	0	135.90	0.00
Idaho
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Madison	38,705	3,813	7	9,851.44	18.09
Cassia	23,615	2,001	17	8,473.43	71.99
Minidoka	20,615	1,647	14	7,989.33	67.91
Twin Falls	83,666	6,393	75	7,641.10	89.64
Jerome	23,431	1,774	13	7,571.17	55.48
Illinois
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Clinton	37,628	2,943	56	7,821.30	148.83
Effingham	34,174	2,433	17	7,119.45	49.75
Kankakee	111,061	7,753	96	6,980.85	86.44
Cass	12,665	871	19	6,877.22	150.02
Carroll	14,562	978	24	6,716.11	164.81
Indiana
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Elkhart	203,604	16,389	209	8,049.45	102.65
Cass	38,084	2,912	31	7,646.26	81.40
Marshall	46,595	2,836	42	6,086.49	90.14
Fayette	23,259	1,412	33	6,070.77	141.88
St. Joseph	269,240	16,125	217	5,989.08	80.60
Iowa
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Buena Vista	20,260	2,893	14	14,279.37	69.10
Jones	20,568	2,191	11	10,652.47	53.48
Plymouth	25,039	2,569	37	10,259.99	147.77
Calhoun	9,780	978	7	10,000.00	71.57
Sioux	34,825	3,482	25	9,998.56	71.79
Kansas
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Norton	5,486	1,025	N/A	18,683.92	N/A
Ford	34,484	4,421	N/A	12,820.44	N/A
Sheridan	2,506	288	N/A	11,492.42	N/A
Seward	22,692	2,486	N/A	10,955.40	N/A
Gove	2,619	272	N/A	10,385.64	N/A
Kentucky
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Lee	6,751	850	13	12,590.73	192.56
Elliott	7,517	562	0	7,476.39	0.00
Monroe	10,634	662	9	6,225.32	84.63
Warren	126,427	6,703	61	5,301.87	48.25
Fayette	318,734	15,540	104	4,875.54	32.63
Louisiana
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
East Feliciana	19,499	2,074	84	10,636.44	430.79
East Carroll	7,225	692	9	9,577.85	124.57
Madison	11,472	1,026	13	8,943.51	113.32
Franklin	20,322	1,669	58	8,212.77	285.40
Allen	25,661	2,060	67	8,027.75	261.10
Maine
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Androscoggin	107,444	1,370	16	1,275.08	14.89
Cumberland	290,944	3,556	71	1,222.23	24.40
York	203,102	2,040	27	1,004.42	13.29
Somerset	50,710	402	13	792.74	25.64
Franklin	30,019	194	3	646.26	9.99
Maryland
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Prince George’s	906,202	38,699	907	4,270.46	100.09
Baltimore City	614,700	22,699	540	3,692.70	87.85
Allegany	71,977	2,421	52	3,363.57	72.25
Baltimore	827,625	26,967	703	3,258.36	84.94
Wicomico	102,172	3,148	55	3,081.08	53.83
Massachusetts
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Suffolk	791,766	34,870	1,225	4,404.08	154.72
Essex	781,024	31,725	1,424	4,061.98	182.32
Bristol	558,905	18,018	828	3,223.80	148.15
Hampden	469,116	14,404	883	3,070.46	188.23
Worcester	822,280	22,670	1,237	2,756.97	150.44
Michigan
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Delta	36,190	2,286	56	6,316.66	154.74
Iron	11,212	674	32	6,011.42	285.41
Dickinson	25,570	1,527	30	5,971.84	117.32
Menominee	23,234	1,186	12	5,104.59	51.65
Gogebic	15,414	702	20	4,554.30	129.75
Minnesota
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Nobles	21,839	2,938	28	13,453.00	128.21
Kandiyohi	42,658	3,376	13	7,914.11	30.47
Stearns	156,819	12,003	89	7,654.05	56.75
Lyon	25,839	1,898	10	7,345.49	38.70
Pipestone	9,185	656	18	7,142.08	195.97
Mississippi
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Issaquena	1,328	109	4	8,207.83	301.20
Neshoba	29,376	2,170	113	7,386.98	384.67
Bolivar	32,592	2,375	83	7,287.06	254.66
Sunflower	26,532	1,887	54	7,112.17	203.53
Montgomery	10,198	719	25	7,050.40	245.15
