States Slowing Down the Most During the COVID-19 Pandemic

From Wallet Hub,  Apr 21, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has replaced the hustle and bustle of everyday life with social distancing. Americans are discouraged, or even legally prevented, from going out except for essential errands or work. Some industries have naturally suffered from this more than others – retail and recreation visits are down 45 percent from their normal rates, while transit stations have seen a decrease of 49 percent, for example. However, the drop-off in people leaving their homes has been less pronounced in some states than others.

In order to find out which states are slowing down most during the COVID-19 pandemic, WalletHub compared the 50 states across six key metrics. Each metric measures the percentage point increase or decrease in visits to various types of places due to coronavirus. The categories are retail & recreation, grocery & pharmacy, parks, transit stations, workplaces and homes.

read … Full Report

States Slowing Down the Most During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Hawaii

• #1 -- Overall Rank
• 91.98 -- Total Score
• 4th – Highest Retail and Recreation Mobility Changes
• 1 -- Highest Grocery and Pharmacy Mobility Changes
• 1 – Highest Parks Mobility Changes
• 1 – Highest Transit Station Mobility Changes
• 3 – Highest Workplace Mobility Changes
• 1 – Highest Residential Mobility Changes

Methodology

In order to identify the states that have slowed down the most during the COVID-19 pandemic, WalletHub compared the 50 states across six relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most slowed down.

WalletHub then determined the weighted average across all metrics to calculate an overall score for each state and used the resulting scores to rank-order the sample.

• Retail & Recreation Mobility Changes: Full Weight (~16.67 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the percentage point increase or decrease in visits for places like restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, theme parks, museums, libraries, and movie theatres.
• Grocery & Pharmacy Mobility Changes: Full Weight (~16.67 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the percentage point increase or decrease in visits for places like grocery markets, food warehouses, farmers markets, specialty food shops, drug stores, and pharmacies.
• Parks Mobility Changes: Full Weight (~16.67 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the percentage point increase or decrease in visits for places like national parks, public beaches, marinas, dog parks, plazas, and public gardens.
• Transit Stations Mobility Changes: Full Weight (~16.67 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the percentage point increase or decrease in visits for places like public transport hubs such as subway, bus, and train stations.
• Workplaces Mobility Changes: Full Weight (~16.67 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the percentage point increase or decrease in visits for places of work.
• Residential Mobility Changes: Full Weight (~16.67 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the percentage point increase or decrease in visits for places of residence.