Erie County, Pennsylvania Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Erie County, Pennsylvania, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Erie County, Pennsylvania. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Erie County, Pennsylvania. The estimated population of Erie County, Pennsylvania is 271,903 people, with a median age of 39.9.

We can look at the total population in Erie County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
271,903
 -0.05% -2.12%
2020
272,046
 -0.65% -
2019
273,835
 -0.77% -
2018
275,972
 -0.66% -
2017
277,794
 - -

Population of Erie County, Pennsylvania by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
83.1%
84.8%
 -2.00%
Black/African American
6.7%
6.8%
 -1.47%
Native
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Hispanic
4.6%
4%
 +15.00%
Asian
1.9%
1.6%
 +18.75%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.2%
2.4%
 +33.33%
Other
0.4%
0.2%
 +100.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Erie County, Pennsylvania by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 39.9 +0.5% 38.8 +0.78% 41.2 0%
2020 39.7 0% 38.5 +1.05% 41.2 -0.48%
2019 39.7 +0.76% 38.1 +0.26% 41.4 +0.49%
2018 39.4 +1.03% 38 +1.06% 41.2 +0.73%
2017 39 - 37.6 - 40.9 -

The median age of Erie County, Pennsylvania gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 17,077 -10.14% 15,793 -1.52% 15,408 15,544
10 to 19 18,704 +0.71% 18,179 -5.7% 18,833 17,141
20 to 29 20,062 -10.12% 19,135 -10.88% 18,107 17,135
30 to 39 16,628 +2.19% 15,898 +8.23% 16,992 17,227
40 to 49 16,253 -3.01% 16,753 -11.64% 15,761 14,872
50 to 59 19,463 -8.27% 20,515 -10.71% 17,899 18,403
60 to 69 16,166 +10.68% 16,672 +11.35% 17,958 18,646
70+ 12,781 +9.79% 17,715 +1.13% 14,073 17,904

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Erie County, Pennsylvania is $55,949.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Erie County.

  • Under 25
    $26,337.00
  • 25 to 44
    $60,761.00
  • 45 to 64
    $70,516.00
  • 65 and over
    $44,005.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Erie County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Erie County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Erie County, Pennsylvania is currently $74,780.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

4.46% of households in Erie County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Erie County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    22.27%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    22.74%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.75%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.36%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    14.36%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    5.07%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.46%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Erie County is $30,715.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Erie County by the total population of Erie County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Erie County, Pennsylvania, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Erie County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    11.98%
  • Bachelor's degree
    27.83%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    8.89%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    49.21%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.08%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Erie County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Erie County over the age of 16 is 220,378.

Of those people, a total of 60.20% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Erie County is 56.60%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 15,401 42.30% 14.10%
20 to 24 years 17,610 69.50% 9.20%
25 to 29 years 17,632 80.60% 6.70%
30 to 34 years 17,488 81.30% 4.30%
35 to 44 years 31,391 83.60% 5.80%
45 to 54 years 33,261 78.70% 4.90%
55 to 59 years 19,014 75.20% 4.10%
60 to 64 years 19,472 55.60% 4.50%
65 to 74 years 29,251 23.30% 3.00%
75 years and over 19,858 6.20% 5.20%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Erie County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 192,583 60.40% 5.20%
Black or African American 14,099 53.40% 9.30%
American Indian and Alaska Native 475 52.20% 0.40%
Asian 3,751 62.00% 6.30%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 57 87.70% 0.00%
Other 2,781 60.20% 5.90%
Two or more races 6,632 68.50% 18.10%
Hispanic or Latino 8,088 59.30% 8.50%
Not Hispanic or Latino 189,357 60.50% 5.20%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Erie County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Erie County is 124,815, with median earnings of $35,721.00.

