Special Report

COVID-19: How Cases in the Port St. Lucie, FL Metro Area Compare to Other Major Metros

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The U.S. reported over 463,000 new cases of coronavirus over the seven days ending May 10, bringing the total count to more than 81.0 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 19.2 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 15.6 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.

While new data shows that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is high in almost every part of the country, cities continue to be the sites of major outbreaks and superspreader events. 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 different neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk.

In the 50 largest metro areas, the incidence of COVID-19 grew at an average rate of 22.2 new cases a day per 100,000 residents in the past week — 22.3% greater than the case growth in all counties outside of metro areas.

The Port St. Lucie, FL metro area consists of St. Lucie County and Martin County. As of May 10, there were 22,567.2 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 Port St. Lucie residents, 10.1% lower than the national rate. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 25,104.1 cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.

The incidence of coronavirus cases depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Port St. Lucie metro area, St. Lucie County has the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases. As of May 10, there were 24,080.1 cases per 100,000 residents in St. Lucie County, the most of any county in Port St. Lucie, and far greater than the county with the lowest incidence. In Martin County, there were 19,590.7 cases per 100,000 residents — the least of any county in Port St. Lucie.

In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, city and county governments have ordered the closure of thousands of consumer-facing businesses. These measures have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. In the Port St. Lucie metro area, unemployment peaked at 14.0% in April 2020. As of November 2021, the metro area’s unemployment rate was 4.0%.

To determine how the incidence of COVID-19 in the Port St. Lucie, FL metro area compares to the rest of the country, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked metro areas based on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 at the metropolitan level, we aggregated data 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 seasonally adjusted.

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

FIPS MSA Population Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of May 10 Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of May 10 per 100,000 residents Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of May 10 Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of May 10 per 100,000 residents
45540 The Villages, FL 125,044 22,416 17,926.5 576 460.6
39460 Punta Gorda, FL 181,067 36,747 20,294.7 812 448.5
26140 Homosassa Springs, FL 145,169 30,087 20,725.5 976 672.3
42680 Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL 153,989 33,267 21,603.5 654 424.7
19660 Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL 646,288 141,650 21,917.5 2,347 363.2
38940 Port St. Lucie, FL 472,012 106,520 22,567.2 1,837 389.2
34940 Naples-Marco Island, FL 371,453 86,532 23,295.5 1,000 269.2
37340 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 585,507 136,485 23,310.6 2,100 358.7
42700 Sebring-Avon Park, FL 103,437 24,402 23,591.2 686 663.2
35840 North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 803,709 190,863 23,747.8 3,054 380.0
36100 Ocala, FL 353,526 84,292 23,843.2 2,105 595.4
45300 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 3,097,859 762,850 24,625.1 10,144 327.5
18880 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL 272,056 69,320 25,480.0 898 330.1
37460 Panama City, FL 182,161 46,756 25,667.4 827 454.0
23540 Gainesville, FL 323,799 84,188 26,000.1 927 286.3
15980 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 737,468 194,299 26,346.8 2,158 292.6
37860 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL 488,246 130,747 26,778.9 1,932 395.7
27260 Jacksonville, FL 1,503,574 405,293 26,955.3 5,269 350.4
36740 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 2,508,970 693,846 27,654.6 6,579 262.2
29460 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 686,218 202,955 29,575.9 2,991 435.9
45220 Tallahassee, FL 382,197 114,145 29,865.5 1,056 276.3
33100 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 6,090,660 2,211,521 36,310.0 21,832 358.5

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