The U.S. has reported more than 32.0 million confirmed COVID-19 cases as of May 4, 2021. More than 570,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 — the highest death toll of any country.

The virus has spread throughout the country in a way that has been difficult to predict, surging in one region, then showing signs of improvement, and then reappearing in other regions. Though local outbreaks may ebb and flow, the current surge in cases has been felt nearly nationwide, leading to new travel restrictions and business closures around the country.

Nationwide, there were an average of 15.6 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans in the week ending May 4, 2021. Cumulatively, the U.S. has reported 9,806.5 cases per 100,000 Americans, and 174.8 deaths per 100,000 Americans.

The extent of the spread of the novel coronavirus continues to vary considerably from state to state, and even from county to county. Even as the number of daily new cases is flattening or even declining in some parts of the country, new cases are surging at a growing rate in others.

The coronavirus has spread to different parts of the country in different stages throughout the pandemic. In the spring, the worst hit states were in the Northeast, as New York City became the epicenter of the nation’s crisis. The virus spread to states throughout the Sun Belt in the summer, and hit states in the Midwest and West during the fall. By November 2020, nearly every state was categorized as a COVID-19 hot spot, according to definitions based on new cases per capita from the nonprofit health organization Kaiser Family Foundation.

In South Dakota, there were an average of 13.3 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in the week ending May 4, 2021. The South Dakota case growth rate ranks as the 24th highest of all 50 states.

While the nation’s largest counties were hit hardest in the early months of the pandemic, nearly every county has suffered from the coronavirus. Outbreaks can occur quickly in places where large numbers of people tend to congregate, leaving counties with colleges, correctional facilities, and nursing homes particularly at risk.

In Hutchinson County, there were an average of 31.5 new confirmed cases per day per 100,000 residents in the week ending May 4, 2021 — the highest rate of any county in South Dakota. Since the pandemic began, the county has reported 914 confirmed cases, or 12,494.9 cases per 100,000.

There have been 27 deaths, or 369.1 deaths per 100,000 residents.

To determine the county in each state with the highest rate of daily cases of the virus, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked counties according to the average new number of cases per 100,000 residents per day during the week ending May 4, 2021. Population data used to adjust case and death totals came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates.

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

No.	County	Population	New daily cases per 100,000	Total cases	Total deaths	Cases per 100,000	Deaths per 100,000
1	Hutchinson County	7,315	31.5	914	27	12,494.9	369.1
2	Codington County	27,993	30.9	4,591	81	16,400.5	289.4
3	Lyman County	3,869	25.8	647	11	16,722.7	284.3
4	Dewey County	5,779	23.7	1,462	27	25,298.5	467.2
5	Butte County	10,177	22.3	1,043	20	10,248.6	196.5
6	Turner County	8,264	18.8	1,168	56	14,133.6	677.6
7	Yankton County	22,717	18.6	3,069	30	13,509.7	132.1
8	Brookings County	34,239	18.2	4,184	37	12,220.0	108.1
9	Minnehaha County	186,749	18.0	31,343	352	16,783.5	188.5
10	Lincoln County	54,914	17.5	8,621	77	15,699.1	140.2
11	Moody County	6,506	16.9	649	17	9,975.4	261.3
12	Brule County	5,256	16.3	712	9	13,546.4	171.2
13	Brown County	38,840	16.1	5,509	91	14,183.8	234.3
14	Clark County	3,673	15.6	454	5	12,360.5	136.1
15	Bon Homme County	6,969	14.3	1,543	27	22,140.9	387.4
16	Lake County	12,574	14.0	1,362	18	10,831.9	143.2
17	Kingsbury County	4,967	13.6	814	16	16,388.2	322.1
18	Clay County	13,925	13.5	1,917	15	13,766.6	107.7
19	Hughes County	17,617	13.2	2,476	39	14,054.6	221.4
20	Davison County	19,901	13.1	3,219	66	16,175.1	331.6
21	Day County	5,506	12.2	703	29	12,767.9	526.7
22	Sully County	1,331	10.7	142	3	10,668.7	225.4
23	Lawrence County	25,234	10.7	2,959	47	11,726.2	186.3
24	Pennington County	109,294	10.4	13,606	191	12,449.0	174.8
25	Buffalo County	2,053	9.9	425	13	20,701.4	633.2
26	Custer County	8,573	9.8	830	12	9,681.6	140.0
27	Beadle County	18,374	9.6	2,933	40	15,962.8	217.7
28	Roberts County	10,285	9.5	1,357	39	13,194.0	379.2
29	Harding County	1,311	9.3	96	1	7,322.7	76.3
30	Edmunds County	3,940	8.8	508	13	12,893.4	329.9
31	Grant County	7,217	8.5	1,037	42	14,368.9	582.0
32	Fall River County	6,774	8.1	591	15	8,724.5	221.4
33	Deuel County	4,306	7.6	523	9	12,145.8	209.0
34	Charles Mix County	9,344	7.4	1,376	22	14,726.0	235.4
35	Ziebach County	2,814	7.3	344	9	12,224.6	319.8
36	McCook County	5,511	7.0	804	25	14,589.0	453.6
37	Aurora County	2,759	6.7	471	15	17,071.4	543.7
38	Miner County	2,229	6.4	298	9	13,369.2	403.8
39	Tripp County	5,468	6.3	755	17	13,807.6	310.9
40	Stanley County	2,997	6.1	347	2	11,578.2	66.7
41	Marshall County	4,895	5.8	370	6	7,558.7	122.6
42	Hamlin County	6,000	5.1	794	39	13,233.3	650.0
43	Hand County	3,301	4.9	362	6	10,966.4	181.8
44	Perkins County	2,907	4.9	355	14	12,211.9	481.6
45	Union County	15,177	4.8	2,213	43	14,581.3	283.3
46	Oglala Lakota County	14,335	4.8	2,107	49	14,698.3	341.8
47	Bennett County	3,437	4.8	390	9	11,347.1	261.9
48	Todd County	10,146	4.2	1,226	29	12,083.6	285.8
49	Spink County	6,543	3.7	840	26	12,838.1	397.4
50	Meade County	27,424	3.5	2,745	30	10,009.5	109.4
51	Douglas County	2,930	3.5	454	9	15,494.9	307.2
52	Mellette County	2,055	3.0	260	2	12,652.1	97.3
53	Hanson County	3,397	2.4	386	4	11,363.0	117.8
54	Walworth County	5,510	1.9	766	16	13,902.0	290.4
55	Faulk County	2,322	1.8	369	13	15,891.5	559.9
56	Potter County	2,326	1.8	390	4	16,767.0	172.0
57	McPherson County	2,364	1.7	244	4	10,321.5	169.2
58	Sanborn County	2,388	1.7	342	3	14,321.6	125.6
59	Hyde County	1,331	1.5	141	1	10,593.5	75.1
60	Gregory County	4,201	0.5	579	30	13,782.4	714.1
61	Campbell County	1,435	0.0	130	4	9,059.2	278.7
62	Corson County	4,168	0.0	478	12	11,468.3	287.9
63	Haakon County	2,082	0.0	262	10	12,584.1	480.3
64	Jackson County	3,287	0.0	289	14	8,792.2	425.9
65	Jerauld County	2,029	0.0	273	16	13,454.9	788.6
66	Jones County	735	0.0	93	0	12,653.1	0.0

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