Focus-19 Focus-19 STL

August requests grew fastest in less populous counties

Although urban centers generate the lion’s share of 2-1-1 requests, calls from less populous counties are increasing faster. We classified each county in Missouri as metropolitan, micropolitan, or neither and compared requests to 2-1-1 during July and August from each type of county. Metropolitan counties – those having at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more residents – accounted for 90% of requests in Missouri. From July to August, requests to 2-1-1 from metropolitan counties increased by 6%. During same time period, requests to 2-1-1 from micropolitan counties – those having at least one urban cluster of 10,000 or more residents, but fewer than 50,000 total residents – increased by 9.2% and other, more rural and less populous counties increased by 9.4%. These differences coincide with recent reports showing that COVID cases are slowing in some urban centers and increasing in some rural counties. Mouse over each bar to see the number of 2-1-1 requests in July and August by county type, and mouse over the map to see the number of 2-1-1 requests per month, by county. Dates included July 1-31 and August 1-31, 2020.

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