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 |
Note: *No. 1 = Safest
Rankings are based on data available as of 12:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
