How Bucks County Compares To America In Social Distancing

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A new study analyzes cell mobility data to determine how well residents in Bucks County and across America are social distancing.

The business and marketing insight firm Top Data measured the total number of interactions and how that rate has increased or decreased over the past month. For the purposes of the study, "interactions" are defined as any close contact between two or more people that lasts more than five minutes.

Bucks County has seen its interactions decrease by 1.20 percent, according to the study. The average number of interactions per resident for the month of August is 2.47.

The number is similar to nearby counties:

• Chester - 2.90 percent decrease, 2.01 interactions
• Delaware - 1.55 percent decrease, 2.62 interactions
• Montgomery - 1.07 percent decrease, 2.77 interactions
• Philadelphia - 1.92 percent decrease, 3.18 interactions

The only true outlier there is Chester County, which saw a significantly sharper decrease in interactions per person, at 2.90 percent, than Montgomery County and the rest of the five-county area.

A similar analysis launched back at the start of the pandemic in late March by Unacast, a New York City and Norway-based company, also found positive results for Bucks County. In that study, Bucks County earned an "A" for its early distancing efforts.