Special Report

This is the County in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: May 9, 2021 5:30 am

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts, the novel coronavirus continues to spread through the United States. To date, 32,167,970 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 572,987 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 Memphis metropolitan area, which covers parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, a total of 144,769 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 10,756 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — above the national rate of 9,832 cases per 100,000 people.

Though per capita cases of COVID-19 are higher in Memphis than they are nationwide, some parts of the metro area are safer than others.

The broader Memphis metro area comprises nine counties or county equivalents — and of them, Shelby County in Tennessee has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 95,208 infections in Shelby County, or 10,161 for every 100,000 people.

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

There have been a total of 172 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Shelby County, compared to 177 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Memphis metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of May 6, 2021.

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