COVID-19 vulnerability: A state-by-state analysis

Ayla Ellison -

Every state in the U.S. will be affected by COVID-19, but some are more vulnerable due to limited ability to mitigate and treat the virus, and to reduce its economic and social impacts, according to a COVID-19 vulnerability index created by the Surgo Foundation. 

The Surgo Foundation, a privately funded think tank, created an index that combines indicators specific to COVID-19 with the CDC's social vulnerability index, which measures the expected negative impact of disasters of any type. The Surgo Foundation's index takes into account factors that fall into one of several categories, including socioeconomic status, minority status, housing type, epidemiologic factors and health care system factors. Each state and the District of Columbia received a score in each category and an overall score, with a higher score indicating that the state is more vulnerable. Read more about the methodology here

Here is each state's ranking and composite score based on the vulnerability index: 

1. Mississippi: 1 

2. Louisiana: 0.98 

3. Arkansas: 0.96 

4. Oklahoma: 0.94

5. Alabama: 0.92

6. West Virginia: 0.9 

7. New Mexico: 0.88 

8. Nevada: 0.86 

9. North Carolina: 0.84 

10. South Carolina: 0.82 

11. Kentucky: 0.8 

12. Hawaii: 0.78 

13. Tennessee: 0.76 

14. Missouri: 0.74 

15. Kansas: 0.72 

16. Indiana: 0.7 

17. Georgia: 0.68 

18. Oregon: 0.66

19. District of Columbia: 0.64 

20. New York: 0.62 

21. Alaska: 0.6 

22. Delaware: 0.58 

23. Michigan: 0.56 

24. Arizona: 0.54 

25. Illinois: 0.52 

26. Iowa: 0.5

27. Texas: 0.48 

28. New Jersey: 0.46 

29. Idaho: 0.44

30. Maryland: 0.42 

31. Ohio: 0.4 

32. Massachusetts: 0.38 

33. Nebraska: 0.36 

34. Florida: 0.34 

35. Washington: 0.32 

36. Connecticut: 0.3

37. Pennsylvania: 0.28 

38. Montana: 0.26 

39. Rhode Island: 0.24 

40. Virginia: 0.22 

41. South Dakota: 0.2 

42. Utah: 0.18 

43. Wyoming: 0.16 

44. California: 0.14 

45. Minnesota: 0.12 

46. Colorado: 0.1 

47. Wisconsin: 0.08 

48. North Dakota: 0.06 

49. Maine: 0.04 

50. Vermont: 0.02

51. New Hampshire: 0 

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