Revealing the Unequal Burden of COVID-19 by Income, Race/Ethnicity, and Household Crowding: US County Versus Zip Code Analyses

Objective: To overcome the absence of national, state, and local public health data on the unequal economic and social burden of COVID-19 in the United States. Design: We analyze US county COVID-19 deaths and confirmed COVID-19 cases and positive COVID-19 tests in Illinois and New York City zip codes by area percent poverty, percent crowding, percent population of color, and the Index of Concentration at the Extremes. Setting: US counties and zip codes in Illinois and New York City, as of May 5, 2020. Main Outcome Measures: Rates, rate differences, and rate ratios of COVID-19 mortality, confirmed cases, and positive tests by category of county and zip code-level area-based socioeconomic measures. Results: As of May 5, 2020, the COVID-19 death rate per 100 000 person-years equaled the following: 143.2 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 140.9, 145.5) vs 83.3 (95% CI: 78.3, 88.4) in high versus low poverty counties (>= 20% vs <5% of persons below poverty); 124.4 (95% CI: 122.7, 126.0) versus 48.2 (95% CI: 47.2, 49.2) in counties in the top versus bottom quintile for household crowding; and 127.7 (95% CI: 126.0, 129.4) versus 25.9 (95% CI: 25.1, 26.6) for counties in the top versus bottom quintile for the percentage of persons who are people of color. Socioeconomic gradients in Illinois confirmed cases and New York City positive tests by zip code-level area-based socioeconomic measures were also observed. Conclusions: Stark social inequities exist in the United States for COVID-19 outcomes. We recommend that public health departments use these straightforward cost-effective methods to report on social inequities in COVID-19 outcomes to provide an evidence base for policy and resource allocation.

Automated summary

The study reveals stark social inequities in COVID-19 outcomes in the United States, with higher rates of mortality, confirmed cases, and positive tests in areas with higher poverty rates, household crowding, and percentage of people of color. Similar socioeconomic gradients were observed in Illinois and New York City.