Weekly U.S. COVID-19 Hospitalization Metrics by County, 2020-2024

Approximately 6,000 U.S. hospitals reported weekly COVID-19 hospitalization data to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The dataset contains county-level metrics on admissions, inpatient and ICU bed occupancy, and weekly changes, aggregated from hospital reports. This dataset is archived and was last updated on May 3, 2024, after reporting requirements ended.

Use Cases

• Model county-level healthcare stress using avg_percent_inpatient_beds_used_confirmed_covid and avg_percent_staff_icu_beds_covid from weekly reports.
• Analyze trends in COVID-19 admissions using total_adm_all_covid_confirmed_past_7days and admissions_covid_confirmed_week_over_week_percent_change.
• Calculate population-adjusted admission rates using total_adm_all_covid_confirmed_past_7days_per_100k and county_population.
• Track weekly reporting periods and year-over-year changes using mmwr_report_week, mmwr_report_year, and report_date.
• Join with other geographic datasets using fips_code and state for spatial analysis.

Strengths

• Data sourced from approximately 6,000 hospitals, providing a national view of hospital capacity.
• Includes multiple calculated metrics per county, such as admission levels, percent changes, and bed occupancy rates.
• Reports cover a multi-year period during the COVID-19 pandemic, as indicated by mmwr_report_year and report_date columns.

Limitations

• Dataset is archived and no longer updated as of May 3, 2024, limiting use for current analysis.
• Row count and total temporal coverage are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes that reporting errors might exist, and CDC removed outliers before calculating metrics.

Provenance

Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) via data.cdc.gov.

Collection Method

Aggregated counts reported by hospitals to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).

Time Range

Weekly data from at least 2020 until May 3, 2024, as indicated by the archive date and mmwr_report_year.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-02-23 23:05:04; however, the dataset is archived with final data from May 3, 2024.

Geography

All counties or county-equivalents in the United States, including territories.