More than 3 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the United States, and more than 130,000 people have died as a result of the coronavirus, by far the most cases and deaths of any country. Within the United States, the extent of the spread varies considerably from state to state, and even from county to county. As the number of daily new cases is declining in some parts of the U.S., they are spiking alarmingly in others. In the vast majority of states, the number of daily new cases is rising, and a number of states have paused their planned reopenings as a result.  

Using data from state and local health departments, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed the average of new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases for the week ending July 7 and compared it to the average of new daily cases from the previous week to determine the county in each state where the virus is growing the fastest. We excluded counties with populations of fewer than 5,000 people, as well as those with fewer than 20 reported new cases in the past 14 days. 

The average number of new daily cases per capita nationwide has increased from 11.1 per 100,000 during the week ending June 30 to 14.8 per 100,000 in the week ending July 7, an increase of 3.6 daily new cases per 100,000 people. Some counties on this list reported relatively modest increases. In three states — Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire — no qualifying county had a week-over-week increase of at least 0.1 average daily new cases per 100,000 residents. At the other end of the spectrum, one county on this list reported a surge of 148.5 daily new cases per 100,000 people in just one week, from an average of 79.5 daily new cases per 100,000 residents two weeks ago to an average of 228.0 per 100,000 the past week.

Generally, the counties on this list where new cases are increasing the fastest — not just in their state but also nationwide — are in states where the virus is also spreading the fastest, and vice versa. But there are some notable exceptions. In states like Minnesota, Oregon, and Nebraska, where the average number of daily new cases has remained relatively flat, while the counties on this list have all recorded increases of more than 25 new daily cases per 100,000 compared to the previous week. These are the states with the most and fewest COVID-19 cases.

Click here to see the counties in every state where COVID-19 is growing the fastest