County outline
Where Erie County is located
Area breakdown
Land accounts for 51.3% of Erie County’s measured area and water for 48.7%. Its combined area converts to 4,035.4 square kilometers or approximately 997,173 acres.
Green: land · blue: water
| Measurement | Square miles | Square kilometers | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land | 798.954 | 2,069.281 | 511,330.6 |
| Water | 759.129 | 1,966.135 | 485,842.6 |
| Total | 1,558.083 | 4,035.416 | 997,173.1 |
How Erie County compares
By original Census land area, Erie County ranks #23 of 67 in Pennsylvania and #1070 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Its land area is 1.223 times the Pennsylvania county-equivalent median of 653.3 square miles. It accounts for 1.8% of the combined county land area in the state.
See the complete Pennsylvania ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?
Population and density of Erie County
The Census Bureau estimates that 265,832 people lived in Erie County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #280 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #16 of 67 in Pennsylvania. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 271,038, the population has declined by 5,206 (−1.9%), compared with +0.4% for Pennsylvania as a whole.
With 799 square miles of land, that is 333 people per square mile (128 per km²), placing Erie County #467 nationally for density and #19 in Pennsylvania. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Pennsylvania median is 137. Put another way, there are about 1.9 acres of land per resident.
| July 1 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 270,724 | 269,444 | 268,923 | 267,628 | 266,435 | 265,832 |
| Change | — | −1,280 | −521 | −1,295 | −1,193 | −603 |
U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.
Cities and towns in Erie County
Erie County is divided into 38 municipalities and townships. In Pennsylvania, county subdivisions are local governments, and together they cover all of the county’s land and residents.
The most populous is Erie city, with 91,838 residents (34.5% of the county). The largest by land is Waterford township, at 50 mi², or 6.3% of the county’s land. Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Edinboro borough grew fastest since then (+16.6%).
| County subdivision | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² | Share of county land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erie cityCounty seat | 91,838 | −3.3% | 19.1 | 2.4% |
| Millcreek township | 52,680 | −2.6% | 32.1 | 4% |
| Harborcreek township | 16,603 | −0.2% | 34.1 | 4.3% |
| Fairview township | 11,494 | +3.2% | 28.9 | 3.6% |
| Summit township | 7,539 | +2.7% | 24.1 | 3% |
| North East township | 6,424 | −1.7% | 42.2 | 5.3% |
| Corry city | 5,993 | −3.5% | 5.994 | 0.8% |
| Edinboro borough | 5,790 | +16.6% | 2.287 | 0.3% |
| Girard township | 4,780 | −1.9% | 31.4 | 3.9% |
| Greene township | 4,428 | −1.5% | 37.4 | 4.7% |
| Washington township | 4,364 | −0.6% | 45.2 | 5.7% |
| McKean township | 4,340 | −1.8% | 36.8 | 4.6% |
| North East borough | 4,018 | −2.1% | 1.303 | 0.2% |
| Waterford township | 3,852 | −1.2% | 50 | 6.3% |
| Conneaut township | 3,824 | −8.7% | 43.1 | 5.4% |
Show the other 23 subdivisions
| Name | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Park township | 3,684 | −3.5% | 1.837 |
| Wesleyville borough | 3,112 | −3.3% | 0.53 |
| Springfield township | 3,002 | −2.4% | 37.4 |
| Girard borough | 2,906 | −2.8% | 2.344 |
| Lake City borough | 2,842 | −3% | 1.797 |
| Union City borough | 2,823 | −3.4% | 1.83 |
| Venango township | 2,202 | −2.1% | 43.4 |
| Elk Creek township | 1,830 | +2.3% | 34.7 |
| Greenfield township | 1,777 | −1.1% | 33.8 |
| LeBoeuf township | 1,653 | −0.8% | 33.5 |
| Union township | 1,541 | −0.5% | 36.4 |
| Wayne township | 1,497 | −2.8% | 38 |
| Albion borough | 1,479 | −2.8% | 1.078 |
| Franklin township | 1,475 | −2.3% | 28.7 |
| Waterford borough | 1,430 | −2.9% | 1.226 |
| Concord township | 1,249 | −2.3% | 33 |
| Amity township | 976 | −1% | 28 |
| Cranesville borough | 563 | −1.1% | 0.935 |
| McKean borough | 477 | −0.4% | 0.572 |
| Platea borough | 431 | −2% | 3.343 |
| Mill Village borough | 378 | −3.8% | 0.919 |
| Wattsburg borough | 340 | −3.1% | 0.298 |
| Elgin borough | 198 | −2.9% | 1.474 |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Erie County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.
