IRVINE, Calif. — Jan. 21, 2021 — ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database, today released its fourth-quarter 2020 Special Coronavirus Report spotlighting county-level housing markets around the United States that are more or less vulnerable to the impact of the virus pandemic. The report shows that pockets of the Northeast and other parts of the East Coast remained most at risk in the fourth quarter – with clusters in the New York City and Philadelphia, PA areas – while the West continued to be less vulnerable.

The report reveals that New Jersey, Illinois, California, Louisiana, New York, Florida and Maryland had 40 of the 50 counties most vulnerable to the economic impact of the pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2020. They included eight suburban counties in the New York City metropolitan area, four around Philadelphia, PA, and two near Washington, D.C. Another six sat in the Chicago, IL, suburbs and two were in the St. Louis, MO area.

Five of the seven western counties in the top 50 during the fourth quarter were in northern California, while Illinois had eight of the nine midwestern counties among those most vulnerable. Outside of Florida and Maryland, the only southern state with more than two counties in the top 50 was Louisiana.

Fourth-quarter trends generally continued those found in the third quarter of 2020, but with different concentrations around several major metropolitan areas. The number of counties among the top 50 most at-risk was up from five to eight in the New York, NY, area and from three to six in the Chicago, IL, area, but down from four to two in the Washington, D.C., region and from four to one in the Baltimore, MD area.