The color of coronavirus:
COVID-19 deaths by race and ethnicity in the U.S.

by APM RESEARCH LAB STAFF | Jan. 7, 2021 | Next update Feb. 4

You value and rely on the work of the APM Research Lab. And we rely on you, especially
during this difficult time. If you can, please support our work with a donation today.

Our ongoing Color of Coronavirus project monitors how and where COVID-19 mortality is inequitably impacting certain communities—to guide policy and community responses. The coronavirus has claimed more than 355,000 American lives through Jan. 5, 2020—almost 69,000 additional deaths since our last update four weeks ago. We have documented the race and ethnicity for 93% of these cumulative deaths in the United States.

EXPLORE OUR COLOR OF CORONAVIRUS: 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW

Our latest update shows that all groups except for Pacific Islanders have seen their death tolls accelerate sharply in the last four weeks compared to the preceding four-week period—resulting in the deadliest stretch we have recorded during the fall and winter season.

In fact, among Indigenous and White Americans, the last four weeks have yielded the highest death tolls we’ve seen to date. (Asian and Black Americans suffered the greatest losses in the month of April, especially in cities where the pandemic first raged.) For Whites, however, deaths had never exceeded 20,000 in a 28-day period until our Dec. 8 update, when they nearly broke 28,000. Our latest update reveals nearly 43,000 new deaths among White Americans, 53% higher than our prior release. And while Black and Latino Americans experienced slightly higher losses in the late July-early August period over the latest one, deaths have been recently surging for those groups, as well as for Asians.

In this update, we have switched to the latest population estimates for denominators used to calculate rates and percentages, and begun new trend lines for rates. Black and Indigenous Americans continue to suffer the highest rates of loss—with both groups now experiencing a COVID-19 death toll exceeding 1 in 750 nationally. The new rates should not be directly compared to our prior data. To examine trends during 2020, we recommend viewing our December update or 2020 year-in-review.

As with prior releases, we have also adjusted these mortality rates for differences in the age distribution of populations (which differ across race groups and states), a common and important tool that health researchers use to compare diseases that affect age groups differently. At the national level, this results in even larger documented mortality disparities—Pacific Islanders, Latino, Black and Indigenous Americans all have a COVID-19 death rate of double or more that of White and Asian Americans, who experience the lowest age-adjusted rates.

Our team at APM Research Lab has independently compiled these death statistics, beginning in early April 2020. (Learn more about how.) The result is the most robust and up-to-date portrait of COVID-19 mortality by race available anywhere, with a focus on disproportionate deaths.

See our work cited in The Atlantic, Forbes, CNN, NBC News, Vox, JAMA, Politico, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, The Hill, The Guardian, the New York Times and numerous other outlets.

KEY FINDINGS (from data through Jan. 5):

• These are the documented, nationwide actual mortality impacts from COVID-19 data (aggregated from all available U.S. states and the District of Columbia) for all race groups since the start of the pandemic.

  • 1 in 595 Indigenous Americans has died (or 168.4 deaths per 100,000)

  • 1 in 735 Black Americans has died (or 136.5 deaths per 100,000)

  • 1 in 895 Pacific Islander Americans has died (or 112.0 deaths per 100,000)

  • 1 in 1,000 Latino Americans has died (or 99.7 deaths per 100,000)

  • 1 in 1,030 White Americans has died (or 97.2 deaths per 100,000)

  • 1 in 1,670 Asian Americans has died (or 59.9 deaths per 100,000)

• Indigenous Americans have the highest actual COVID-19 mortality rates nationwide—about 2.8 times as high as the rate for Asians, who have the lowest actual rates.

• Adjusting the data for age differences in race groups widens the gap in the overall mortality rates between all other groups and Whites and Asians, who have the lowest age-adjusted rates. (A fuller discussion of our indirectly age-adjusted rates follows.)

