Erie County, New York

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 regional Iroquoian language-speaking Erie tribe of Native Americans, who lived in the area before 1654. They were later pushed out by the more powerful Iroquoian nations tribes. 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 Iroquois. 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 Iroquois 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 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,

| align-fn = center

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2014 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.

thumb|left|300px|Erie County population

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

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Erie County, New York – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 1980

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|886,457

|822,166

|767,476

|714,156

|style='background: #ffffe6; |678,236

|87.30%

|84.89%

|80.76%

|77.71%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |71.08%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|101,969

|108,240

|121,289

|119,916

|style='background: #ffffe6; |129,874

|10.04%

|11.18%

|12.76%

|13.05%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13.61%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|5,064

|5,357

|5,354

|5,199

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4,667

|0.50%

|0.55%

|0.56%

|0.57%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.49%

|Asian alone (NH)

|5,424

|10,025

|13,759

|23,621

|style='background: #ffffe6; |46,090

|0.53%

|1.04%

|1.45%

|2.57%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.83%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|156

|165

|style='background: #ffffe6; |199

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%

|Other race alone (NH)

|2,168

|495

|940

|1,023

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,254

|0.21%

|0.05%

|0.10%

|0.11%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.34%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|10,237

|13,229

|style='background: #ffffe6; |32,258

|1.08%

|1.44%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.38%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|14,390

|22,249

|31,054

|41,731

|style='background: #ffffe6; |59,658

|1.42%

|2.30%

|3.27%

|4.54%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.25%

|Total

|1,015,472

|968,532

|950,265

|919,040

|style='background: #ffffe6; |954,236

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |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

{| class="wikitable"

! 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

{| class="wikitable"

! 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.

{| class="wikitable"

! District

! Title

! Name

! Party

! Hometown

| 1

| Lawrence J. Dupre

| Democratic

| Buffalo

| 2

| Taisha St. Jean Tard

| Democratic

| Buffalo

| 3

| Michael Kooshoian

| Democratic

| Kenmore

| 4

| John Bargnesi

| Democratic

| Town of Tonawanda

| 5

| Jeanne Vinal

| Democratic

| Amherst

| 6

| Christopher D. Greene

| Republican

| Clarence

| 7

| Chairman

| Timothy J. Meyers

| Democratic

| Cheektowaga

| 8

| Frank J. Todaro

| Republican

| Lancaster

| 9

| Majority Leader

| John Gilmour

| Democratic

| Hamburg

| 10

| Lindsay R. Lorigo

| Conservative

| West Seneca

| 11

| Minority Leader

| John J. Mills

| Republican

| Orchard Park

Education

School districts

School districts include:

Akron Central School District
Alden Central School District
Amherst Central School District
Attica Central School District
Buffalo City School District
Cheektowaga Central School District
Cheektowaga-Maryvale Union Free School District
Cheektowaga-Sloan Union Free School District
Clarence Central School District
Cleveland Hill Union Free School District
Depew Union Free School District
East Aurora Union Free School District
Eden Central School District
Evans-Brant Central School District (Lake Shore) a.k.a. Lake Shore Central School District
Frontier Central School District
Grand Island Central School District
Gowanda Central School District
Hamburg Central School District
Holland Central School District
Iroquois Central School District
Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District
Lackawanna City School District
Lancaster Central School District
North Collins Central School District
Orchard Park Central School District
Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District
Sweet Home Central School District
Tonawanda City School District
West Seneca Central School District
Williamsville Central School District
Yorkshire-Pioneer Central School District

"Special act" school districts

Randolph Academy Union Free School District - In 2011 it took the territory of another special act district, Hopevale Union Free School District

As of the 2010 U.S. census, some parts of this county were not in a defined school district, with some undefined land and some undefined water.

Higher education

Buffalo State University
Canisius College
Daemen College
D'Youville University
Erie Community College
Hilbert College
Medaille College
Trocaire College
University at Buffalo
Villa Maria College
Bryant & Stratton College
Empire State University Cheektowaga campus

Libraries

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library system has its primary library in Buffalo and 37 branch locations spread across the County.

Attractions and recreation

Erie County is home to three professional teams—the NFL's Buffalo Bills, the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and the NLL's Buffalo Bandits, along with Division I's Buffalo Bulls and MILB's Buffalo Bisons. The city of Buffalo also features the Buffalo Zoo, The Buffalo History Museum, Burchfield-Penney Art Center and Albright-Knox Art Gallery (all located within a mile of each other in the Delaware Park System), Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens and Buffalo Museum of Science, the Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House Complex in addition to tourist districts such as Canalside and Larkinville. The Erie County Fair, held every August in the Town of Hamburg from 1820 to 2024 (the 2020 event, like much everything else across the country, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), is one of the largest county fairs in the United States.

Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry

The Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry was established in 1925 with four parks spanning . As of 2003, the county managed 38 properties, totaling approximately of land. Management objectives include providing and maintaining recreational space and the conservation of the county's natural and historic resources. A 2003 Master Plan identified several broad categories of parks operated by the county, including heritage parks, waterfront parks, conservation parks, special purpose parks and forest management areas.

Akron Falls Park (established in 1933, acquired by Erie County in 1947)
Chestnut Ridge Park (established by Erie County in 1926)
Como Lake Park (established in 1923, acquired by Erie County in 1926)
Ellicott Creek Park (established by Erie County in 1926)
Emery Park (established by Erie County in 1925)

Waterfront parks

Waterfront parks include the significant scenic sites and recreational trail systems along the county's Lake Erie shoreline. These lands have limited recreation potential, mostly in the form of trails. Management of these lands is focused on natural resource conservation, in addition to potential commercial resource extraction of timber products or maple syrup.