United StatesIowa

22% of average county population in Iowa has high covid risk

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds arrives for her daily coronavirus news briefing at the State Capitol, Wednesday, June 10, 2020, in Des Moines.

(The Center Square) – On average, the share of residents in Iowa counties deemed most vulnerable to the coronavirus is 22 percent, according to a new study by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The analysis is designed to measure how resilient communities are when confronted with disasters or other emergencies, the Census Bureau reports.

In Iowa, 44 percent of county populations on average have one to two risk factors, such as being age 65 or older, low income, disabled, lacking health insurance or having serious preexisting conditions, the analysis said. And on average, 34 percent of the state’s county populations have no risk factors.

A county where 30 percent of the population has three or more risk factors is considered at high risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Census Bureau. These counties are more concentrated in the South, including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Florida, where the study showed that more than a third of the counties have high-risk populations of 30 percent or more.

Rural counties tend to have high-risk populations of about 30 percent, compared to only about 14 percent for urban counties, researchers found.

States’ Resilience to Disasters and Other Emergencies

State Avg. % of County Populations With 3 or More Risk Factors Avg. % of County Populations With 1 to 2 Risk Factors Avg. % of County Populations With 0 Risk Factors
Alabama 30% 45% 26%
Alaska 22% 58% 19%
Arizona 32% 52% 16%
Arkansas 29% 48% 24%
California 27% 58% 15%
Colorado 24% 50% 26%
Connecticut 22% 47% 31%
Delaware 27% 49% 24%
Florida 30% 47% 22%
Georgia 27% 47% 26%
Hawaii 26% 57% 17%
Idaho 23% 50% 27%
Illinois 24% 46% 30%
Indiana 22% 46% 32%
Iowa 22% 44% 34%
Kansas 24% 46% 30%
Kentucky 26% 46% 28%
Louisiana 28% 49% 23%
Maine 23% 46% 31%
Maryland 25% 49% 27%
Massachusetts 24% 50% 27%
Michigan 25% 46% 29%
Minnesota 22% 45% 34%
Mississippi 30% 46% 24%
Missouri 24% 46% 30%
Montana 25% 48% 27%
Nebraska 24% 45% 30%
Nevada 26% 51% 24%
New Hampshire 21% 46% 33%
New Jersey 25% 51% 23%
New Mexico 30% 50% 20%
New York 25% 48% 27%
North Carolina 28% 47% 26%
North Dakota 24% 45% 31%
Ohio 23% 46% 31%
Oklahoma 28% 49% 23%
Oregon 26% 53% 21%
Pennsylvania 25% 46% 29%
Rhode Island 23% 47% 29%
South Carolina 28% 47% 25%
South Dakota 25% 45% 30%
Tennessee 27% 46% 27%
Texas 30% 50% 20%
Utah 19% 51% 30%
Vermont 21% 45% 34%
Virginia 27% 48% 25%
Washington 25% 52% 23%
West Virginia 27% 45% 28%
Wisconsin 23% 47% 30%
Wyoming 22% 50% 28%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Related Articles

Back to top button