Erie, PA

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

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2023 Population

269,544

0.352% 1-year decline

US Senator

John Fetterman

Democratic Party

US Senator

Dave McCormick

Republican Party

2023 Median Age

40.1

0.501% 1-year increase

2023 Poverty Rate

15.4%

0.119% 1-year increase

2023 Median Household Income

$61,476

3.5% 1-year growth

2023 Employed Population

122,520

1.5% 1-year decline

About

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Erie, PA are White (Non-Hispanic) (82.3%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (6.62%), Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (3.96%), Two+ (Hispanic) (2.24%), and Asian (Non-Hispanic) (1.96%).

None of the households in Erie, PA reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

98.1% of the residents in Erie, PA are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in Erie, PA are Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (1,234 degrees awarded in 2022), Gannon University (1,194 degrees), and Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College (944 degrees).

Most people in Erie, PA drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 19.9 minutes. The average car ownership in Erie, PA was 2 cars per household.

Erie, PA borders Ashtabula, OH, Jamestown-Dunkirk-Fredonia, NY, Meadville, PA, and Warren, PA.

About the photo: Erie Harbor Pierhead Lighthouse, Erie, PA

Photo by Andrej Baran

United States Pennsylvania

Population & Diversity

Erie, PA is home to a population of 270k people, from which 98.1% are citizens. As of 2023, 4.13% of Erie, PA residents were born outside of the country (11.1k people).

In 2023, there were 12.4 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (222k people) in Erie, PA than any other race or ethnicity. There were 17.8k Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) and 10.7k Two+ (Non-Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

98.1%

2023 Citizenship

98.1%

2022 Citizenship

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Erie, PA compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Erie, PA

White (Non-Hispanic)
222k ± 669
Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
17.8k ± 769
Two+ (Non-Hispanic)
10.7k ± 947

4.63%

Hispanic Population

12.5k people

4.63% of the people in Erie, PA are hispanic (12.5k people).

The following chart shows the 7 races represented in Erie, PA as a share of the total population.

Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the MSA level, so we are showing data for Pennsylvania.

Most Common Origin

India
99,082 ± 7,698 people
Dominican Republic
90,229 ± 7,349 people
China
69,880 ± 6,473 people

In 2022, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Pennsylvania was India, the natal country of 99,082 Pennsylvania residents, followed by Dominican Republic with 90,229 and China with 69,880.

Foreign-Born Population

4.13%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

11.1k people

4.08%

2022 Foreign-Born Population

11k people

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Erie, PA compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Vietnam
5,431 ± 392
Gulf War (2001-)
2,869 ± 413
Gulf War (1990s)
2,082 ± 272

Erie, PA has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 1.89 times greater than any other conflict.

Economy

The economy of Erie, PA employs 123k people. The largest industries in Erie, PA are Health Care & Social Assistance (22,801 people), Manufacturing (18,951 people), and Retail Trade (12,921 people), and the highest paying industries are Utilities ($71,371), Public Administration ($58,068), and Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($57,258).

Males in Pennsylvania have an average income that is 1.32 times higher than the average income of females, which is $62,610. The income inequality in Pennsylvania (measured using the Gini index) is 0.466, which is lower than than the national average.

Employment

Occupations

123k

2023 Value

± 2,676

−1.5%

1 Year decline

± 3.12%

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Erie, PA, are Office & Administrative Support Occupations (12,862 people), Management Occupations (12,504 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (10,555 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Erie, PA.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for false.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Pennsylvania (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

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Industries

Employment by Industries

123k

2023 Value

± 2,676

−1.5%

1 Year decline

± 3.12%

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Erie, PA, are Health Care & Social Assistance (22,801 people), Manufacturing (18,951 people), and Retail Trade (12,921 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Erie, PA, though some of these residents may live in Erie, PA and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Pennsylvania.

Y-Axis

2.78%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 6.03M people employed in Pennsylvania. This represents a 2.78% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 18.1%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Pennsylvania.

Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments

479
Other Services (except Public Administration)
315
Retail Trade
296
Health Care and Social Assistance

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

Depending on the option selected, the visualization shows the number of employees or number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll

$1.46M
Manufacturing
$1.41M
Health Care and Social Assistance
$454k
Finance and Insurance

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

Civics

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Pennsylvania went to Donald J. Trump with 50.4% of the vote. The runner-up was Kamala Harris (48.7%), followed by Jill Stein (0.491%).

John Fetterman and Dave McCormick are the senators currently representing the state of Pennsylvania. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

Pennsylvania is currently represented by 17 members in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Presidential Elections

Presidential Popular Vote Over Time

Voting results are not available for Erie, PA. Showing the available data for Pennsylvania.

2024 Election Results

Donald J. Trump (50.4%)
Republican Party
Kamala Harris (48.7%)
Democratic Party
Jill Stein (0.491%)
Green Party

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Pennsylvania went to Donald J. Trump with 50.4% of the vote. The runner-up was Kamala Harris (48.7%), followed by Jill Stein (0.491%).

The following chart shows the popular vote results in Pennsylvania for each registered party from 1976 to 2024.

Senator Elections

US Senators from Pennsylvania

Senatorial voting results are only available at the state level. Showing data for Pennsylvania.

