COVID-19: These Are the 5 Most Dangerous Counties in Every State

Health and Healthcare

Published: December 8, 2020 7:50 am

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 2,000, and experts fear that could double. Currently, total confirmed cases in the United States stand at 15,038,546 and fatalities at 286,692.

Some parts of the country are much worse off than others. The states in the upper Midwest are now taking the brunt of the disease. This includes Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. Case counts in states where the growth slowed earlier in the year 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.

The Five Most Dangerous Counties by State

Alabama
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Franklin	31,542	2,694	34	8,540.99	107.79
Lowndes	10,236	837	30	8,177.02	293.08
Marshall	95,145	7,133	58	7,496.98	60.96
DeKalb	71,200	5,334	44	7,491.57	61.80
Jackson	52,094	3,896	23	7,478.79	44.15
Alaska
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Bethel	18,040	1,576	7	8,736.14	38.80
Anchorage	296,112	16,457	80	5,557.69	27.02
Kusilvak	8,198	414	2	5,050.01	24.40
Northwest Arctic	7,734	351	0	4,538.40	0.00
North Slope	9,797	440	1	4,491.17	10.21
Arizona
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Santa Cruz	46,584	4,416	76	9,479.65	163.15
Yuma	207,829	19,643	409	9,451.52	196.80
Apache	71,522	5,864	200	8,198.88	279.63
Navajo	108,705	8,766	277	8,064.03	254.82
Graham	37,879	2,369	38	6,254.12	100.32
Arkansas
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Lincoln	13,695	2,569	19	18,758.67	138.74
Lee	9,398	1,258	18	13,385.83	191.53
Jackson	17,225	2,131	11	12,371.55	63.86
Chicot	10,826	1,260	28	11,638.65	258.64
Sevier	17,193	1,800	18	10,469.38	104.69
California
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Imperial	180,216	16,544	360	9,180.09	199.76
Kings	150,075	11,898	93	7,928.04	61.97
Lassen	31,185	2,168	2	6,952.06	6.41
San Bernardino	2,135,413	105,382	1,175	4,934.97	55.02
Tulare	460,477	22,660	317	4,920.98	68.84
Colorado
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Crowley	5,630	1,336	5	23,730.02	88.81
Logan	21,689	2,521	40	11,623.40	184.43
Lincoln	5,548	557	0	10,039.65	0.00
Fremont	47,002	3,278	7	6,974.17	14.89
Bent	5,809	392	1	6,748.15	17.21
Connecticut
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Fairfield	944,348	41,535	1,545	4,398.27	163.60
New Haven	859,339	32,843	1,291	3,821.89	150.23
Hartford	894,730	30,879	1,630	3,451.21	182.18
Litchfield	183,031	4,931	174	2,694.08	95.07
New London	268,881	6,648	180	2,472.47	66.94
Delaware
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Sussex	219,540	11,165	268	5,085.63	122.07
New Castle	555,133	22,705	392	4,090.01	70.61
Kent	174,822	5,945	133	3,400.60	76.08
Florida
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Lafayette	8,744	1,363	21	15,587.83	240.16
Miami-Dade	2,715,516	243,050	3,913	8,950.42	144.10
Jackson	48,472	4,009	97	8,270.75	200.12
Union	15,239	1,259	61	8,261.70	400.29
Suwannee	43,924	3,403	87	7,747.47	198.07
Georgia
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Chattahoochee	10,767	2,025	3	18,807.47	27.86
Stewart	6,042	582	17	9,632.57	281.36
Whitfield	103,849	8,243	90	7,937.49	86.66
Clinch	6,743	495	13	7,340.95	192.79
Echols	3,994	282	3	7,060.59	75.11
Hawaii
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Honolulu	987,638	15,782	199	1,597.95	20.15
Hawaii	197,658	1,640	43	829.72	21.75
