After adding over 654,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 47.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 760,000 COVID-19-related deaths — the highest death toll of any country.
New cases continue to rise, albeit at a slowing rate. In the past week, there were an average of 1.5 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — a decrease from the week prior, when there were an average of 12.9 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.
While COVID-19 has spread to nearly every part of the country, cities continue to be the sites of major outbreaks. 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 neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk.
The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO, metro area consists of Denver County, Arapahoe County, Jefferson County, and seven other counties. In the past week, there were an average of 1.3 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Denver residents, in line with the national figure. The metro area’s average daily case growth in the most recent week is a decrease from the week prior, when there was an average of 26.7 daily new cases per 100,000 Denver residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Jefferson County. There were an average of 1.8 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County during the past week, the most of the 10 counties in Denver with available data.
Case growth in the Denver metro area varies widely at the county level. In Clear Creek County, for example, there were an average of 0.2 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Denver and far more than the case growth rate in Jefferson County.
While Jefferson County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Denver area, it does not have the highest incidence of cases overall. As of November 23, there were a total of 12,217.9 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County, the fifth most of the 10 counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 14,608.9 cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.
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 Jefferson County, unemployment peaked at 12.1% in April 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 5.8%.
To determine the county in every metropolitan area where COVID-19 is growing the fastest, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked counties according to the average number of new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the seven days ending November 23. To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 at the metropolitan level, we aggregated data up 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 not seasonally adjusted.
| Rank in MSA | County | Population | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending November 23 | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending November 16 | Cumulative cases per 100,000 | Cumulative deaths per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jefferson County | 574,798 | 1.8 | 28.4 | 12,217.9 | 169.1 |
| 2 | Broomfield County | 67,886 | 1.5 | 24.9 | 10,855.0 | 123.7 |
| 3 | Adams County | 504,108 | 1.4 | 29.3 | 16,271.9 | 178.1 |
| 4 | Denver County | 705,576 | 1.4 | 25.6 | 14,030.4 | 139.3 |
| 5 | Arapahoe County | 644,560 | 1.2 | 25.4 | 13,398.8 | 138.1 |
| 6 | Douglas County | 336,041 | 0.8 | 26.6 | 13,142.4 | 93.7 |
| 7 | Gilpin County | 6,018 | 0.7 | 34.3 | 8,640.7 | 49.9 |
| 8 | Park County | 17,867 | 0.5 | 22.2 | 9,095.0 | 61.6 |
| 9 | Elbert County | 25,717 | 0.3 | 17.1 | 11,373.8 | 101.1 |
| 10 | Clear Creek County | 9,495 | 0.2 | 17.2 | 9,078.5 | 63.2 |
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Editors' Picks
