Special Report

This is the County in the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: June 18, 2021 2:30 am

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts, the novel coronavirus continues to spread through the United States. To date, 33,151,678 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 594,888 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 Duluth metropolitan area, which covers parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, a total of 26,645 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 9,549 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 10,133 cases per 100,000 people.

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

The broader Duluth metro area comprises three counties or county equivalents — and of them, St. Louis County in Minnesota has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 18,123 infections in St. Louis County, or 9,058 for every 100,000 people.

Though St. Louis County has the lowest per capita infection rate in the Duluth metro area, its per capita fatality rate is closely in line with the regional average.

There have been a total of 156 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in St. Louis County, compared to 154 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Duluth metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of June 16, 2021.

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