Missouri
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Sullivan	6,317	536	6	8,485.04	94.98
Perry	19,146	1,436	8	7,500.26	41.78
Cole	76,740	5,620	38	7,323.43	49.52
Moniteau	15,958	1,137	15	7,124.95	94.00
New Madrid	17,811	1,245	23	6,990.06	129.13
Montana
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Big Horn	13,376	1,759	50	13,150.42	373.80
Toole	4,976	589	8	11,836.82	160.77
Roosevelt	11,228	1,181	39	10,518.35	347.35
Rosebud	9,250	842	23	9,102.70	248.65
Glacier	13,699	1,137	18	8,299.88	131.40
Nebraska
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Dakota	20,317	3,006	49	14,795.49	241.18
Colfax	10,760	1,228	10	11,412.64	92.94
Saline	14,288	1,363	3	9,539.47	21.00
Platte	33,063	2,871	19	8,683.42	57.47
Madison	35,164	2,845	16	8,090.66	45.50
Nevada
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Clark	2,141,574	104,624	1,690	4,885.38	78.91
Washoe	450,486	21,175	236	4,700.48	52.39
Elko	52,252	2,364	16	4,524.23	30.62
Lincoln	5,174	162	1	3,131.04	19.33
Carson	54,467	1,596	13	2,930.21	23.87
New Hampshire
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Hillsborough	411,087	7,591	331	1,846.57	80.52
Rockingham	305,129	4,017	105	1,316.49	34.41
Strafford	128,237	1,378	14	1,074.57	10.92
Merrimack	149,452	1,443	34	965.53	22.75
Belknap	60,640	511	7	842.68	11.54
New Jersey
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Passaic	504,041	27,065	1,299	5,369.60	257.72
Union	553,066	26,043	1,420	4,708.84	256.75
Hudson	668,631	29,116	1,557	4,354.57	232.86
Essex	793,555	32,778	2,202	4,130.53	277.49
Bergen	929,999	31,851	2,101	3,424.84	225.91
New Mexico
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
McKinley	72,849	6,180	274	8,483.30	376.12
Luna	24,264	1,794	23	7,393.67	94.79
Chaves	65,459	3,925	32	5,996.12	48.89
Curry	50,199	2,835	16	5,647.52	31.87
Dona Ana	215,338	12,072	164	5,606.07	76.16
New York
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Rockland	323,686	20,602	522	6,364.81	161.27
Westchester	968,815	46,841	1,500	4,834.88	154.83
Richmond	474,101	21,046	772	4,439.14	162.83
Bronx	1,437,872	60,979	3,419	4,240.92	237.78
Orange	378,227	15,872	428	4,196.42	113.16
North Carolina
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Greene	21,008	1,146	21	5,455.06	99.96
Duplin	59,062	3,218	56	5,448.51	94.82
Sampson	63,561	3,421	35	5,382.23	55.07
Scotland	35,262	1,865	37	5,288.98	104.93
Robeson	133,442	7,045	107	5,279.45	80.18
North Dakota
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Eddy	2,313	342	4	14,785.99	172.94
Foster	3,290	437	3	13,282.67	91.19
Walsh	10,802	1,336	10	12,368.08	92.58
Morton	30,544	3,761	66	12,313.38	216.08
Burleigh	93,737	11,050	112	11,788.30	119.48
Ohio
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Marion	65,344	4,514	51	6,908.06	78.05
Mercer	40,806	2,812	37	6,891.14	90.67
Pickaway	57,420	3,879	48	6,755.49	83.59
Putnam	33,969	2,186	49	6,435.28	144.25
Auglaize	45,784	2,189	25	4,781.15	54.60
Oklahoma
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Texas	21,121	2,208	11	10,454.05	52.08
Woodward	20,967	1,685	6	8,036.44	28.62
Okfuskee	12,115	904	13	7,461.82	107.30
McCurtain	32,966	2,203	44	6,682.64	133.47
Jackson	25,384	1,688	27	6,649.86	106.37
Oregon
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Malheur	30,431	2,308	39	7,584.37	128.16
Morrow	11,215	619	7	5,519.39	62.42
Umatilla	76,898	4,099	48	5,330.44	62.42
Jefferson	23,143	765	11	3,305.54	47.53
Union	26,028	691	2	2,654.83	7.68
