Special Report

This is the County in the Peoria, IL Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: June 16, 2021 4:30 am

The ongoing vaccination effort is allowing life in the United States to return to some degree of normalcy after COVID-19 wreaked havoc for well over a year. So far, the virus has claimed 594,496 American lives — more than the total number of Americans killed in World War I and World War II combined.

In the Peoria metropolitan area, located in Illinois, a total of 766 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 205 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 182 deaths have been attributed to the virus per 100,000 people.

The higher than average per capita COVID-19 death rate across the metro area is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Peoria metro area comprises five counties or county equivalents — and of them, Stark County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Stark County stands at 436 for every 100,000 people.

With the highest per capita death rate in the Peoria metro area, Stark County ranks among the top 10% of all U.S. counties or county equivalents with at least one COVID-19 fatality by death rate per capita.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of June 14, 2021.

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