Safest States During COVID-19

by Author Contribution 02/18/2021

written by Author Contribution 02/18/2021

Adam McCann, Financial

As the U.S. continues its struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic, staying safe is one of Americans’ top concerns. Safety is also essential for getting the economy back on track, as the lower COVID-19 transmission and deaths are in a state, the more that state is able to eliminate restrictions on businesses. We’ll only be able to fully get back to life as normal once most of the population is vaccinated against coronavirus, and it will still be months before we can achieve that. The U.S. is off to a slow start so far, as only 5% of the population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (received both doses) as of February 17.

Some states are already safer than others, though, based on how well they have kept the pandemic under control and how much they are vaccinating. In order to find out the safest states during the COVID-19 pandemic, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key metrics. Our data set includes the rates of COVID-19 transmission, positive testing, hospitalizations and death, as well as the share of the eligible population getting vaccinated.

Safest States During COVID

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score
1	Alaska	86.52
2	Hawaii	79.22
3	Maine	78.42
4	North Dakota	77.71
5	Wyoming	75.93
6	Wisconsin	74.95
7	Oregon	73.79
8	Washington	73.39
9	Montana	71.87
10	Minnesota	71.07
11	West Virginia	70.67
12	Colorado	70.31
13	New Mexico	69.71
14	Iowa	69.52
15	Vermont	69.52
16	Michigan	68.73
17	Connecticut	68.43
18	Illinois	67.98
19	Idaho	67.69
20	South Dakota	67.09
21	Indiana	66.47
22	Louisiana	64.98
23	New Hampshire	64.54
24	Utah	64.44
25	Oklahoma	63.84
26	Arkansas	63.38
27	Massachusetts	62.55
28	Maryland	62.43
29	District of Columbia	62.22
30	Virginia	62.17
31	California	62.16
32	Missouri	61.92
33	Kansas	59.82
34	Pennsylvania	59.66
35	Arizona	59.08
36	North Carolina	58.62
37	Kentucky	58.15
38	Nebraska	57.73
39	Nevada	57.37
40	Florida	56.76
41	Mississippi	56.47
42	Tennessee	55.43
43	Delaware	54.82
44	New Jersey	54.47
45	Texas	54.35
46	Alabama	49.81
47	Georgia	49.11
48	Rhode Island	48.00
49	New York	44.84
50	South Carolina	43.99
51	Ohio	29.71