Chicago COVID-19 Rolling Average Rates by Demographics

Rolling seven-day average rates for COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations per 100,000 Chicago residents, broken down by age, race, ethnicity, and gender. The dataset is produced by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) using data from the Illinois disease surveillance system and the Cook County Medical Examiner. It is marked as historical and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in 'Cases Rate - Total' and 'Deaths Rate - Total' to model pandemic waves.
• Compare 'Cases Rate - Black Non-Latinx' and 'Cases Rate - White Non-Latinx' columns to study racial disparities in infection rates.
• Forecast 'Hospitalizations Rate - Total' using age-stratified case rates like 'Cases Rate - Age 70-79' as leading indicators.
• Assess gender differences in infection rates by comparing 'Cases Rate - Female' and 'Cases Rate - Male' over time.

Strengths

• Provides demographic breakdowns across 15+ specific columns for age, race, ethnicity, and gender.
• Uses 7-day rolling averages to smooth reporting noise and offer more representative trends.
• Rates are standardized per 100,000 population, enabling fair comparisons across groups.

Limitations

• Data is provisional and subject to change, with recent dates often incomplete.
• Limited to Chicago residents only, not representative of broader regions.
• Denominators for rates are based on 2018 population estimates, which may not reflect later demographic shifts.

Provenance

Source

Chicago Department of Public Health via data.cityofchicago.org.

Collection Method

Aggregated from Illinois National Electronic Disease Surveillance System and Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, with population data from U.S. Census Bureau.

Freshness

Historical dataset; no longer updated as of March 2026.

Geography

City of Chicago, Illinois, USA.