Nationwide, Black people have died at 1.5 times the rate of white people.
Deaths per 100,000 people by race or ethnicity
Black or African American
Black or African American people have experienced142deaths per 100,000.American Indian or Alaska Native
American Indian or Alaska Native people have experienced130deaths per 100,000.Hispanic or Latino
Hispanic or Latino people have experienced115deaths per 100,000.White
White people have experienced92deaths per 100,000.Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people have experienced90deaths per 100,000.Other
Other people have experienced77deaths per 100,000.Asian
Asian people have experienced69deaths per 100,000.Two or more races
Two or more races people have experienced13deaths per 100,000.These calculations are based on data from The Covid Racial Data Tracker and the U.S. Census Bureau. Race categories may overlap with Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity. Rates are not age-adjusted and some rates are underestimated due to lack of reporting of race and ethnicity categories for COVID-19 deaths.
We’ve lost at least 58,704 Black lives to COVID-19 to date. Black people account for 16% of COVID-19 deaths where race is known.
We’ve asked every state to report complete race and ethnicity data. Our Racial Data Dashboard has the latest.
States and territories reporting race and ethnicity data
51 states/territories
Reporting positive cases
50 states/territories
Reporting deaths
Tracking inequity at the county level
State-level statistics tell part of the story, but many US states are also deeply segregated—meaning different counties in the same state can have vastly different breakdowns by race and ethnicity.
Race and ethnicity data for COVID cases isn't widely available at the county level, so we're using two numbers we do have: the latest infection and death rates for each county, from a New York Times dataset, paired with the largest racial or ethnic group in that county, based on the Census Bureau's 2019 ACS 5-Year estimates. The results are staggering.
Counties with the 20 highest infection rates
This chart shows the 20 counties with the highest level of infections per capita, and the largest racial or ethnic group in that county. Non-Hispanic White people represent the largest racial group in most of these counties. This is in line with Census statistics, which show that more than 60 percent of Americans are White, non-Hispanic or Latino.
| Rank | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crowley, Colorado | 30,959 | White alone (62.47%) | Hispanic or Latino (31.03%) | Black or African American alone (3.66%) |
| 2 | Trousdale, Tennessee | 23,901 | White alone (84.48%) | Black or African American alone (9.52%) | Two or more races (4.89%) |
| 3 | Dewey, South Dakota | 23,689 | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (77.78%) | White alone (20.18%) | Hispanic or Latino (1%) |
| 4 | Norton, Kansas | 21,819 | White alone (89.23%) | Hispanic or Latino (5.14%) | Black or African American alone (2.7%) |
| 5 | Bent, Colorado | 21,794 | White alone (63.38%) | Hispanic or Latino (31.98%) | Black or African American alone (3.48%) |
| 6 | Lincoln, Arkansas | 21,599 | White alone (64.32%) | Black or African American alone (31.16%) | Hispanic or Latino (3.77%) |
| 7 | Bon Homme, South Dakota | 21,538 | White alone (86.9%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (5.57%) | Hispanic or Latino (2.8%) |
| 8 | Chattahoochee, Georgia | 21,297 | White alone (58.59%) | Black or African American alone (19.61%) | Hispanic or Latino (15.35%) |
| 9 | Lake, Tennessee | 20,662 | White alone (66.78%) | Black or African American alone (28.97%) | Hispanic or Latino (2.25%) |
| 10 | Buffalo, South Dakota | 20,214 | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (82.32%) | White alone (12.27%) | Hispanic or Latino (3.21%) |
| 11 | Buena Vista, Iowa | 19,358 | White alone (60.35%) | Hispanic or Latino (25.21%) | Asian alone (10.49%) |
| 12 | Dakota, Nebraska | 18,398 | White alone (48.97%) | Hispanic or Latino (38.51%) | Black or African American alone (4.42%) |
| 13 | Eddy, North Dakota | 18,331 | White alone (88.11%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (7.61%) | Two or more races (4.28%) |
| 14 | Ellsworth, Kansas | 18,131 | White alone (85.79%) | Hispanic or Latino (6.04%) | Black or African American alone (4.56%) |
| 15 | Alfalfa, Oklahoma | 17,808 | White alone (76.59%) | Two or more races (12.69%) | Hispanic or Latino (5.28%) |
| 16 | Childress, Texas | 17,769 | White alone (57.74%) | Hispanic or Latino (31.01%) | Black or African American alone (7.64%) |
| 17 | Jackson, Arkansas | 17,446 | White alone (76.96%) | Black or African American alone (12.37%) | Two or more races (7.58%) |
| 18 | Lafayette, Florida | 17,109 | White alone (66.4%) | Black or African American alone (15.31%) | Hispanic or Latino (14.44%) |
| 19 | Nobles, Minnesota | 16,924 | White alone (60.02%) | Hispanic or Latino (27.16%) | Asian alone (6.49%) |
| 20 | Menominee, Wisconsin | 16,881 | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (81.2%) | White alone (9.76%) | Hispanic or Latino (5.63%) |
The table is sorted by Cases per 100 thousand in descending order
Download the CSVCounties with the 20 highest death rates
When we look at the 20 counties with the highest level of deaths per capita, we see a different story. In two of these 20 counties, Black people represent the largest racial group. Zero of the top five counties with the highest death rates in the nation are all predominantly Black.
