Colorado Counties With the Most COVID-19 Deaths Per Capita Now

While COVID-19 data has moderated from the fearsome highs of late 2020, Coloradans are still dying from the novel coronavirus every day, and some counties have been harder hit than others. Of 28 counties in the state that have registered ten or more deaths from the disease, sixteen have unusually high rates per capita.

That's among the takeaways from the latest death statistics posted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on February 9. The CDPHE's figures per county run through January 30 and were updated by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on February 3; they show both the number of deaths per county and the county's percentage of all virus fatalities in the state.

El Paso County leads this unfortunate roster with 696 deaths, representing 13.13 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in Colorado. Next come three metro-area counties: Arapahoe (683 deaths, 12.89 percent), Jefferson (669 deaths, 12.62 percent) and Adams (642 deaths, 12.11 percent). At present, the City and County of Denver proper is in the fifth slot, with 628 deaths, accounting for 11.85 percent of Colorado's COVID-19 casualties.

Denver accounts for fewer deaths than it should based on population figures from 2019. That year, Colorado was officially home to 5,758,736 residents, of which 705,576, or 12.3 percent, lived in Denver. All things being equal, the percentage of COVID-19 deaths in Denver should also be 12.3 percent — so its 11.85 percent figure is lower than its size would suggest. In contrast, the percentage of COVID-19 deaths is larger than the state's percentage of population in Arapahoe, Jefferson and Adams counties, which have all suffered more fatalities per capita.

They're not alone, although the counties in similar situations vary widely — some large, some small, some in between. Douglas, Larimer, Weld and Boulder all have fewer deaths than their populations would imply, while those with more include Huerfano and Bent, both of which have fewer than 10,000 residents.

Here's the latest roster in descending order of deaths; the names of counties that have more deaths per capita than population percentage are in bold:

El Paso County
720,403
12.51 percent of population
696 deaths
13.13 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.62 percent

Arapahoe County
656,590
11.40 percent of population
683 COVID-19 deaths
12.89 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +1.49 percent

Jefferson County
582,881
10.12 percent of population
669 deaths
12.62 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +2.5 percent

Adams County
504,108
8.76 percent of population
642 COVID-19 deaths
12.11 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +3.35 percent

Denver County
705,576 (2019)
12.3 percent of population
628 COVID-19 deaths
11.85 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.45 percent

Pueblo County
168,424 (2019)
2.92 percent of population
328 deaths
6.19 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +3.27 percent

Boulder County
326,196
5.67 percent of population
273 deaths
5.15 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.52 percent

Weld County
324,492
5.63 percent of population
250 deaths
4.72 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.91 percent

Larimer County
356,899
6.2 percent of population
228 deaths
4.30 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -1.9 percent

Douglas County
351,154
6.1 percent of population
226 deaths
4.26 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -1.84 percent

Mesa County
154,210
2.7 percent of population
195 deaths
3.68 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.98

Morgan County
29,068 (2019)
0.5 percent of population
61 deaths
1.51 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +1.01 percent

Logan County
22,409 (2019)
0.4 percent of population
48 deaths
0.91 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.51 percent

Broomfield County
67,886 (2019)
1.18 percent of population
44 deaths
0.83 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.35 percent

La Plata County
56,221 (2019)
1.0 percent of population
43 deaths
0.81 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.19 percent

Montrose County
42,758 (2019)
0.7 percent of population
33 deaths
0.69 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.01 percent

Delta County
30,565 (2019)
0.53 percent of population
39 deaths
0.74 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.21 percent

Garfield County
60,061 (2019)
1.04 percent of population
33 deaths
0.62 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.42 percent

Alamosa County
16,107 (2019)
0.28 percent of population
26 deaths
0.49 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.21 percent

Otero County
18,282 (2019)
0.32 percent of population
25 deaths
0.47 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.15 percent

Moffat County
13,283 (2019)
0.23 percent of population
20 deaths
0.38 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.15 percent

Fremont County
47,839 (2019)
0.83 percent of population
12 deaths
0.25 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.58 percent

Chaffee County
19,557 (2019)
0.34 percent of population
18 deaths
0.18 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.16 percent

Routt County
25,638 (2019)
0.45 percent of population
14 deaths
0.26 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: -.19 percent

Yuma County
10,003 (2019)
0.17 percent of population
13 deaths
0.25 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.08 percent

Prowers County
12,022 (2019)
0.21 percent of population
13 deaths
0.25 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.04 percent

Huerfano County
6,679 (2019)
0.12 percent of population
13 deaths
0.25 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.13 percent

Bent County
5,787 (2019)
.01 percent of population
11 deaths
0.25 percent of Colorado COVID-19 deaths
Difference: +.24 percent