• Of the more than 355,000 U.S. deaths catalogued in this Color of Coronavirus update, these are the numbers of lives lost by group: Asian (11,070), Black (55,580), Indigenous (3,548), Latino (60,298), Pacific Islander (524) and White (194,191). Additionally, 7,647 deaths are recorded as “other” race (and, due to uneven state-level reporting, include more Indigenous people and Pacific Islanders, as well as multiracial individuals). Another 24,780 deaths that have occurred currently have an unknown race.

HOW TO EXAMINE THE DATA:

1. TRENDS: EXPLORE DATA FOR THE U.S. OR A SINGLE STATE OVER TIME, COMPARING GROUPS

Actual mortality rate, expressed per 100,000 or

Number of reported deaths by race and ethnicity

2. TOTALS: EXPLORE DATA FOR THE U.S. OR A SINGLE STATE, COMPARING GROUPS

Actual mortality rates and age-adjusted mortality rates, expressed per 100,000 or

Number of reported deaths by race and ethnicity

3. SUMMARIES: EXPLORE ALL DATA FOR A SINGLE GROUP AND COMPARE ALL STATES ON A MAP

Asian Americans | Black Americans | Indigenous Americans | Latino Americans |
Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Americans | White Americans

For more context about the limitations of the data, please read our note about Indigenous, Pacific Islander, Multiracial and Other Race Americans. If you’d like to examine the percentage of deaths compared to the percentage of population by racial group for each state (which previously appeared on this site), you can find this in our complete data file, available upon request.

MORTALITY RATES, ACTUAL & AGE-ADJUSTED

ACTUAL MORTALITY RATES, OVER TIME

DEATHS BY RACE & ETHNICITY, OVER TIME

REPORTED DEATHS BY RACE & ETHNICITY, TOTALS

FOCUS ON ASIAN AMERICANS

Lives lost to date

• 11,070 Asian Americans are known to have lost their lives to COVID-19 through Tuesday, Jan. 5. There were 1,658 new deaths reported among Asians since our last report four weeks earlier, which is more than twice the losses from the preceding four weeks (714).

• Nationwide, Asian Americans have experienced 3.3% of all deaths of known race, while they represent 5.6% of the population.

  (Note: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin report deaths for Asians and Pacific Islanders jointly, so a small number of Pacific Islanders are included in our reporting on Asian Americans. Denominators for those states include both groups.)

Actual mortality rate

• For each 100,000 Americans (of their respective group), about 60 Asians have died from the coronavirus, a mortality rate considerably below Whites (97), Latinos (100) and Pacific Islanders (112), and well below the rates for Blacks (137) and Indigenous people (168).

• In New Jersey and New York, more than 1 in 1,000 Asian residents has died (i.e., more than 100 per 100,000), the highest losses among Asians anywhere in the U.S.

Age-adjusted mortality rate

• Nationwide, Asian Americans have the lowest age-adjusted mortality rates (73 per 100,000), followed by Whites (79).

• Adjusted for age, the states of South Dakota (329), New York (178), Minnesota (155) and Iowa (154) have seen the highest COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000) among their Asian residents.

FOCUS ON BLACK AMERICANS

Lives lost to date

• 55,580 Black Americans are known to have lost their lives to COVID-19 through Tuesday, Jan. 5. There were 5,586 new deaths reported among Blacks since our last report four weeks earlier, which was an acceleration of losses over the preceding four weeks (3,767).

• Nationwide, Black Americans have experienced 16.8% of all deaths of known race, but represent 12.4% of the population.

Actual mortality rate

• For each 100,000 Americans (of their respective group), about 137 Blacks have died from the coronavirus, the second-highest actual mortality rate of all groups, behind only Indigenous people (168). Asians (60), Whites (97), Latinos (100) and Pacific Islanders (112) have lower rates.

• In 22 states and the District of Columbia, more than 1 in 1,000 Black residents has died (i.e., more than 100 per 100,000).