| Rank | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gove, Kansas | 840 | White alone (92.94%) | Hispanic or Latino (3.47%) | Two or more races (1.83%) |
| 2 | Jerauld, South Dakota | 789 | White alone (96.16%) | Hispanic or Latino (1.82%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (1.03%) |
| 3 | Dickey, North Dakota | 644 | White alone (93.38%) | Hispanic or Latino (3.42%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (1.37%) |
| 4 | Hamlin, South Dakota | 633 | White alone (93.72%) | Hispanic or Latino (4.33%) | Two or more races (1.03%) |
| 5 | Iron, Wisconsin | 630 | White alone (95.63%) | Hispanic or Latino (1.28%) | Two or more races (1.01%) |
| 6 | Gregory, South Dakota | 619 | White alone (87.98%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (6.88%) | Two or more races (2.83%) |
| 7 | Turner, South Dakota | 593 | White alone (95.5%) | Hispanic or Latino (2.29%) | Two or more races (1.32%) |
| 8 | Hancock, Georgia | 586 | Black or African American alone (72.29%) | White alone (24.23%) | Hispanic or Latino (1.92%) |
| 9 | Buffalo, South Dakota | 585 | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (82.32%) | White alone (12.27%) | Hispanic or Latino (3.21%) |
| 10 | Foster, North Dakota | 578 | White alone (95.47%) | Two or more races (1.7%) | Hispanic or Latino (1.55%) |
| 11 | Galax city, Virginia | 572 | White alone (75.31%) | Hispanic or Latino (16.56%) | Black or African American alone (7.19%) |
| 12 | Faulk, South Dakota | 560 | White alone (95%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (2.93%) | Hispanic or Latino (1.29%) |
| 13 | Emporia city, Virginia | 558 | Black or African American alone (69.67%) | White alone (22.49%) | Hispanic or Latino (5.5%) |
| 14 | Grant, Nebraska | 557 | White alone (96.66%) | Hispanic or Latino (1.67%) | Two or more races (0.97%) |
| 15 | Lamb, Texas | 550 | Hispanic or Latino (55.23%) | White alone (39.6%) | Black or African American alone (3.33%) |
| 16 | McKinley, New Mexico | 527 | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (73.66%) | Hispanic or Latino (14.32%) | White alone (8.85%) |
| 17 | Pierce, North Dakota | 523 | White alone (93.97%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (3.09%) | Hispanic or Latino (0.88%) |
| 18 | Renville, North Dakota | 521 | White alone (91.02%) | Hispanic or Latino (6.33%) | Two or more races (1.12%) |
| 19 | Motley, Texas | 519 | White alone (74.48%) | Hispanic or Latino (19.38%) | Two or more races (3.55%) |
| 20 | Neshoba, Mississippi | 517 | White alone (58.62%) | Black or African American alone (21.05%) | American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (15.88%) |
The table is sorted by Deaths per 100 thousand in descending order
Download the CSVLearn more from media outlets across the country about how COVID-19 is impacting communities of color.
- The Virus Is Showing Black People What They Knew All AlongThe AtlanticDecember 22, 2020
- How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black MenProPublicaDecember 22, 2020