Erie County is a large urban county along the shore of Lake Erie in the western region of the U.S. state of New York, and the most populated county in New York State outside of the NYC Metro. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236. In 2025 the estimated population was 946,741. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. Both the county and Lake Erie were named for the Indigenous Iroquoian language-speaking Erie people, who lived in the area before 1654. They were later pushed out or assimilated by the neighboring Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) during the Beaver Wars. The county is part of the Western New York region of the state.
Erie County, along with its northern neighbor Niagara County, makes up the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, the second largest in the State of New York behind New York City. The county's southern part is known as the Southtowns.
History
When counties were established by the English colonial authorities in the Province of New York in 1683, present-day Erie County was inhabited by the Haudenosaunee. Significant colonization by White Americans did not begin until after the United States had gained independence with the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. The U.S. forced the Haudenosaunee to cede most of their lands, as many had been allies of the British during the conflict.
About 1800, the Holland Land Company, formed by American businessmen and their Dutch associates, extinguished aboriginal claims by purchasing the land from New York, acquired the title to the territory of what are today the eight westernmost counties of New York, surveyed their holdings, established towns and began selling lots to individuals. The state was eager to attract settlers and have homesteads and businesses developed. At this time, all of western New York was included in Ontario County.
As the population increased, the state legislature created Genesee County in 1802 out of part of Ontario County. In 1808, Niagara County was created out of Genesee County. In 1821, Erie County was created out of Niagara County, encompassing all the land between Tonawanda Creek and Cattaraugus Creek.The Burned-Over District: Evolution of County Boundaries. Oliver Cowdery Home Page , accessed December 7, 2008. The first towns formed in present-day Erie County were the Town of Clarence and the Town of Willink. Clarence and Willink comprised the northern and southern portions of Erie county, respectively. Clarence is still a distinct town, but Willink was quickly subdivided into other towns. When Erie County was established in 1821, it consisted of the towns of Amherst, Aurora, Boston, Clarence, Collins, Concord, Eden, Evans, Hamburg, Holland, Sardinia and Wales.
The county has a number of houses and other properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Erie County, New York.
In 1861, the hamlet of Town Line in the Town of Lancaster voted 85–40 to secede from the Union. Town Line never sought admission into the Confederate States of America and there is no evidence that men from the community ever fought for the Confederacy. Some reporting from that time indicates the vote was a joke. On January 24, 1946, as part of a nationally reported event, Town Line voted to officially return to the Union after 85 years of Union secession.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (85%) is land and (15%) is water.
Erie County is in the western portion of upstate New York, bordering on the lake of the same name. Part of the industrial area that has included Buffalo, it is the most populous county in upstate New York outside of the New York City metropolitan area. The county also lies on the international border between the United States and Canada, bordering the Province of Ontario.
The northern border of the county is Tonawanda Creek. Part of the southern border is Cattaraugus Creek. Other major streams include Buffalo Creek (Buffalo River), Cayuga Creek, Cazenovia Creek, Scajaquada Creek, Eighteen Mile Creek and Ellicott Creek. The county's northern half, including Buffalo and its suburbs, is known as the Northtowns and is relatively flat and rises gently up from the lake. The southern half, known as the Southtowns, is much hillier. It has the northwesternmost foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The highest elevation in the county is a hill in the Town of Sardinia that tops out at around above sea level. The lowest ground is about , on Grand Island at the Niagara River. The Onondaga Escarpment runs through the northern part of Erie County.