Age-adjusted mortality rate

• Nationwide, Blacks are 2.3 times more likely to have died as Whites, and 2.5 times more likely to have died as Asians, when age is taken into account.

• Adjusted for age, the states of New York (372), New Jersey (346), Connecticut (313) and Michigan (295) have seen the highest COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000) among their Black residents.

FOCUS ON INDIGENOUS AMERICANS

Lives lost to date

• At least 3,548 Indigenous Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19 through Tuesday, Jan. 5. There were 714 new deaths reported among Indigenous people since our last report four weeks earlier, which was an acceleration of losses over the preceding four weeks (583).

  (Note: This total is a known under-count. Numerous states report Indigenous deaths in the Other category, so we cannot see those numbers uniquely.)

• Indigenous Americans have experienced 1.4% of the deaths of known race (in the 39 states reporting one or more Indigenous deaths), but represent 0.8% of the population in those states.

Actual mortality rate

• For each 100,000 Americans (of their respective group), about 168 Indigenous people have died from the coronavirus, the highest actual mortality rate of all racial and ethnic groups. Asians (60), Whites (97), Latinos (100), Pacific Islanders (112) and Blacks (137) have a lower actual mortality rate than Indigenous people.

  (Note: Users are cautioned that this “nationwide” mortality rate for Indigenous people was constructed only from the 39 states reporting such deaths.)

Age-adjusted mortality rate

• Nationwide, Indigenous people are 2.2 times more likely to have died as Whites, and 2.4 times more likely to have died as Asians, when age is taken into account.

• Adjusted for age, the states of Mississippi (1,235), New Mexico (652), Montana (613) and South Dakota (584) have seen the highest COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000) among their Indigenous residents.

FOCUS ON LATINO AMERICANS

Lives lost to date

• 60,298 Latino Americans are known to have lost their lives to COVID-19 through Tuesday, Jan. 5. There were 8,486 new deaths reported among Latinos since our last report four weeks earlier, which was a significant acceleration of losses over the preceding four weeks (4,900).

• Latino Americans have experienced 18.2% of all deaths of known race, and represent 18.4% of the population.

Actual mortality rate

• For each 100,000 Americans (of their respective group), about 100 Latinos have died from the coronavirus, a mortality rate considerably above Asians (60), just above Whites (97), somewhat below Pacific Islanders (112), and well below Blacks (137) and Indigenous people (168).

Age-adjusted mortality rate

• Nationwide, Latinos are 2.5 times more likely to have died as Whites, and 2.6 times more likely to have died as Asians, when age is taken into account.

• Adjusted for age, New York (384), New Jersey (352), the District of Columbia (314) and North Dakota (311) have seen the highest COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000) among their Latino residents.

FOCUS ON PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS

Lives lost to date

• At least 524 Pacific Islander Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19 through Tuesday, Jan. 5. There were 89 new deaths reported among Pacific Islanders since our last report four weeks earlier, which was a slowing of losses over the preceding four weeks (101).

  (Note: This total is a known under-count. Numerous states report Pacific Islander deaths in the Other category, so we cannot see those numbers uniquely.)

• Pacific Islander Americans have experienced at least 0.4% of all deaths of known race (in 21 states reporting any deaths), but represent 0.3% of the population in those states.

Actual mortality rate

• For each 100,000 Americans (of their respective group), about 112 Pacific Islanders have died from the coronavirus, an actual mortality rate well above Asians (60), somewhat above Whites (97) and Latinos (100), and well below Blacks (137) and Indigenous Americans (168).

  (Note: Users are cautioned that the “nationwide” mortality rate for Pacific Islander people was constructed from only 21 states reporting such deaths.)

Age-adjusted mortality rate

• Nationwide, Pacific Islanders are 2.5 times more likely to have died as Whites, and 2.7 times more likely to have died as Asians, when age is taken into account.

