With the unemployment rate at 5.9% and around 48% of the population fully vaccinated, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released updated rankings for the States That Are Recovering the Quickest From COVID-19.
To identify the states that are having the most successful recoveries, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 19 key metrics. Our data set ranges from the share of the population fully vaccinated to the real GDP vs. pre-COVID levels.
| Recovering the Quickest | Recovering the Slowest |
| 1. South Dakota | 42. West Virginia |
| 2. Iowa | 43. Oklahoma |
| 3. Maine | 44. Texas |
| 4. Nebraska | 45. Florida |
| 5. Vermont | 46. Louisiana |
| 6. Connecticut | 47. Arkansas |
| 7. New Hampshire | 48. Nevada |
| 8. Alaska | 49. Wyoming |
| 9. Idaho | 50. Arizona |
| 10. Delaware | 51. Missouri |
Note: Rankings are based on data available as of 12:30 p.m. ET on July 12, 2021.
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-covid-recovery/90947
Q&A with WalletHub
How does a state’s public health recovery impact its economic recovery?
“A state’s public health recovery is essential for its economic recovery. The biggest factors hurting the economy are restrictions on businesses and high unemployment, both of which are a direct result of necessary public health measures put in place to curb the pandemic,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “As COVID-19 cases and deaths decline in a state, the government can loosen restrictions and businesses can hire more as a result. Prioritizing vaccination will speed up the country’s public health recovery, which in turn will accelerate the economic recovery.”
Why are some states able to recover from the pandemic a lot faster than others?
“There are many reasons why some states are able to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic faster than others, some of which are that certain states have done a better job of minimizing COVID-19 transmission and have vaccinated residents at higher rates,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “A state’s climate can have a big impact on its recovery, too. States that are warmer, like Florida, allow people to be outside more easily, which gives extra protection to the elderly and other vulnerable demographics. This has led to an economic boom for warmer states, and as people consider where to relocate after the pandemic, climate and tax rates will be among the biggest factors in their decisions.”
Why does South Dakota rank as having the quickest recovery from COVID-19?
“South Dakota ranks as having the quickest recovery from COVID-19 in part because it is one of only three states in the country whose unemployment rates have decreased between May 2019 and May 2021,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “South Dakota is one of only nine states in which no hospitals reported having supply shortages in the past week, too, and it has one of the lowest shares of COVID-related doctor visits in the past week.”
Why does Missouri rank as having the slowest recovery from COVID-19?
“Missouri ranks as having the slowest recovery from COVID-19 in part because it has some of the highest COVID-19 death and positive testing rates in the country,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Missouri has the fourth highest hospitalization rate, it ranks as the 11th highest when it comes to the share of hospitals reporting staff shortages in the past week and it has one of the lowest shares of residents ages 12 and up who are fully vaccinated.”
