Poverty by Age Range, Sex, Employment Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Educational Attainment, by Census Tract.

The percentage of people living in or near poverty is a measure of the overall economic health of a region. It also indicates the level of need for social and government supports.

Race

For populations of color, poverty remains highest for Black/African Americans (30.87%)  and Hispanic or Latino origin (24.79%), as compared to White (16.74%) citizens. In Erie County, Native Hawaiian and other pacific islander have the lowest poverty rate (3.80%) and second lowest is American Indian and Alaska Native alone (10.53%).

Age

Poverty by age group followed a stepped decrease as the population ages. 18 to 34 years age group are at 20.2% poverty rate and 65 years and over are at 10.6%.

Educational Attainment

Poverty by educational attainment in Erie County closely matches trends in the U.S. for the demographics with less than high school educations, with a steady decline in afflicted populations with increasing educations. Comparatively, nearly a third of Erie's population without a high school diploma or equivalent fall below the poverty level (30.18%).

Over Time

Poverty in Erie County incrementally rose from 2010 to 2013 and remained at an average of 16.7% for 3 years, but has fallen since 2017 and the poverty rate for 2022 is 15.4%. The Erie County average has remained higher than PA statewide poverty rate of 11.8%.

EVS analyzes the data in each topic category using indicators, which report a targeted and digestible number, rate, or amount to represent Erie County as a whole. While this does not cover every aspect of the topic, it assists in establishing Erie's performance relative to the prior year(s). The indicator for the Economy: Poverty topic is:

This indicator measures the percentage of the entire population of Erie County which fall below the poverty level for the latest data year. The indicattor trend for Poverty Rate is down and better from 2021 to 2022, with a reported decrease of -0.3% within the County. There were an estimated 39,662 individuals living in poverty in Erie County in 2022.

Data from the U.S. Census ACS as of 09/2024. Population 25 years and older used for Education category.