This Is the County in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

Since the first case of the omicron variant was detected in the U.S., new daily cases of COVID-19 have hit new highs. To date, 77,521,589 Americans have been infected with the virus — and over 900,000 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area, which covers parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, a total of 2,071,751 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 21,725 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 23,695 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Chicago metro area comprises 14 counties or county equivalents — and of them, Newton County in Indiana has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 2,523 infections in Newton County, or 17,998 for every 100,000 people.

Though Newton County has the lowest per capita infection rate in the Chicago metro area, its per capita fatality rate is disproportionately high.

There have been a total of 464 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Newton County, above the 244 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Feb. 18, 2022.

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