Women in Erie County, Pennsylvania earning approximately 67.90% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 124,815 $35,721.00
Male 63,612 $43,504.00
Female 61,203 $29,520.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 12,320 $60,881.00
Business and Financial 5,570 $48,543.00
Computer and Mathematical 2,561 $77,031.00
Architecture and Engineering 2,350 $72,692.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 817 $59,243.00
Community and Social Service 2,928 $39,126.00
Legal 778 $62,704.00
Educational and Library 7,215 $51,370.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 1,494 $29,623.00
Healthcare Practitioners 9,806 $52,976.00
Healthcare Support 6,338 $22,387.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 978 $31,042.00
Law Enforcement 1,241 $54,967.00
Food Preparation and Serving 8,160 $11,222.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 5,423 $19,074.00
Personal Care and Service 3,318 $14,719.00
Sales 11,223 $26,479.00
Office and Administrative Support 13,144 $32,687.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 335 $19,960.00
Construction and Extraction 5,028 $39,332.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 3,503 $45,558.00
Production 10,544 $39,158.00
Transportation and Material Moving 4,629 $37,045.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 7,205 $71,250.00 5,115 $49,834.00
Business and Financial 2,423 $52,625.00 3,147 $45,009.00
Computer and Mathematical 1,684 $80,473.00 877 $76,118.00
Architecture and Engineering 2,093 $78,494.00 257 $62,679.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 495 $64,375.00 322 $38,088.00
Community and Social Service 989 $42,264.00 1,939 $37,518.00
Legal 418 $96,300.00 360 $51,161.00
Educational and Library 2,252 $62,761.00 4,963 $45,813.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 857 $34,267.00 637 $21,376.00
Healthcare Practitioners 2,271 $78,533.00 7,535 $49,325.00
Healthcare Support 1,013 $23,074.00 5,325 $22,192.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 690 $35,804.00 288 $24,348.00
Law Enforcement 1,131 $56,433.00 110 $46,343.00
Food Preparation and Serving 3,009 $12,591.00 5,151 $10,663.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 3,382 $25,431.00 2,041 $11,296.00
Personal Care and Service 651 $20,110.00 2,667 $14,068.00
Sales 5,226 $41,639.00 5,997 $18,720.00
Office and Administrative Support 3,032 $39,541.00 10,112 $31,449.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 187 $55,082.00 148 $9,740.00
Construction and Extraction 4,870 $39,719.00 158 $33,214.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 3,402 $46,190.00 101 $13,681.00
Production 8,349 $42,616.00 2,195 $26,104.00
Transportation and Material Moving 4,044 $40,399.00 585 $21,115.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 108,861 households in Erie County, with an average household size of 2.38 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 66,305 families in Erie County with an average family size of 3.01 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 47,619 5,036 13,650 42,556
Average Household Size 3.05 3.15 3.25 1.25
Total Families 47,619 5,036 13,650 0
Average Household Size 3.04 2.8 2.99 0

Poverty

Of the 66,305 families in Erie County, 10.60% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Erie County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 119,941 housing units in Erie County, Pennsylvania.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 108,861 90.76%
Vacant 11,080 9.24%

28.13% of the total 119,941 housing units in Erie County are rental units. This is approximately 33,736 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 73,332 are occupied by the owner - or 61.14% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Erie County is $787.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Erie County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    1,793
  • Less than $500
    5,111
  • $500 to $999
    19,661
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    7,180
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    1,177
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    392
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    90
  • $3,000 or more
    125

Property Value

The median value of a property in Erie County is $144,100.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Erie County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    6,746
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    15,454
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    16,383
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    14,518
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    12,390
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    6,090
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    1,532
  • $1,000,000 or more
    219

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Erie County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Erie County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    31,502
  • 1940 to 1949
    8,586
  • 1950 to 1959
    17,277
  • 1960 to 1969
    11,366
  • 1970 to 1979
    17,675
  • 1980 to 1989
    10,550
  • 1990 to 1999
    10,641
  • 2000 to 2009
    8,320
  • 2010 to 2013
    4,012
  • 2014 or later
    12

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Erie County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    11,435
  • 1 vehicle available
    40,275
  • 2 vehicles available
    39,861
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    17,290

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Erie County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Erie County that commute to work in a particular way.

19.9 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Erie County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    4,481
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    16,592
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    21,898
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    22,921
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    18,132
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    7,836
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    11,162
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    1,979
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    2,854
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    3,562
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    2,012
  • 90 or more minutes
    1,786

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Erie County, Pennsylvania in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Erie County, Pennsylvania

We have data for 28 places in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.