John Fetterman

Senator from Pennsylvania

Assumed office on January 3, 2023

Dave McCormick

Senator from Pennsylvania

Assumed office on January 3, 2025

John Fetterman and Dave McCormick are the senators currently representing Pennsylvania.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in Pennsylvania over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

US Representative Elections

US Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is currently represented by 17 members in the U.S. house.

Members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms, and the following chart shows the how the members for Pennsylvania have changed over time starting in 2008.

Education

In 2022, universities in Erie, PA awarded 4,725 degrees. The student population of Erie, PA in 2022 is skewed towards women, with 7,240 male students and 8,314 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in Erie, PA are White (3,527 and 77.8%), followed by Asian (377 and 8.32%), Hispanic or Latino (212 and 4.68%), and Black or African American (211 and 4.66%).

The largest universities in Erie, PA by number of degrees awarded are Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (1,234 and 26.1%), Gannon University (1,194 and 25.3%), and Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College (944 and 20%).

The most popular majors in Erie, PA are Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy (541 and 11.4%), Pharmacy (278 and 5.88%), and Other Health Preparatory Programs (188 and 3.98%).

The median tuition costs in Erie, PA are $35,620 for private four year colleges, and $15,388 and $25,854 respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.

Completions

Concentrations

Most Common

General Biological Sciences
126 degrees awarded
Other Health Professions & Related Clinical Sciences
126 degrees awarded
Mechanical Engineering
88 degrees awarded

In 2022, the most common concentation for Bachelors Degree recipients in Erie, PA was General Biological Sciences with 126 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Bachelors Degree from schools in Erie, PA according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
1,234 degrees awarded
Gannon University
1,194 degrees awarded
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College
944 degrees awarded

In 2022, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine with 1,234 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

In 2022, 2,160 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Erie, PA, which is 0.842 times less than the 2,565 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2022 the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was White students. These 3,527 degrees mean that there were 9.36 times more degrees awarded to White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Asian, with 377 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Working Population

Educational Pyramid

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Pennsylvania.

Measure

In 2022, 0.733% of men over 25 years of age had not completed any academic degree (no schooling), while 0.743% of women were in the same situation.

This visualization shows the gender distribution of the population according to the academic level reached.

Educational Attainment

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Pennsylvania.

Race

The most common educational levels obtained by the working population in 2022 were High School or Equivalent (3.5M), Bachelors Degree (1.98M), and Some college (1.83M).

This visualization illustrates the percentage distribution of the population according to the highest educational level reached. You can filter the data by race by using the selector above.

Housing & Living

People in Erie, PA have an average commute time of 19.9 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Erie, PA is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

Housing

Rent vs Own

N/A%

Homeownership

N/A

62.2%

Homeowners with Mortgage

2023

This chart shows the percentage of owner in Erie, PA compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

Equity

Income by Location

Use the dropdown to filter by race/ethnicity.

The following map shows all of the counties in Erie, PA colored by their Median Household Income (N/A).

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Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$61,476

Median Household Income

± $1,408

N/A

Number of Households

± 0

The following chart displays the households in Erie, PA distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $75k - $100k range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Erie, PA is from Pennsylvania.

0.466

2022 Wage GINI in Pennsylvania

0.467

2021 Wage GINI in Pennsylvania

In 2022, the income inequality in Pennsylvania was 0.466 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.123% decline from 2021 to 2022, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even. The GINI for Pennsylvania was lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Pennsylvania in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Pennsylvania across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2023

Drove Alone (76.4%)
Carpooled (9.32%)
Worked At Home (8.16%)

In 2023, 76.4% of workers in Erie, PA drove alone to work, followed by those who carpooled to work (9.32%) and those who worked at home (8.16%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

19.9 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Erie, PA have a shorter commute time (19.9 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.6 minutes). Additionally, 1.54% of the workforce in Erie, PA have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Erie, PA compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Erie, PA distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Erie, PA have 2 cars.

Poverty

Poverty & Diversity

15.4% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Erie, PA (39.5k out of 256k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 12.4%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 25 - 34, followed by Females 55 - 64 and then Females 35 - 44.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Erie, PA is White, followed by Black and Two Or More.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals
Florida
4,915 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798. New York has the second highest (5,087), followed by Florida (4,915).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

Health

95.9% of the population of Erie, PA has health coverage, with 46.1% on employee plans, 21.4% on Medicaid, 14.4% on Medicare, 12.7% on non-group plans, and 1.34% on military or VA plans.

Primary care physicians in Pennsylvania see 1216 patients per year on average, which represents a 0.491% decrease from the previous year (1222 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 1410 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 397 patients per year.

Coverage

Patient to Clinician Ratios

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Pennsylvania.

1,216 to 1

Patient to Primary Care Physician Ratio in Pennsylvania

Primary care physicians in Pennsylvania see an average of 1,216 patients per year. This represents a 0.491% decrease from the previous year (1,222 patients).

The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in Pennsylvania in comparison to its neighboring geographies.

Health Care Diversity

In N/A, insured persons according to age ranges were distributed in .

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 48.6% were men and 51.4% were women.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

Uninsured People

4.11%

Uninsured

46.1%

Employer Coverage

21.4%

Medicaid

14.4%

Medicare

12.7%

Non-Group

1.34%

Military or VA

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Erie, PA changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.

Keep Exploring

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