Pennsylvania
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Centre	161,443	5,718	35	3,541.81	21.68
Philadelphia	1,575,522	54,932	1,979	3,486.59	125.61
Huntingdon	45,421	1,550	47	3,412.52	103.48
Lebanon	138,674	4,712	101	3,397.90	72.83
Delaware	563,527	18,404	786	3,265.86	139.48
Rhode Island
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Providence	634,533	31,512	N/A	4,966.17	N/A
Kent	163,861	4,152	N/A	2,533.85	N/A
Bristol	48,900	1,044	N/A	2,134.97	N/A
Washington	126,242	1,891	N/A	1,497.92	N/A
Newport	83,075	1,046	N/A	1,259.10	N/A
South Carolina
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Newberry	38,068	2,040	62	5,358.83	162.87
Williamsburg	31,794	1,594	50	5,013.52	157.26
Bamberg	14,600	726	37	4,972.60	253.42
Marlboro	27,131	1,341	16	4,942.69	58.97
Lee	17,606	858	37	4,873.34	210.16
South Dakota
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Bon Homme	6,969	1,318	14	18,912.33	200.89
Buffalo	2,053	360	6	17,535.31	292.26
Dewey	5,779	741	3	12,822.29	51.91
Aurora	2,759	333	3	12,069.59	108.74
Beadle	18,374	2,161	25	11,761.18	136.06
Tennessee
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Trousdale	9,573	1,890	12	19,743.03	125.35
Lake	7,526	1,144	5	15,200.64	66.44
Wayne	16,649	1,793	10	10,769.42	60.06
Haywood	17,779	1,591	29	8,948.76	163.11
Hardeman	25,562	2,203	37	8,618.26	144.75
Texas
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Childress	7,226	812	0	11,237.20	0.00
Hale	34,113	3,742	86	10,969.43	252.10
El Paso	837,654	81,179	973	9,691.23	116.16
Potter	120,899	11,521	139	9,529.44	114.97
Lubbock	301,454	28,375	303	9,412.71	100.51
Utah
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Utah	590,440	44,858	119	7,597.39	20.15
Salt Lake	1,120,805	73,469	379	6,555.02	33.81
San Juan	15,281	987	31	6,459.00	202.87
Wasatch	30,523	1,890	12	6,192.05	39.31
Summit	40,511	2,076	3	5,124.53	7.41
Vermont
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Washington	58,477	548	2	937.12	3.42
Chittenden	162,052	1,361	39	839.85	24.07
Orange	28,937	172	0	594.39	0.00
Lamoille	25,268	134	1	530.32	3.96
Bennington	35,920	187	1	520.60	2.78
Virginia
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Greensville	11,659	928	16	7,959.52	137.23
Galax	6,638	528	30	7,954.20	451.94
Franklin	8,211	534	16	6,503.47	194.86
Harrisonburg	53,391	3,359	36	6,291.32	67.43
Radford	17,630	1,102	2	6,250.71	11.34
Washington
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Franklin	90,660	5,813	70	6,411.87	77.21
Adams	19,452	1,243	11	6,390.09	56.55
Yakima	249,325	12,815	292	5,139.88	117.12
Whitman	48,593	2,193	23	4,513.00	47.33
Grant	94,860	3,799	32	4,004.85	33.73
West Virginia
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Mingo	24,741	915	14	3,698.31	56.59
Mineral	27,278	989	8	3,625.63	29.33
Marshall	31,645	1,011	14	3,194.82	44.24
Ohio	42,547	1,301	16	3,057.79	37.61
McDowell	19,217	569	1	2,960.92	5.20
Wisconsin
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Menominee	4,579	536	2	11,705.61	43.68
Dodge	87,776	7,697	66	8,768.91	75.19
Shawano	41,009	3,534	44	8,617.62	107.29
Brown	259,786	21,156	127	8,143.63	48.89
Oconto	37,556	2,981	23	7,937.48	61.24
Wyoming
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Albany	38,102	2,859	9	7,503.54	23.62
Fremont	40,076	2,954	25	7,371.00	62.38
Teton	23,059	1,371	2	5,945.62	8.67
Sheridan	30,012	1,652	10	5,504.46	33.32
Campbell	47,708	2,556	7	5,357.59	14.67

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