Covid-19 Dashboard for Rural America

The Daily Yonder regularly updates this page tracking the impact of Covid-19 on rural America. Scroll down, or click the quick access buttons, to see county-level maps on infections and deaths, national rural infection and death rates, and other data and reporting on the pandemic in rural America.

We’re also tracking the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. Our county-level maps show how rural areas stack up and our charts and tables track the rate of rural vaccinations at the state and national level.

Rural Vaccinations

County-Level Map

This map shows the vaccination rates by county and rural/metropolitan status. Darker colors have higher vaccination rates. Green counties are rural (defined as nonmetropolitan), and brown counties are metropolitan. Vaccination rates are expressed as percentage of total population that has completed a Covid-19 vaccination.

Our Latest Weekly Vaccination Report

Pace of New Rural Vaccinations Remains Flat for Last Two Months

The percentage of rural residents who completed their Covid-19 vaccination grew by 0.4 percentage points in both April and May.

by Tim Murphy and Tim Marema June 2, 2022June 2, 2022

The Rural Vaccination Rate

The dashboard numbers below track the raw number of rural Americans who have completed their Covid-19 vaccination and the vaccination rate for rural America at large.

23,485,655

Rural Americans Vaccinated Against Covid-19

51.0%

Rural America's Covid-19 Vaccination Rate

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last Updated: June 3, 2022

How Rural Compares

The graph below follows progress of the vaccine rollout for metro counties and rural counties, showing the percentage of the population getting vaccinated for Covid-19 over time.

Infection and Death Rates

The Daily Yonder's red-zone report shows the rate of new Covid-19 infections in rural and metropolitan counties over a one-week period.

Black (rural) and gray (metropolitan) counties have 500 or more new infections per 100,000 residents in one week.
Red (rural) and light red (metropolitan) counties have 100 or more new infections per 100,000 residents in one week.
Green (rural) and light green (metropolitan) have fewer than 100 new infections per 100,000 residents in one week.

Click on the map to explore data for each U.S. county.

Track THE RURAL Spread - Previous ReD-Zone Reports

Rural Mississippi Led the Nation in Covid-19 Infection Rates Last Week

January 26, 2023January 25, 2023

Rural Covid-19 Deaths Climbed by 90%

January 20, 2023January 20, 2023

Covid-19 Cases Surge in the Rural South

January 13, 2023January 13, 2023

Rural Deaths

175,974

Rural Covid-19 Deaths
About 16.5% of all Covid-19-related deaths in the U.S.

Source: USA Facts and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last Updated: June 13, 2022.

The Pandemic's Reach in Rural America

These graphs show the rate of new infections and new deaths in rural (nonmetropolitan) counties and metropolitan counties. The rate is based on total new cases and deaths over one week (Sunday to Saturday) expressed as a total per 100,000 residents.

The Rural Stories of Covid-19

Numbers alone don't tell the whole story. We're collecting our most vital reporting on coronavirus here, so you can see the people and places of the pandemic.

The LATEST

Less Than a Third of Rural Americans Are Boosted Against Covid-19

Rural booster rates are 9 points lower than urban rates, while cumulative death rates in rural counties are 36% higher. Experts say pre-existing health disparities – not just lower vaccination rates – make rural areas more vulnerable to health crises.

by Sarah Melotte September 29, 2022October 27, 2022