Kauai	71,377	119	1	166.72	1.40
Maui	165,281	19	0	11.50	0.00
Idaho
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Madison	38,705	4,487	9	11,592.82	23.25
Cassia	23,615	2,252	18	9,536.31	76.22
Minidoka	20,615	1,819	18	8,823.67	87.32
Twin Falls	83,666	7,172	99	8,572.18	118.33
Jerome	23,431	2,006	14	8,561.31	59.75
Illinois
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Clinton	37,628	3,617	65	9,612.52	172.74
Fayette	21,724	2,019	39	9,293.87	179.52
Effingham	34,174	3,138	31	9,182.42	90.71
Cass	12,665	1,114	24	8,795.89	189.50
Kankakee	111,061	9,364	123	8,431.40	110.75
Indiana
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Elkhart	203,604	19,486	252	9,570.54	123.77
Cass	38,084	3,382	32	8,880.37	84.02
Marshall	46,595	3,636	52	7,803.41	111.60
Fayette	23,259	1,728	40	7,429.38	171.98
St. Joseph	269,240	19,979	258	7,420.52	95.83
Iowa
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Buena Vista	20,260	3,214	14	15,863.77	69.10
Plymouth	25,039	2,970	45	11,861.50	179.72
Jones	20,568	2,399	19	11,663.75	92.38
Calhoun	9,780	1,104	7	11,288.34	71.57
Sioux	34,825	3,883	29	11,150.04	83.27
Kansas
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Norton	5,486	1,078	N/A	19,650.02	N/A
Ford	34,484	4,114	N/A	11,930.17	N/A
Sheridan	2,506	293	N/A	11,691.94	N/A
Ellsworth	6,293	732	N/A	11,631.97	N/A
Gove	2,619	253	N/A	9,660.18	N/A
Kentucky
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Lee	6,751	975	15	14,442.30	222.19
Elliott	7,517	677	1	9,006.25	13.30
Monroe	10,634	766	18	7,203.31	169.27
Warren	126,427	7,915	81	6,260.53	64.07
Marion	19,232	1,190	14	6,187.60	72.80
Louisiana
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
East Carroll	7,225	852	11	11,792.39	152.25
East Feliciana	19,499	2,222	85	11,395.46	435.92
Madison	11,472	1,127	15	9,823.92	130.75
Franklin	20,322	1,801	66	8,862.32	324.77
Allen	25,661	2,168	69	8,448.62	268.89
Maine
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Androscoggin	107,444	1,692	30	1,574.77	27.92
Cumberland	290,944	4,173	71	1,434.30	24.40
York	203,102	2,592	35	1,276.21	17.23
Somerset	50,710	492	20	970.22	39.44
Franklin	30,019	258	4	859.46	13.32
Maryland
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Allegany	71,977	4,071	87	5,655.97	120.87
Prince George’s	906,202	44,057	954	4,861.72	105.27
Somerset	25,737	1,171	9	4,549.87	34.97
Baltimore City	614,700	26,194	595	4,261.27	96.80
Baltimore	827,625	31,416	772	3,795.92	93.28
Massachusetts
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Essex	781,024	40,305	1,489	5,160.53	190.65
Suffolk	791,766	40,646	1,275	5,133.59	161.03
Bristol	558,905	22,719	890	4,064.91	159.24
Nantucket	11,101	441	0	3,972.62	0.00
Hampden	469,116	18,325	931	3,906.28	198.46
Michigan
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Dickinson	25,570	1,884	56	7,368.01	219.01
Delta	36,190	2,626	64	7,256.15	176.84
Iron	11,212	752	36	6,707.10	321.08
Menominee	23,234	1,410	19	6,068.69	81.78
Baraga	8,507	504	24	5,924.53	282.12
Minnesota
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Nobles	21,839	3,234	35	14,808.37	160.26
Kandiyohi	42,658	4,691	33	10,996.76	77.36
Stearns	156,819	15,064	132	9,605.98	84.17
Lyon	25,839	2,433	17	9,416.00	65.79
Rock	9,413	874	10	9,285.03	106.24
Mississippi
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Issaquena	1,328	129	4	9,713.86	301.20
Neshoba	29,376	2,373	124	8,078.02	422.11
Montgomery	10,198	823	26	8,070.21	254.95
Bolivar	32,592	2,629	86	8,066.40	263.87
