The U.S. reported over 718,000 new cases of coronavirus on August 3, bringing the total count to more than 34.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 608,000 COVID-19-related deaths — the highest death toll of any country.

New cases continue to rise at a faster rate. In the past week, there were an average of 22.8 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — an increase from the week prior, when there were an average of 17.1 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.

The Victoria, TX metro area consists of Victoria County and Goliad County. As of August 3, there were 10,320.6 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 Victoria residents, roughly in line with the national rate. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 10,780.8 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 Victoria metro area, Victoria County has the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases. As of August 3, there were 10,611.3 cases per 100,000 residents in Victoria County, the most of any county in Victoria, and far greater than the county with the lowest incidence. In Goliad County, there were 6,781.2 cases per 100,000 residents — the least of any county in Victoria.

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 Victoria metro area, unemployment peaked at 14.5% in April 2020. As of May 2021, the metro area’s unemployment rate was 7.5%.

To determine how the incidence of COVID-19 in the Victoria, TX 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 Texas where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).

FIPS	MSA	Population	Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of August 3	Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of August 3 per 100,000 residents	Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of August 3	Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of August 3 per 100,000 residents
29700	Laredo, TX	273,526	47,985	17,543.1	812	296.9
31180	Lubbock, TX	316,474	52,322	16,532.8	855	270.2
21340	El Paso, TX	836,062	138,180	16,527.5	2,759	330.0
41660	San Angelo, TX	117,986	17,894	15,166.2	275	233.1
11100	Amarillo, TX	263,776	37,208	14,105.9	787	298.4
17780	College Station-Bryan, TX	258,029	33,683	13,054.0	361	139.9
18580	Corpus Christi, TX	428,548	51,814	12,090.6	1,019	237.8
33260	Midland, TX	173,816	20,753	11,939.6	294	169.1
19100	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	7,320,663	873,211	11,928.0	11,141	152.2
48660	Wichita Falls, TX	141,999	16,882	11,888.8	403	283.8
10180	Abilene, TX	170,669	20,270	11,876.8	513	300.6
41700	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	2,468,193	289,933	11,746.8	4,664	189.0
32580	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	855,176	98,473	11,514.9	2,944	344.3
36220	Odessa, TX	160,579	18,445	11,486.6	385	239.8
47380	Waco, TX	268,361	30,563	11,388.8	524	195.3
15180	Brownsville-Harlingen, TX	421,666	44,509	10,555.5	1,703	403.9
47020	Victoria, TX	99,674	10,287	10,320.6	247	247.8
46340	Tyler, TX	227,449	22,315	9,811.0	493	216.8
26420	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	6,884,138	664,400	9,651.2	9,415	136.8
45500	Texarkana, TX-AR	149,292	14,316	9,589.3	308	206.3
13140	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	395,174	37,521	9,494.8	722	182.7
30980	Longview, TX	284,796	26,499	9,304.6	667	234.2
43300	Sherman-Denison, TX	131,014	11,886	9,072.3	348	265.6
12420	Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX	2,114,441	179,496	8,489.1	2,023	95.7
28660	Killeen-Temple, TX	444,716	37,247	8,375.5	589	132.4