Though Covid vaccination remains free through the CDC Covid-19 Vaccination Program, only 19% of Americans are up-to-date with Covid vaccines. Southerners are lagging, with just 13% of Southerners up-to-date compared to 21% of Non-southerners.

Among Americans who previously had Covid, 29% experienced prolonged symptoms, known as Long Covid.

The number of drug overdose deaths in America rose dramatically from about 17,000 in 1999 to 70,000 in 2019 (pre-Covid) and then skyrocketed by 50% in just 2 years – reaching nearly 107,000 deaths in 2021. The 98,000 overdose deaths in 2022 were still 40% above pre-pandemic.

Motor vehicle deaths in 2022 at roughly 43,000 remained 10% higher than pre-pandemic. Comparatively, peer nations have maintained lower motor vehicle fatality rates, with fewer increases since Covid struck.

The nation gained 1.7 million jobs in the first six months of 2023 to reach a new record of 156.2 million jobs. Overall labor force participation has been increasing and is on par with pre-Covid rates.

In May alone, 4 million workers quit jobs. The overall quits rate has stabilized at an elevated 2.6%.

The Black employment rate fell to 58.9% in June after reaching a peak of 60.9% in March, but remains closer to the white employment rate than it was pre-Covid.

Heat-related deaths jumped from 911 in 2019 to 1,156 in 2020. They increased again in 2021 to 1,602 and again in 2022 to 1,713.

A recent report from the Census Bureau found that in Fiscal Year 2021, 353 federal assistance programs used Census Bureau data to distribute more than $2.8 trillion in funds — including over $700 billion to respond to the pandemic.

In the wake of voter turnout reaching a record high, disparities persisted between racial groups. n the South, Black vote share gaps occurred in more than 95% of Southern counties and more than a quarter of Southern counties had a Black vote share gap greater than than 2%.

Since 2020, many states have reversed those temporary provisions and there have been a deluge of new voting laws passed in states across the nation. From Jan 2021- May 2023, 27 states have passed voting laws that make it harder for Americans to vote.

Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures since the start of 2023. 78 bills have passed into law during the 2023 Legislative Session, including 32 in the South.

In 39 states, the state supreme court lacks the racial and ethnic diversity of the populations they represent.

College tuition costs have more than tripled over the last 50 years, even after adjusting for inflation. In 1968, the average cost of tuition and fees for a 4-year institution was $5,041 (in today’s dollars).

Among the working-age population, 7% of Asian adults, 8% of white adults, 13% of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander adults, 14% of Black adults, 25% of Hispanic adults, and 26% of American Indian/Alaska Native adults still lack health insurance coverage.

By 2021, internet access had spread and disparities had narrowed such that 13% of American Indians, 10% of Black Americans, 8% of Hispanic Americans, 7% of white Americans and 4% of Asian Americans lacked internet access.

75% of Southern counties are news deserts, compared to only 50% of non-Southern counties.

The end of stimulus and child tax credits in 2021 combined with high inflation in 2022 added up such that by June 2023, more than 1 in 3 American households was having difficulty paying for usual household expenses, up from 28% in June 2021.

From 2017-21, at least 1 in 4 renters in several Southern states (Louisiana: 29%, Florida: 29%, West Virginia: 25%, Mississippi: 25%, and South Carolina: 25%) paid at least half of their total household income toward housing costs.

In the South, 25% of adults who were past-due on rent or mortgage feared that eviction or foreclosure was likely. Among Southern states, fears are highest in AL (48%), WV (48%), and MS (34%).