COVID-19 Disparities in ChicagoThe third most populous U.S. city, Chicago, is acutely divided by rac

COVID-19 Disparities in Chicago

The third most populous U.S. city, Chicago, is acutely divided by race and ethnicity. More affluent and mostly white neighborhoods are located along the waterfront of Lake Michigan, while many Black, low-income neighborhoods are located in the southern and western parts of the city. ThesemapsfromBloomberg CityLab use data from the Census Bureau and the City of Chicago and show Black residents are more than twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than their white neighbors. 

Analysts point to a variety of factors that lead to health disparities in Chicago: higher rates of poverty, unemployment, air pollution, and asthma incidence rates, making it more difficult to access quality health care, and increasing severe health risks when contracting the virus. The state of Illinois has seen 295,720 confirmed cases and almost 9,000 deaths from COVID-19 according to Johns Hopkins University.