73,841 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.2% since 2020)
251 square miles of land · 294 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.
12 active community water systems list Erie County in the area they serve, reporting 80,340 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SANDUSKY CITY surface water · local government · OH2201411 | 25,793 served |
| ERIE CO PERKINS DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · OH2200603 | 17,241 served |
| VERMILION CITY surface water · local government · OH2201511 | 10,594 served |
| HURON CITY surface water · local government · OH2201011 | 6,893 served |
| NORTHERN OHIO RURAL WATER - NW DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · OH2201803 | 6,409 served |
| ERIE CO MARGARETTA DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · OH2200203 | 5,131 served |
| KELLEYS ISLAND VILLAGE surface water · local government · OH2201111 | 3,125 served |
| ERIE CO HURON EAST DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · OH2200403 | 1,713 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 106 people were held in Erie County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 239 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 123.
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.
8 school districts have their office in Erie County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $63 million — $55.3 million to run schools, about $17,349 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $29.2 million local (mostly property tax), $25.8 million state, $11.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $29.2 million.
Spent $29.4 million — $27.9 million to run schools, about $14,698 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $23.6 million local (mostly property tax), $6 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $126,000.
Spent $30.6 million — $28.8 million to run schools, about $16,713 per student, plus $329,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $20.2 million local (mostly property tax), $6.6 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.8 million.
Spent $20.8 million — $19.1 million to run schools, about $13,642 per student, plus $828,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.7 million local (mostly property tax), $6.8 million state, $2.6 million federal.
Spent $19.5 million — $17.6 million to run schools, about $14,567 per student, plus $635,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.1 million local (mostly property tax), $4.9 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.5 million.
Spent $21.4 million — $17.6 million to run schools, about $16,300 per student, plus $3.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12 million local (mostly property tax), $5.8 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.7 million.
Spent $25.1 million — $18.1 million to run schools, about $26,957 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.8 million local (mostly property tax), $8.7 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.7 million.
Spent $1.2 million — $1.1 million to run schools, about $213,200 per student, plus $118,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.1 million local (mostly property tax), $207,000 state, $41,000 federal.
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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Erie County about $21.2 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.
226 bridges in Erie County: 140 in good condition, 82 fair, and 4 poor (1.8%). “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.
| BOGART RD CR10 over BOGART RD/MILLS CREEK · built 1941 | 3,140 vehicles a day |
| VERMILION ROAD over NSRR RAILROAD · built 1975 | 2,682 vehicles a day |
| RANSOM RD TR44 over RANSOM RD/CLAYTON DITCH · built 1962 | 363 vehicles a day |
| POORMAN RD TR141 over POORMAN RD/CHAPPEL CREEK · built 1900 | 212 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $71.6 million of work in Erie County in fiscal 2025, about $947 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 Ohio 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 Ohio: the state government and every county in Ohio.
Nearby counties: Huron County (17 mi) · Lorain County (21 mi) · Ottawa County (24 mi) · Sandusky County (29 mi) · Seneca County (34 mi) · Medina County (40 mi).