Mask-Use Has Increased the Most in the Mountain West

Wyoming and the other Rocky Mountain states lead the nation in mask-use increase since June.

AW
Annaliese Wiederspahn

August 31, 20202 min read

Mask wearing survey

A new survey by the Pew Research Center says the largest increase in the use of facemasks over the summer months has occurred in the Mountain West region of the country.

Now 85% of adults in the Mountain West (which includes Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado) wear masks and face coverings into stores and businesses — an increase from 52% in early June.

The increase, which is considered “massive”, now puts the Mountain West area of the country ahead of many other geographic regions including the West-North-Central (70%), East-South-Central (78%), East-North-Central (80%), and South Atlantic (84%).

The Pacific area of the country has the highest mask-use rate (92%) while New England and Mid-Atlantic regions both report mask-use at 91%.

Other interesting takeaways from the survey include:

92% of Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party say they usually wear masks in stores and other businesses, while 76% of Republicans and GOP leaners wear masks.

Americans with college degrees remain more likely to wear a mask than those without a degree (91% vs. 82%), though this gap has also shrunk since June (76% vs. 60%).

Women have consistently reported wearing masks at slightly higher rates than men (87% vs. 83% in August, compared with 67% vs. 63% in June).

White Americans (82%) still lag behind their Black (90%), Hispanic (91%) and Asian (90%) counterparts when it comes to regularly wearing masks in stores and other businesses. 

That was also the case in June, when 62% of White adults reported regularly wearing masks, compared with 69% of Black, 74% of Hispanic and 80% of Asian adults. 

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Authors

AW

Annaliese Wiederspahn

State Political Reporter