Here are total cases of COVID-19 and deaths in 2021 for all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, through October 5, 2021, sorted by deaths per million. By counting only 2021, a better picture of current trends emerges. It turns out that the states with the lowest concern for the pandemic have risen to the top in death rates.
| 2021 totals so far | Total Cases | Total Deaths | Cases Per 1M | Deaths Per 1M |
| Alabama | 441751 | 9715 | 90094 | 1982 |
| Mississippi | 275913 | 4962 | 92708 | 1668 |
| Oklahoma | 328802 | 6460 | 83094 | 1633 |
| Florida | 2313003 | 33949 | 107693 | 1581 |
| Arizona | 586582 | 11347 | 80588 | 1559 |
| Georgia | 926281 | 15691 | 87241 | 1478 |
| South Carolina | 561067 | 7433 | 108972 | 1443 |
| Louisiana | 429376 | 6580 | 92363 | 1415 |
| Kentucky | 437689 | 6298 | 97968 | 1410 |
| Arkansas | 276574 | 4138 | 91647 | 1371 |
| West Virginia | 161074 | 2436 | 89877 | 1359 |
| Texas | 2331166 | 38517 | 80396 | 1328 |
| Nevada | 199469 | 4063 | 64759 | 1319 |
| Tennessee | 654402 | 8497 | 95824 | 1245 |
| Ohio | 739110 | 13528 | 63231 | 1157 |
| Kansas | 188324 | 3330 | 64643 | 1143 |
| New Mexico | 114929 | 2394 | 54811 | 1141 |
| Indiana | 462684 | 7581 | 68727 | 1126 |
| California | 2384114 | 44194 | 60338 | 1119 |
| Wyoming | 48384 | 636 | 83599 | 1099 |
| Delaware | 77811 | 1049 | 79907 | 1077 |
| Pennsylvania | 808506 | 13602 | 63154 | 1063 |
| Missouri | 409027 | 6457 | 66645 | 1052 |
| Montana | 73184 | 1087 | 68474 | 1017 |
| Rhode Island | 85654 | 1068 | 80854 | 1009 |
| North Carolina | 874060 | 10064 | 83338 | 960 |
| Michigan | 640617 | 9485 | 64146 | 949 |
| New Jersey | 675548 | 8334 | 76057 | 938 |
| New York | 1513832 | 18094 | 77817 | 930 |
| Virginia | 528934 | 7923 | 61969 | 928 |
| Massachusetts | 450372 | 6342 | 65343 | 920 |
| Idaho | 123430 | 1590 | 69068 | 890 |
| Iowa | 207376 | 2672 | 65728 | 847 |
| Illinois | 677672 | 9833 | 53479 | 776 |
| Maryland | 261314 | 4617 | 43223 | 764 |
| South Dakota | 47430 | 673 | 53614 | 761 |
| Connecticut | 206866 | 2634 | 58022 | 739 |
| Wisconsin | 344428 | 4101 | 59155 | 704 |
| Oregon | 224338 | 2399 | 53189 | 569 |
| Washington | 424669 | 4329 | 55768 | 568 |
| District Of Columbia | 32880 | 393 | 46589 | 557 |
| Colorado | 350076 | 3193 | 60791 | 554 |
| New Hampshire | 79208 | 749 | 58254 | 551 |
| Utah | 238161 | 1693 | 74287 | 528 |
| Minnesota | 310149 | 2934 | 54994 | 521 |
| Maine | 68164 | 689 | 50709 | 513 |
| Puerto Rico | 49802 | 1669 | 14704 | 493 |
| Alaska | 68396 | 356 | 93495 | 487 |
| North Dakota | 42427 | 331 | 55674 | 435 |
| Nebraska | 103841 | 816 | 53681 | 422 |
| Hawaii | 59205 | 526 | 41816 | 372 |
| Vermont | 27093 | 187 | 43419 | 300 |
Data comes from Worldometers, subtracting 2020 totals from current totals on October 5, 2021. Picture from fda.gov.