Carroll	10,129	802	15	7,917.86	148.09
Missouri
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Sullivan	6,317	579	6	9,165.74	94.98
Cole	76,740	6,674	60	8,696.90	78.19
Perry	19,146	1,632	12	8,523.97	62.68
Moniteau	15,958	1,316	15	8,246.65	94.00
New Madrid	17,811	1,417	24	7,955.76	134.75
Montana
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Big Horn	13,376	1,868	50	13,965.31	373.80
Toole	4,976	630	8	12,660.77	160.77
Roosevelt	11,228	1,271	42	11,319.91	374.06
Powell	6,861	725	3	10,566.97	43.73
Rosebud	9,250	906	25	9,794.59	270.27
Nebraska
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Dakota	20,317	3,242	51	15,957.08	251.02
Colfax	10,760	1,356	13	12,602.23	120.82
Saline	14,288	1,572	3	11,002.24	21.00
Platte	33,063	3,254	30	9,841.82	90.74
Madison	35,164	3,339	28	9,495.51	79.63
Nevada
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Washoe	450,486	27,533	314	6,111.84	69.70
Elko	52,252	3,193	22	6,110.77	42.10
Clark	2,141,574	127,819	1,852	5,968.46	86.48
Carson	54,467	2,786	27	5,115.02	49.57
Lincoln	5,174	243	1	4,696.56	19.33
New Hampshire
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Hillsborough	411,087	9,988	341	2,429.66	82.95
Rockingham	305,129	5,535	114	1,813.99	37.36
Merrimack	149,452	2,149	35	1,437.92	23.42
Belknap	60,640	839	17	1,383.58	28.03
Strafford	128,237	1,726	15	1,345.95	11.70
New Jersey
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Passaic	504,041	32,776	1,338	6,502.65	265.45
Union	553,066	30,205	1,450	5,461.37	262.17
Hudson	668,631	34,393	1,607	5,143.79	240.34
Essex	793,555	38,252	2,259	4,820.33	284.67
Camden	507,367	21,578	698	4,252.94	137.57
New Mexico
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
McKinley	72,849	7,630	294	10,473.72	403.57
Luna	24,264	2,061	31	8,494.07	127.76
Chaves	65,459	5,362	50	8,191.39	76.38
Lea	70,126	4,833	53	6,891.88	75.58
Curry	50,199	3,419	28	6,810.89	55.78
New York
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Rockland	323,686	22,800	531	7,043.86	164.05
Westchester	968,815	54,671	1,529	5,643.08	157.82
Richmond	474,101	25,470	803	5,372.27	169.37
Orange	378,227	18,219	446	4,816.95	117.92
Nassau	1,356,564	65,098	2,269	4,798.74	167.26
North Carolina
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Sampson	63,561	3,915	49	6,159.44	77.09
Greene	21,008	1,270	28	6,045.32	133.28
Avery	17,501	1,052	9	6,011.09	51.43
Duplin	59,062	3,523	63	5,964.92	106.67
Scotland	35,262	2,079	43	5,895.87	121.94
North Dakota
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Eddy	2,313	377	5	16,299.18	216.17
Foster	3,290	508	17	15,440.73	516.72
Walsh	10,802	1,504	16	13,923.35	148.12
Morton	30,544	4,210	70	13,783.39	229.18
Burleigh	93,737	12,525	129	13,361.85	137.62
Ohio
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Marion	65,344	5,360	69	8,202.74	105.60
Mercer	40,806	3,274	64	8,023.33	156.84
Pickaway	57,420	4,549	50	7,922.33	87.08
Putnam	33,969	2,558	57	7,530.40	167.80
Auglaize	45,784	2,738	42	5,980.26	91.74
Oklahoma
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Texas	21,121	2,545	13	12,049.62	61.55
Woodward	20,967	2,043	8	9,743.88	38.16
Okfuskee	12,115	1,093	14	9,021.87	115.56
Jackson	25,384	2,034	35	8,012.92	137.88
Custer	29,209	2,264	18	7,751.04	61.62
Oregon
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Malheur	30,431	2,547	45	8,369.75	147.88
Morrow	11,215	705	7	6,286.22	62.42
Umatilla	76,898	4,659	50	6,058.68	65.02
Jefferson	23,143	942	11	4,070.35	47.53