Rivers, streams and lakes
Buffalo River Cattaraugus Creek Cayuga Creek Cazenovia Creek Eighteen Mile Creek Ellicott Creek Lake Erie Niagara River Scajaquada Creek Tonawanda Creek
Adjacent counties and municipality Niagara County – north Genesee County – northeast Wyoming County – southeast Cattaraugus County – south Chautauqua County – southwest Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada – northwest
Major highways
Interstate 90 (New York State Thruway) Interstate 190 (Niagara Thruway) Interstate 290 (Youngmann Expressway) Interstate 990 (Lockport Expressway) U.S. Route 20 (Southwestern Boulevard/Transit Road/Broadway) U.S. Route 20A (Big Tree Road) U.S. Route 62 (South Park Avenue/Bailey Avenue/Niagara Falls Boulevard) U.S. Route 219 (Southern Expressway) New York State Route 5 (Hamburg Turnpike/Buffalo Skyway/Main Street) New York State Route 16 (Seneca Street) New York State Route 33 (Kensington Expressway/Genesee Street) New York State Route 39 New York State Route 78 (Transit Road) New York State Route 179 (Milestrip Expressway/Road) New York State Route 198 (Scajaquada Expressway) New York State Route 263 (Grover Cleveland Highway/Millersport Highway) New York State Route 240 (Orchard Park Road/Harlem Road) New York State Route 277 (Union Road) New York State Route 324 (Grand Island Boulevard/Sheridan Drive) New York State Route 354 (Clinton Street) New York State Route 400 (Aurora Expressway)
Erie County routes
National protected area Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
State protected areas
Amherst State Park, Town of Amherst Beaver Island State Park, Town of Grand Island Buckhorn Island State Park, Town of Grand Island Buffalo Harbor State Park, City of Buffalo Evangola State Park, Towns of Brant and Evans Great Baehre Swamp Wildlife Management Area, Town of Amherst Hampton Brook Woods Wildlife Management Area, Village of Hamburg Knox Farm State Park, Town of East Aurora Motor Island Wildlife Management Area, Town of Grand Island Onondaga Escarpment Unique Area, Town of Akron Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, Town of Cheektowaga Spicer Creek Wildlife Management Area, Town of Grand Island Strawberry Island State Park, Town of Townawanda Tillman Road Wildlife Management Area, Town of Clarence Woodlawn Beach State Park, Town of Hamburg Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area, Town of Collins
Demographics
As of the 2023, there were 954,236 people living in the county. The population density was . There were 438,747 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 77.8 White, 13.9% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 5.0% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.4% from other races and 5.4% from two or more races. 6.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.6% were of German, 17.2% Polish, 14.9% Italian, 11.7% Irish and 5.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.1% spoke English, 3% Spanish and 1.6% Polish as their first language.
There were 380,873 households, out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 36.1% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.04. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% older than 65. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $38,567 and the median income for a family was $49,490. Males had a median income of $38,703 versus $26,510 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,357. About 9.2% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under 18 and 7.8% of those older than 65.
2020 census +Erie County, New York – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)886,457822,166767,476714,156678,23687.30%84.89%80.76%77.71%71.08%Black or African American alone (NH)101,969108,240121,289119,916129,87410.04%11.18%12.76%13.05%13.61%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)5,0645,3575,3545,1994,6670.50%0.55%0.56%0.57%0.49%Asian alone (NH)5,42410,02513,75923,62146,0900.53%1.04%1.45%2.57%4.83%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census156165199xx0.02%0.02%0.02%Other race alone (NH)2,1684959401,0233,2540.21%0.05%0.10%0.11%0.34%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census10,23713,22932,258xx1.08%1.44%3.38%Hispanic or Latino (any race)14,39022,24931,05441,73159,6581.42%2.30%3.27%4.54%6.25%Total1,015,472968,532950,265919,040954,236 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
County government and politics Prior to 1936, Erie County predominantly backed Republican Party candidates, with only four Democratic Party candidates winning the county in a presidential election - James Buchanan in 1856, George B. McClellan in 1864, Grover Cleveland in 1892 and Woodrow Wilson in 1912. However, starting with the 1936 election, it has turned predominantly Democratic since then, with only two Republicans carrying the county in a presidential election-- Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 and Richard Nixon in 1972, with Nixon being the most recent. In 2016, like many other counties in the Rust Belt, Donald Trump expanded the Republican vote share thanks to his appeal to working-class whites and Ethnic-Catholic voters, keeping the margin in single digits for the first time since 1984. Four years later, in 2020, Joe Biden won 267,270 votes in Erie County, more than Barack Obama in 2008. Biden's margin of victory, however, was smaller than Obama's 2008 victory within the county and Trump's margin, though declining, was still higher than any Republican since 1988 (aside from his 2016 margin).
Erie County executives Name Party Term Edward C. Rath Republican 1962–1969 B. John Tutuska Republican 1969–1971 Edward Regan Republican 1972–1978 Ed Rutkowski Republican 1979–1987 Dennis Gorski Democratic 1988–1999 Joel Giambra Republican 2000–2007 Chris Collins Republican 2008–2011 Mark Poloncarz Democratic 2012–Present
Elected officials Office Name Party Hometown County Executive Mark Poloncarz Democratic Buffalo County Comptroller Kevin R. Hardwick Democratic Tonawanda County Clerk Mickey Kearns Republican Buffalo District Attorney Michael Keane Democratic Buffalo County Sheriff John C. Garcia Republican Buffalo
County legislature As of 2025, there are seven Democrats, three Republicans, and one Conservative in the county legislature.