Special Report

COVID-19: This is the Least Dangerous County in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area

Samuel Stebbins

Published: June 18, 2021 5:45 am

Last Updated: June 18, 2021 2:42 pm

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts, the novel coronavirus continues to spread through the United States. To date, 33,151,678 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 594,888 have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the St. Louis metropolitan area, which covers parts of Missouri and Illinois, a total of 292,545 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 10,427 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — in line with the national rate of 10,133 cases per 100,000 people.

Though per capita cases of COVID-19 are closely in line with the national per capita infection rate in St. Louis, there are still parts of the metro area where the per capita infection rate is relatively low.

The broader St. Louis metro area comprises 15 counties or county equivalents — and of them, St. Louis City, an independent city, in Missouri has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 25,207 infections in St. Louis City, or 8,098 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does St. Louis City have the lowest per capita infection rate in the St. Louis metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 170 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in St. Louis City, below the 184 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire St. Louis metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of June 16, 2021.

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