diff --git a/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/etl_score_post.py b/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/etl_score_post.py
index 2e49aa2a..b8509438 100644
--- a/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/etl_score_post.py
+++ b/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/etl_score_post.py
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ class PostScoreETL(ExtractTransformLoad):
     datasets.
     """
 
+    STATE_CODE_COLUMN = "State Code"
+
     def __init__(self, data_source: str = None):
         self.DATA_SOURCE = data_source
         self.input_counties_df: pd.DataFrame
@@ -54,7 +56,9 @@ class PostScoreETL(ExtractTransformLoad):
     def _extract_states(self, state_path: Path) -> pd.DataFrame:
         logger.info("Reading States CSV")
         return pd.read_csv(
-            state_path, dtype={"fips": "string", "state_abbreviation": "string"}
+            state_path,
+            dtype={"fips": "string", "state_abbreviation": "string"},
+            usecols=["fips", "state_name", "state_abbreviation"],
         )
 
     def _extract_score(self, score_path: Path) -> pd.DataFrame:
@@ -133,12 +137,11 @@ class PostScoreETL(ExtractTransformLoad):
         # remove unnecessary columns
         new_df = initial_states_df.rename(
             columns={
-                "fips": "State Code",
+                "fips": self.STATE_CODE_COLUMN,
                 "state_name": field_names.STATE_FIELD,
                 "state_abbreviation": "State Abbreviation",
             }
         )
-        new_df.drop(["region", "division"], axis=1, inplace=True)
         return new_df
 
     def _transform_score(self, initial_score_df: pd.DataFrame) -> pd.DataFrame:
@@ -159,16 +162,31 @@ class PostScoreETL(ExtractTransformLoad):
         states_df: pd.DataFrame,
         score_df: pd.DataFrame,
     ) -> pd.DataFrame:
-        # merge state with counties
-        logger.info("Merging state with county info")
-        county_state_merged = counties_df.merge(
-            states_df, on="State Abbreviation", how="left"
+
+        logger.info("Merging county info with score info")
+        score_county_merged = score_df.merge(
+            # We drop state abbreviation so we don't get it twice
+            counties_df[["GEOID", "County Name"]],
+            on="GEOID",  # GEOID is the county ID
+            how="left",
         )
 
-        # merge state + county with score
-        score_county_state_merged = score_df.merge(
-            county_state_merged,
-            on="GEOID",  # GEOID is the county ID
+        logger.info("Merging state info with county-score info")
+        # Here, we need to join on a separate key, since there's no
+        # entry for the island areas in the counties df (there are no
+        # counties!) Thus, unless we join state separately from county,
+        # when we join on GEOID, we lose information about the islands
+        score_county_merged[self.STATE_CODE_COLUMN] = score_county_merged[
+            self.GEOID_TRACT_FIELD_NAME
+        ].str[:2]
+        # TODO: For future reference, we could also refactor this code so that
+        # the FIPS / State or Territory / County info gets created as an ETL
+        # process and joined in etl_score, rather than added in post like this.
+        # That would be a bit more consistent and automatically parallelized
+        score_county_state_merged = score_county_merged.merge(
+            states_df,
+            left_on=self.STATE_CODE_COLUMN,
+            right_on=self.STATE_CODE_COLUMN,
             how="left",
         )
 
@@ -184,7 +202,7 @@ class PostScoreETL(ExtractTransformLoad):
 
         # recast population to integer
         score_county_state_merged["Total population"] = (
-            merged_df["Total population"].fillna(0.0).astype(int)
+            merged_df["Total population"].fillna(0).astype(int)
         )
 
         de_duplicated_df = merged_df.dropna(
diff --git a/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/tests/snapshots/score_data_expected.pkl b/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/tests/snapshots/score_data_expected.pkl
index a61b5aef..e0372dd9 100644
Binary files a/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/tests/snapshots/score_data_expected.pkl and b/data/data-pipeline/data_pipeline/etl/score/tests/snapshots/score_data_expected.pkl differ