Wisconsin counties with the lowest vaccination rates tend to have higher COVID-19 death rates, Department of Health Services data show.
In contrast, counties with the highest vaccination rates also generally have lower rates of death, though a number of counties don’t precisely fit these trends.
For example, the three counties with the lowest vaccination rates — Clark, Taylor and Rusk — have each experienced more than 300 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population since March 15, 2020. That’s more than triple the number seen among the counties with the lowest death rates.
Clark County has a fully vaccinated rate of 35.9 percent and a death rate of 333.6 per 100,000 people. Taylor County, with a vaccination rate of 34.2 percent, has a death rate of 324.4. And Rusk County, with 40.7 percent fully vaccinated, has a death rate of 331.5.
Similarly, several counties with some of the highest death rates have vaccination rates below the state’s overall rate of 59.7 percent. Forest County, with a death rate of 522 per 100,000, has a vaccination rate of 49.2 percent. And Waupaca County, with a death rate of 464.8, has a vaccination rate of 52.6 percent.
But the county with the highest death rate — Iron County, with 791.3 per 100,000 — actually has a vaccination rate of 62.2 percent. That’s slightly higher than both Wisconsin’s overall rate and that of Buffalo County, which has the lowest death rate in the state at 84.4 per 100,000 and a vaccination rate of 59.7 percent.
Dane County, which leads the state for vaccinations with 77.5 percent fully vaccinated, has a death rate of just 86 per 100,000. But Menominee County, with 75.4 percent fully vaccinated, has a death rate of 285.3. And Door County, with 73.6 percent fully vaccinated, has a death rate of 206.
See an earlier related story here, and see the full list of county death rates and vaccination rates below.
| County name: Adams | Death rate per 100K pop. since 3/15/20: 237.4 | Fully vaccinated rate (percent): 51 |
| Ashland | 205.6 | 66.7 |
| Barron | 291.8 | 52.3 |
| Bayfield | 252.7 | 69 |
| Brown | 172 | 61.6 |
| Buffalo | 84.4 | 59.7 |
| Burnett | 266 | 52.7 |
| Calumet | 219.6 | 53.8 |
| Chippewa | 266 | 54.9 |
| Clark | 333.6 | 35.9 |
| Columbia | 210.3 | 63.8 |
| Crawford | 173.6 | 55.7 |
| Dane | 86 | 77.5 |
| Dodge | 338.1 | 49.3 |
| Door | 206 | 73.6 |
| Douglas | 166.9 | 61.9 |
| Dunn | 145.5 | 47.6 |
| Eau Claire | 168.2 | 59.8 |
| Florence | 349.2 | 49.5 |
| Fond du Lac | 213.7 | 52.1 |
| Forest | 522 | 49.2 |
| Grant | 270.2 | 47.9 |
| Green | 135.3 | 61.8 |
| Green Lake | 312 | 53.9 |
| Iowa | 105.6 | 66.8 |
| Iron | 791.3 | 62.2 |
| Jackson | 198.6 | 48.5 |
| Jefferson | 251.3 | 53.9 |
| Juneau | 228.6 | 49 |
| Kenosha | 350.9 | 53.2 |
| Kewaunee | 269.2 | 50.3 |
| La Crosse | 136.4 | 65.1 |
| Lafayette | 126 | 55 |
| Langlade | 401.3 | 51.1 |
| Lincoln | 478.4 | 52.8 |
| Manitowoc | 222.8 | 57.2 |
| Marathon | 338.3 | 55.5 |
| Marinette | 260.2 | 50.1 |
| Marquette | 308.2 | 50.4 |
| Menominee | 285.3 | 75.4 |
| Milwaukee | 215.9 | 58.7 |
| Monroe | 168.6 | 48.6 |
| Oconto | 266.3 | 50.3 |
| Oneida | 348.4 | 61.6 |
| Outagamie | 181.5 | 60.4 |
| Ozaukee | 164.8 | 66.5 |
| Pepin | 233.3 | 51.7 |
| Pierce | 159 | 53.2 |
| Polk | 264.9 | 53.5 |
| Portage | 210.5 | 55.9 |
| Price | 209.7 | 56.1 |
| Racine | 319.9 | 57.1 |
| Richland | 226.1 | 56.7 |
| Rock | 208.7 | 58.4 |
| Rusk | 331.5 | 40.7 |
| Saint Croix | 150 | 59.6 |
| Sauk | 161.4 | 61 |
| Sawyer | 338.2 | 54.3 |
| Shawano | 310.5 | 45.3 |
| Sheboygan | 235.8 | 59.1 |
| Taylor | 324.4 | 34.2 |
| Trempealeau | 195.6 | 65.6 |
| Vernon | 279 | 53 |
| Vilas | 374 | 61.1 |
| Walworth | 256.1 | 50 |
| Washburn | 273.5 | 62.4 |
| Washington | 211 | 53.9 |
| Waukesha | 237.8 | 64.7 |
| Waupaca | 464.8 | 52.6 |
| Waushara | 319.1 | 43.4 |
| Winnebago | 202.4 | 58.3 |
| Wood | 278.1 | 56.5 |