• Adjusted for age, the states of Arkansas (2,374), Illinois (1,143), Oklahoma (917) and Utah (450) have seen the highest COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000) among their small populations of Pacific Islander residents.

FOCUS ON WHITE AMERICANS

Lives lost to date

• 194,191 White Americans are known to have lost their lives to COVID-19 through Tuesday, Jan. 5. There were 42,837 new deaths reported among Whites since our last report four weeks earlier, which was a significant acceleration of losses over the preceding four weeks (27,925).

• White Americans have experienced 58.8% of all deaths with known race, but represent 60.8% of the population.

Actual mortality rate

• For each 100,000 Americans (of their respective group), about 97 Whites have died from the coronavirus, a mortality rate well above Asians (60), just below Latinos (100), somewhat below Pacific Islanders (112), and well below the rate for Blacks (137) and Indigenous people (168).

Age-adjusted mortality rate

• Nationwide, Whites are 1.1 times (just slightly) more likely to have died of COVID-19 than Asian Americans, who have the lowest rate, when age is taken into consideration.

• Adjusted for age, the states of New Jersey (159), Massachusetts (153), North Dakota (139) and Connecticut (139) have seen the highest COVID-19 mortality rates among their White residents.

NOTE ABOUT INDIGENOUS, PACIFIC ISLANDER, MULTIRACIAL & OTHER RACE AMERICANS

COVID-19 mortality data for Americans who are Indigenous, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders, Some Other race, or Multiracial is inconsistently reported by many states. Users may request our complete data file to better understand the loss of life in these groups as well. Users are cautioned that Indigenous and Pacific Islander people appear in the “Other” group in many states, along with Multiracial Americans and in a few cases, Asian Americans. We continue to advocate for complete, consistent reporting for all racial and ethnic groups.

HOW DID THE APM RESEARCH LAB OBTAIN THE DATA?

The APM Research Lab has independently compiled and analyzed these mortality data for Washington, D.C. and all states. At the time of this writing, only North Dakota and West Virginia did not yet publicly release COVID-19 mortality data by race and ethnicity on their state health department websites. For these two states, we have supplemented our data file using data reported to the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the CDC. Note that these data have some time lag and often have suppressed data (i.e., data hidden for privacy’s sake), especially for groups other than Whites. Nonetheless, their inclusion improves the picture of COVID-19 mortality for the entire United States.

In the case where a state is publicly releasing its mortality data, but the CDC data was found to be more robust, we have also opted to use the CDC data. This is the case for the following 12 states: Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas, as well as the balance of New York outside of New York City (which is reported separately). The result is the most comprehensive and up-to-date portrait of COVID-19 mortality by race and ethnicity for the U.S.

Racial detail on Americans who have died of COVID-19 was available for 93% of all deaths to date—a vast improvement from the 38% that were known when our Color of Coronavirus project began tracking these data in early April. However, nearly 25,000 recorded deaths still do not have racial or ethnic details available.

As of Tuesday, Jan. 5, more than 355,000 Americans had died of COVID-19. Data about race and ethnicity is available for 93% of these deaths.

However, it should be noted that even among states releasing COVID-19 data by the race of the deceased, the data is often incomplete or nonuniform. Several states release only percentages, not counts of deaths, requiring us to estimate the data rather than know precisely how communities have been affected. Many states also fail to report smaller populations uniquely, obscuring the picture for Indigenous Americans, Pacific Islanders and other groups. All of these reporting shortcomings render our picture of the virus’ toll incomplete and make it more difficult to assess the disproportionate impacts on communities.

We call on state and local health departments to release timely data about COVID-19 deaths with as complete racial and ethnic detail as is possible. As the data reporting improves, so too will our understanding of the devastating impact of this disease. This will inform states and communities about how to direct resources more equitably as well.

REQUEST OUR COMPLETE DATA FILE

EXPLORE OUR COLOR OF CORONAVIRUS: 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW PAGE, WITH ADDITIONAL GRAPHS & INSIGHTS