Pre-COVID-19 (2017–19) natural-cause mortality and cumulative COVID-19-related deaths before and after April 19, 2021, by county racial/ethnic composition and metropolitan status

Deaths per 100,000 population (number)

Bar chart with 3 groups and 4 items per group.

Metro counties
Group 1, Baseline mortality, 2017–19 (annual average).
Item 1, All counties 144.
Item 2, Hispanic 133.
Item 3, Black 184.
Item 4, American Indian/Alaska Native 305*.
Group 2, 2/29/2020–4/18/2021 COVID-19 (cumulative deaths).
Item 1, All counties 167.
Item 2, Hispanic 185.
Item 3, Black 198.
Item 4, American Indian/Alaska Native 372*.
Group 3, 4/19/2021–1/10/2022 COVID-19 (cumulative deaths).
Item 1, All counties 65.
Item 2, Hispanic 57.
Item 3, Black 70.
Item 4, American Indian/Alaska Native 161*.

Bar chart with 3 groups and 4 items per group.

Nonmetro counties
Group 1, Baseline mortality, 2017–19 (annual average).
Item 1, All counties 205.
Item 2, Hispanic 190.
Item 3, Black 281.
Item 4, American Indian/Alaska Native 353.
Group 2, 2/29/2020–4/18/2021 COVID-19 (cumulative deaths).
Item 1, All counties 192.
Item 2, Hispanic 225.
Item 3, Black 276.
Item 4, American Indian/Alaska Native 330.
Group 3, 4/19/2021–1/10/2022 COVID-19 (cumulative deaths).
Item 1, All counties 127.
Item 2, Hispanic 122.
Item 3, Black 130.
Item 4, American Indian/Alaska Native 139.

Note: "Metro" and "nonmetro" designations are based on the 2013 definition of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget. *Only two counties (San Juan, NM and Sioux, ND) are classified as metro with 25 percent or more American Indian/Alaska Native population. Natural-cause mortality (labeled "baseline mortality" in the chart) is an annual age-standardized average for the population 25–54 over 2017–19. All U.S. adults became eligible for vaccination on April 19, 2021.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from Johns Hopkins University Center for System Science and Engineering (supplemented with data from the New York Times); U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, natural-cause mortality data; and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2020 Census Redistricting file and population estimates program (2019).