How Sacramento region’s growth in COVID-19 cases compares to other large metro areas

The rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases is rising quickly in the four-county Sacramento region but it remains lower than in most major U.S. metros, according to a Bee analysis of data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

The Sacramento region reported about 6,730 new cases in the four weeks between June 21 and July 19, for a rate of about 294 new cases per 100,000 residents. That’s lower than the rate of 504 new cases per 100,000 residents among all U.S. metro areas with at least one million residents.

But it’s also nearly 20 times higher than the rate of new infections reported in the Sacramento region from late April to late May. During that period, the Sacramento metro had – by far – the lowest infection rate among large metros in the nation.

Miami, Phoenix and Orlando suffered the highest rate of new infections during the last four weeks among the 53 U.S. metros with more than one million residents. The lowest rate of recent infections was found in Hartford, Boston and Rochester.

Over the course of the entire crisis, New York has seen the highest rate of infections per 100,000 people, though every metro in the nation has seen high rates at some point. Portland, Oregon has seen the lowest rate of infections over the course of the crisis, followed by San Jose, Pittsburgh and Sacramento.