Special Report

COVID-19: Sioux Falls, SD Metro Area Among the Most Dangerous in America

Tomas Ragina / iStock via Getty Images

The U.S. reported over 16,000 new cases of coronavirus on June 10, bringing the total count to more than 33.0 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 592,000 COVID-19-related deaths — the highest death toll of any country.

New cases continue to rise at a steady rate. In the past week, there were an average of 5.6 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 5.6 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.

While new data shows that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is high in almost every part of the country, cities continue to be the sites of major outbreaks and superspreader events. Experts agree that the virus is more likely to spread in group settings where large numbers of people routinely have close contact with one another, such as colleges, nursing homes, bars, and restaurants. Metropolitan areas with a high degree of connectivity between different neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk.

The Sioux Falls, SD metro area consists of Minnehaha County, Lincoln County, Turner County, and one other county. As of June 10, there were 16,362.6 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 Sioux Falls residents, the third highest rate of all 383 metro areas with available data. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.

The incidence of coronavirus cases depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Sioux Falls metro area, Minnehaha County has the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases. As of June 10, there were 16,816.3 cases per 100,000 residents in Minnehaha County, the most of any county in Sioux Falls, and far greater than the county with the lowest incidence. In Turner County, there were 14,228.9 cases per 100,000 residents — the least of any county in Sioux Falls.

In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, city and county governments have ordered the closure of thousands of consumer-facing businesses. These measures have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. In the Sioux Falls metro area, unemployment peaked at 10.7% in April 2020. As of March 2021, the metro area’s unemployment rate was 2.8%.

To determine how the incidence of COVID-19 in the Sioux Falls, SD metro area compares to the rest of the country, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked metro areas based on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 at the metropolitan level, we aggregated data from the county level using boundary definitions from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population data used to adjust case and death totals came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Unemployment data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is seasonally adjusted.

These are all the counties in South Dakota where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).

FIPS MSA Population Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Jun 10 Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Jun 10 per 100,000 residents Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of Jun 10 Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of Jun 10 per 100,000 residents
43620 Sioux Falls, SD 259,348 42,436 16,362.6 523 201.7
39660 Rapid City, SD 138,402 16,651 12,030.9 233 168.4

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