Union	26,028	847	8	3,254.19	30.74
Pennsylvania
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Montour	18,294	1,055	16	5,766.92	87.46
Mifflin	46,362	2,302	53	4,965.27	114.32
Lebanon	138,674	6,106	120	4,403.13	86.53
Philadelphia	1,575,522	68,600	2,109	4,354.11	133.86
Huntingdon	45,421	1,947	62	4,286.56	136.50
Rhode Island
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Providence	634,533	40,206	N/A	6,336.31	N/A
Kent	163,861	6,109	N/A	3,728.16	N/A
Bristol	48,900	1,369	N/A	2,799.59	N/A
Washington	126,242	2,641	N/A	2,092.01	N/A
Newport	83,075	1,380	N/A	1,661.15	N/A
South Carolina
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Pickens	122,746	7,216	96	5,878.81	78.21
Newberry	38,068	2,236	68	5,873.70	178.63
Marlboro	27,131	1,535	20	5,657.73	73.72
Williamsburg	31,794	1,724	52	5,422.41	163.55
Bamberg	14,600	779	38	5,335.62	260.27
South Dakota
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Bon Homme	6,969	1,401	20	20,103.31	286.99
Buffalo	2,053	391	10	19,045.30	487.09
Dewey	5,779	1,096	6	18,965.22	103.82
Aurora	2,759	378	7	13,700.62	253.72
Beadle	18,374	2,376	32	12,931.32	174.16
Tennessee
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Trousdale	9,573	1,936	12	20,223.55	125.35
Lake	7,526	1,220	7	16,210.47	93.01
Wayne	16,649	2,002	12	12,024.75	72.08
Haywood	17,779	1,717	30	9,657.46	168.74
Obion	30,520	2,854	56	9,351.25	183.49
Texas
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Childress	7,226	943	2	13,050.10	27.68
Hale	34,113	4,416	102	12,945.21	299.01
Lubbock	301,454	34,445	402	11,426.29	133.35
Potter	120,899	13,512	185	11,176.27	153.02
El Paso	837,654	89,762	1,233	10,715.88	147.20
Utah
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Utah	590,440	53,360	154	9,037.33	26.08
Wasatch	30,523	2,498	13	8,183.99	42.59
Salt Lake	1,120,805	87,328	427	7,791.54	38.10
San Juan	15,281	1,153	31	7,545.32	202.87
Summit	40,511	2,444	5	6,032.93	12.34
Vermont
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Washington	58,477	781	2	1,335.57	3.42
Chittenden	162,052	1,756	44	1,083.60	27.15
Essex	6,208	63	0	1,014.82	0.00
Orange	28,937	250	0	863.95	0.00
Lamoille	25,268	178	1	704.45	3.96
Virginia
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Galax	6,638	610	30	9,189.51	451.94
Greensville	11,659	946	16	8,113.90	137.23
Radford	17,630	1,233	6	6,993.76	34.03
Franklin	8,211	563	17	6,856.66	207.04
Harrisonburg	53,391	3,613	38	6,767.06	71.17
Washington
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Franklin	90,660	6,813	75	7,514.89	82.73
Adams	19,452	1,391	12	7,150.94	61.69
Yakima	249,325	14,215	313	5,701.39	125.54
Whitman	48,593	2,449	24	5,039.82	49.39
Grant	94,860	4,339	40	4,574.11	42.17
West Virginia
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Mineral	27,278	1,568	29	5,748.22	106.31
Marshall	31,645	1,508	32	4,765.37	101.12
Ohio	42,547	1,791	20	4,209.46	47.01
Mingo	24,741	1,040	17	4,203.55	68.71
Grant	11,641	485	9	4,166.31	77.31
Wisconsin
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Menominee	4,579	591	8	12,906.75	174.71
Dodge	87,776	9,017	83	10,272.74	94.56
Jackson	20,506	1,953	5	9,524.04	24.38
Shawano	41,009	3,741	49	9,122.39	119.49
Brown	259,786	23,504	148	9,047.45	56.97
Wyoming
County	Population	Cases	Deaths	Cases per 100k	Deaths per 100k
Fremont	40,076	3,549	38	8,855.67	94.82
Albany	38,102	3,219	9	8,448.38	23.62
Teton	23,059	1,785	2	7,741.01	8.67
Sheridan	30,012	2,161	11	7,200.45	36.65
Campbell	47,708	3,262	17	6,837.43	35.63