950,602 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.2% since 2020)
1,043 square miles of land · 912 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
44 active community water systems list Erie County in the area they serve, reporting 944,753 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ECWA DIRECT surface water · public/private · NY1400443 | 313,380 served |
| BUFFALO WATER AUTHORITY surface water · local government · NY1400422 | 276,000 served |
| ECWA AMHERST buys surface water · local government · NY1400399 | 92,697 served |
| TONAWANDA, TOWN WATER DEPT. surface water · local government · NY1404556 | 72,571 served |
| ECWA LANCASTER buys surface water · local government · NY1400421 | 29,018 served |
| ECWA ORCHARD PARK buys surface water · local government · NY1421762 | 24,582 served |
| ECWA WEST SENECA buys surface water · local government · NY1404543 | 23,557 served |
| GRAND ISLAND TOWN WATER DEPT. surface water · local government · NY1400451 | 19,500 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 757 people were held in Erie County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 705.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
28 school districts have their office in Erie County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $1.2 billion — $1.1 billion to run schools, about $35,475 per student, plus $31.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $158.2 million local (mostly property tax), $912.4 million state, $252.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $495.1 million.
Spent $223.9 million — $191.7 million to run schools, about $19,726 per student, plus $23.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $152.8 million local (mostly property tax), $65.9 million state, $15.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.8 million.
Spent $218.1 million — $185.9 million to run schools, about $28,566 per student, plus $27.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $103 million local (mostly property tax), $80.6 million state, $14.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $42.6 million.
Spent $163.5 million — $137.7 million to run schools, about $22,392 per student, plus $16.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $75.2 million local (mostly property tax), $66.3 million state, $11.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $46.6 million.
Spent $135.4 million — $108.4 million to run schools, about $19,852 per student, plus $22 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $69.6 million local (mostly property tax), $52.3 million state, $9.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $81.6 million.
Spent $122.5 million — $107.7 million to run schools, about $22,174 per student, plus $8.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $77.6 million local (mostly property tax), $35.5 million state, $4.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $54.8 million.
Spent $115.3 million — $92 million to run schools, about $19,751 per student, plus $19.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $51.8 million local (mostly property tax), $47.4 million state, $6.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $37.2 million.
Spent $103.6 million — $87.4 million to run schools, about $21,168 per student, plus $12.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $62.8 million local (mostly property tax), $27.5 million state, $5.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $23.3 million.
And 20 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Erie County about $286 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
907 bridges in Erie County: 245 in good condition, 582 fair, and 80 poor (8.8%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| RTE I90 over GALLERIA DRIVE SCAJAQUA · built 1950 | 126,187 vehicles a day |
| RTE 33 over 90IX RTE I90 · built 1949 | 86,449 vehicles a day |
| RTE I190 over PEABODY ST · built 1957 | 75,744 vehicles a day |
| RTE I290 over CR 209 · built 1954 | 35,622 vehicles a day |
| RTE 277 over BUFFALO CREEK · built 1980 | 24,055 vehicles a day |
| RTE 20 over CAZENOVIA CREEK · built 1929 | 21,396 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $575.7 million of work in Erie County in fiscal 2025, about $603 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for New York are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Erie County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Erie County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New York: the state government and every county in New York.
Nearby counties: Wyoming County (28 mi) · Genesee County (34 mi) · Niagara County (36 mi) · Cattaraugus County (36 mi) · Chautauqua County (44 mi) · Orleans County (50 mi).