Massachusetts's Poorest Towns Among Hardest Hit By Coronavirus

BOSTON — Lawrence, which has the lowest per-capita income in Massachusetts, also has one of the highest rates of coronavirus infections on a per capita basis, according to a Massachusetts Patch review of data from 27 towns and cities in eastern Massachusetts.

Lawrence, with a median household income of $32,851, had 20.31 confirmed cases of COVID-19 for every 10,000 residents on March 31. By comparison, Andover, which borders Lawrence and has a median household income of $112,681, had just 4.44 confirmed cases for every 10,000 residents on March 31.

People in wealthier communities are more likely to have jobs that allow them to work from home, and generally started following shelter-in-place orders sooner than people in poorer communities. They are also more likely to have access to better health care.

Health officials are quick to warn that confirmed positive tests for coronavirus are not an accurate indicator of how prevalent the virus is in a given area. Many people who are infected with coronavirus show no symptoms, while a shortage of tests means many people who are symptomatic are treated for coronavirus without ever being tested.

But the Patch review of publicly available coronavirus case data from 27 eastern Massachusetts communities show that some of the region's poorest communities also have some of the highest rates of confirmed coronavirus cases.

Cities With Lowest Median Household Income Reviewed By Patch:

Cities With Highest Median Household Incomes Reviewed By Patch:

Of the 27 communities reviewed by Patch, the mean was 8.19 cases per 10,000 residents in Lowell. That suggests that wealth does not necessarily insulate a town's residents from coronavirus, as shown by Newton and Wilmington in the charts above. But there are indicators that people in wealthier communities heeded warnings to stay at home sooner and have left home less frequently since Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency on March 10.

On Friday, the New York Times reported that a review of smartphone location data showed wealthier people are staying home more and started following orders and advisories to stay at home sooner than people who make less money. And after doctors, nurses and other healthcare officials, it has been primarily lower-income workers manning the front lines of the coronavirus fight, doing everything from delivering food to cleaning hospital rooms where coronavirus patients have been treated.

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The Massachusetts Department of Public Health releases the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in each of the state's 14 counties daily, but has left it up to local health officials on whether to release confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths for their town or city. Patch has begun collecting data from the towns that do release local data and has so far reviewed confirmed coronavirus cases in 27 communities in eastern Massachusetts.

The map below shows the number of cases per 10,000 residents for the communities where Patch has reviewed coronavirus data:

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).

Patch staff writers Jimmy Bentley, Mike Carraggi, Jenna Fisher and Christopher Huffaker contributed to this report.