Cities Most at Risk to Coronavirus

NEW YORK - June 16, 2020 - PRLog -- AdvisorSmith, a leading information resource for business advice and original research, released a new study that found the U.S. cities that are the most susceptible to serious illness from coronavirus due to preexisting health conditions.

As coronavirus has spread throughout the country, it has had a massive impact on the lives of Americans. Some cities have experienced more infections than others, and some groups of people are more susceptible to experiencing serious illnesses from contracting coronavirus. Chronic health conditions and advanced age are two factors that make contacting the virus more likely to result in serious illness.

AdvisorSmith examined 500 large cities in the nation that had the most vulnerable populations if a coronavirus outbreak were to occur in the city. The study looked at six health conditions (obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, COPD, high blood pressure, and heart disease) and the population's age in each city to analyze the cities that would be most affected by a coronavirus outbreak.

To determine the ranking, we created a vulnerability score for each city that takes into account the percentages of people who have each medical condition as well as those aged 65 or older. We ranked the top 100 cities based on this vulnerability score.

Interesting findings:

• The four most vulnerable cities in our study were in the Midwest: (1) Gary, Indiana, (2) Youngstown, Ohio, (3) Flint, Michigan, and (4) Detroit, Michigan. Over 40% of the population in these cities were obese and had high blood pressure.
• Half of the 100 most vulnerable cities were located in the South. Florida was the state with the highest number of cities (17) because of its large senior citizen population, and Texas was the second most represented, with ten cities.
• The most common chronic health conditions were obesity and high blood pressure, with diabetes a distant third.

Top 10 most vulnerable cities:

1. Gary, IN

2. Youngstown, OH

3. Flint, MI

4. Detroit, MI

5. Charleston, WV

6. Birmingham, AL

7. Macon, GA

8. Cleveland, OH

9. Shreveport, LA

10. Palm Coast, FL

To view the original study and learn more, visit: https://advisorsmith.com/data/cities-most-at-risk-for-sev...

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