The Population, Labor Participation, Poverty Level, Education, and Salary Ranges for the Foreign-Born and Native population of Erie County.

The proportion of foreign‐born residents who are working is a measure of labor force participation that seeks to include the growing influence of foreign‐born workers. As workforce growth faces  challenges, immigrants will help fill critical workforce needs. Some face barriers to working such as limited English or transferable skills.

Poverty

Poverty is measured in the United States by comparing a person's or family's income to a set poverty threshold or minimum amount of income needed to cover basic needs. People whose income falls under their threshold are considered poor. In 2022, The Federal Poverty Level (FPL) was set at $13,590 for an annual income of an individual. For a family of three, FPL was set at $23,030.

Approximately 19.4% of all individuals (naturalized or not) categorized as foreign-born and 15.2% of those classified as native-born residents live in poverty in Erie County. The highest sub-category of foreign-born residents of Erie County who live below the poverty level are the Non-U.S. citizens, at a rate of 27.1%.

Education

The duality of Erie County's foreign-born population shows in educational attainment, wherein the foreign-born population reports being over 3 times more likely to have less than a high school education (20.7%) as compared to native-born residents (6.8%). Conversely, foreign-born residents report a higher rate of graduate or professional degree in education levels (17.6%) as compared to native-born residents (10.8%).

Salary

Total of 14% of the foreign-born population and 13.6% of native born residents earn annually $24,999 or less. About 21.7% of foreign-born population of Erie County and 25.6% of native-born residents earn  $75,000+ per year. While it is not directly tracked, these extremes could be attributed to the nature of immigration: some foreign-born residents of Erie County have immigrated to this area to perform higher-paying professional occupations, reflected in the higher salaries and education levels, whereas others have come to Erie out of necessity to begin a new life and have not been as fortunate to receive prior education or received professional training.

Over Time

Erie County foreign-born population showed an increase in total numbers since 2013 and reached its peak in 2018 at 4.76% of Erie County's population. In 2022, the foreign-born population was at 4.38% which was a slight increase compared to 2021 of 4.30%.

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 Demographics: Foreign-Born topic is:

This indicator measures the percentage of the population in a region that is foreign-born, which includes anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth. People who become U.S. citizens through naturalization are considered foreign-born. In 2022, an increase of 0.08 puts foreign-born residents at 4.38% of the total county population. 

Data from the U.S. Census ACS as of 09/2024.