These Are the Counties in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

As the omicron variant spreads, new daily cases of COVID-19 have hit new highs in the United States. To date, 53,506,483 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 816,686 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area, located in Washington, a total of 387,126 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 10,162 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 16,354 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Seattle metro area comprises three counties or county equivalents — and of them, King County in Washington has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 197,469 infections in King County, or 9,128 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does King County have the lowest per capita infection rate in the Seattle metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 99 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in King County, below the 105 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Jan. 3, 2022.

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