Special Report

These Are the Counties in the Rochester, MN Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: September 26, 2021 4:00 am

With the ongoing surge of the delta variant, COVID-19 continues to spread through the United States. To date, 42,163,561 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 673,728 have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the Rochester metropolitan area, located in Minnesota, a total of 22,981 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 10,638 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 12,887 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Rochester is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Rochester metro area comprises four counties or county equivalents — and of them, Fillmore County in Minnesota has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 2,002 infections in Fillmore County, or 9,584 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does Fillmore County have the lowest per capita infection rate in the Rochester metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 48 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Fillmore County, below the 60 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Rochester metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Sept. 23, 2021.

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