Metropolitan area
Erie County is a central county of the Erie, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Erie County is the area’s only county equivalent, so the metro area has the same 799 square miles of land. By combined land it ranks #305 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #192 by population. It belongs to the Erie-Meadville, PA Combined Statistical Area.
ZIP codes
35 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Erie County; 33 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.
1640116403164071641016411164121641516417164211642316426164271642816430164351643816441164421644316444164751650116502165031650416505165061650716508165091651016511165461655016563
ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.
Counties bordering Erie County
Erie County shares a land border with 4 county equivalents, including 2 in New York and Ohio. It has more land than 1 of them. The largest neighbor is Chautauqua County (1,060.4 mi²) and the smallest is Ashtabula County (702.4 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Erie County forms a block of 4,458.4 mi² of land, of which it holds 17.9%.
| Bordering county equivalent | Land mi² | Size vs. Erie | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chautauqua CountyNew York | 1,060.4 | 1.3× larger | Compare |
| Crawford County | 1,012.4 | 1.3× larger | Compare |
| Warren County | 884.3 | 1.1× larger | Compare |
| Ashtabula CountyOhio | 702.4 | 1.1× smaller | Compare |
How big is Erie County compared with U.S. states?
Erie County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.3 times as much. Pennsylvania’s county land could hold about 56 areas the size of Erie County.
Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 28.3 miles (45.5 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.
State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.
What stands out about Erie County?
Erie County has more land than 2,152 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.
A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.
Does including water change its rank?
Using land plus water places Erie County at #430 nationally by total area, 640 places closer to the top than its land rank. The water assigned to this geography moves it ahead of some county equivalents with more land.
Its water share is 48.7%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 47.6 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.
Closest positions in the national land ranking
These entries sit immediately beside Erie County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.
| Land rank | County equivalent | Land mi² | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1069 | Chesterfield County, South Carolina | 799 | Compare |
| #1070 | Erie County, Pennsylvania | 799 | This county |
| #1071 | Arapahoe County, Colorado | 797.9 | Compare |
Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.
Representative coordinates
The Census internal point is 42.117952, -80.096386. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.
Source and precision
U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 2,069,281,956 m²; AWATER: 1,966,134,865 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.
Common questions
How big is Erie County?
Erie County, Pennsylvania has 799 square miles (2,069.3 km²) of land and 759.1 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,558.1 square miles. It ranks #1070 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.
Is Erie County the largest county in Pennsylvania?
No. Erie County ranks #23 of 67 in Pennsylvania by land area. The largest is Lycoming County, with 1,228.9 square miles of land.
What counties border Erie County?
Erie County shares a land border with Crawford County, Chautauqua County, New York, Warren County, and Ashtabula County, Ohio.
What is the population of Erie County?
The Census Bureau estimates Erie County had 265,832 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #280 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 333 people per square mile of land.
What is the county seat of Erie County?
The county seat of Erie County is Erie.
What cities and towns are in Erie County?
Erie County has 38 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Erie city, Millcreek township, Harborcreek township, Fairview township, and Summit township.
Is Erie County part of a metropolitan area?
Yes. It is a central county of the Erie, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
How many ZIP codes are in Erie County?
35 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Erie County, and 33 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.
How does Erie County compare with U.S. states?
It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.3 times as much land.
How many acres of land are in Erie County?
The land measurement converts to approximately 511,331 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 997,173 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.
Why might another source show a different area?
Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.
Can this establish a property boundary?
No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.