Special Report

This Is the County in the Rapid City, SD Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: May 20, 2022 3:00 am

More than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 – more than the total number of Americans killed in World War I and World War II combined.

In the Rapid City metropolitan area, located in South Dakota, a total of 433 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 298 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 303 deaths have been attributed to the virus per 100,000 people.

Though COVID-19 deaths per capita in the metro area are closely in line with comparable national rate, one part of the metro area stands out as having a higher rate than the rest.

The broader Rapid City metro area comprises three counties or county equivalents — and of them, Pennington County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Pennington County stands at 314 for every 100,000 people.

Though it has the highest per capita death rate in the Rapid City metro area, Pennington County ranks among the middle 50% of all U.S. counties or county equivalents by COVID-19 death rate per capita.

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

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