After adding over 699,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 82.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 990,000 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 31.1 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 26.7 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.
While COVID-19 has spread to nearly every part of the country, cities continue to be the sites of major outbreaks. 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 neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk.
In the 50 largest metro areas, the incidence of coronavirus grew at an average rate of 36.8 new cases a day per 100,000 residents in the past week — 25.1% greater than the case growth in all counties outside of metro areas.
The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, metro area consists of Middlesex County, Suffolk County, Essex County, and four other counties. In the past week, there were an average of 55.9 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Boston residents, greater than the national figure. The metro area’s average daily case growth in the most recent week is essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there was an average of 53.0 daily new cases per 100,000 Boston residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Middlesex County. There were an average of 65.0 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Middlesex County during the past week, the most of the seven counties in Boston with available data.
Case growth in the Boston metro area varies at the county level. In Plymouth County, for example, there were an average of 41.3 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Boston and more than the case growth rate in Middlesex County.
While Middlesex County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Boston area, it does not have the highest incidence of cases overall. As of May 26, there were a total of 22,630.5 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Middlesex County, the sixth most of the seven counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 25,463.1 cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.
The pandemic has led to the closure of thousands of consumer-facing businesses around the country. These changes have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. In Middlesex County, unemployment peaked at 15.0% in June 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 4.4%.
To determine the county in every metropolitan area where COVID-19 is growing the fastest, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked counties according to the average number of new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the seven days ending May 26. To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 at the metropolitan level, we aggregated data up 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 not seasonally adjusted.
| Rank in MSA | County | Population | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending May 26 | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending May 19 | Cumulative cases per 100,000 | Cumulative deaths per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middlesex County | 1,600,842 | 65.0 | 60.2 | 22,630.5 | 251.4 |
| 2 | Suffolk County | 796,605 | 57.6 | 60.5 | 28,927.3 | 252.9 |
| 3 | Norfolk County | 700,437 | 53.2 | 50.1 | 20,675.4 | 273.3 |
| 4 | Essex County | 783,676 | 51.0 | 48.4 | 27,848.2 | 354.5 |
| 5 | Rockingham County | 306,359 | 50.5 | 43.4 | 23,508.0 | 179.9 |
| 6 | Strafford County | 129,124 | 48.2 | 49.1 | 24,485.8 | 163.4 |
| 7 | Plymouth County | 515,303 | 41.3 | 36.5 | 23,725.3 | 329.1 |
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