Erie County vs Monroe County

A side-by-side comparison of Erie County and Monroe County: population, income, housing, and more.

Erie County and Monroe County are counties in New York. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Erie County has the higher population (950,044 vs 754,068 in Monroe County). Monroe County has the higher median household income ($74,409 vs $71,175 in Erie County). Erie County has the higher median home value ($217,400 vs $197,100 in Monroe County).

Population, income & housing

	Erie County	Monroe County
Population	950,044	754,068
Median age	40.3 yrs	39.5 yrs
Median household income	$71,175	$74,409
Median home value	$217,400	$197,100
Median gross rent	$1,037	$1,126
Housing units	439,987	337,688
Homeownership rate	65.5%	63.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.9%	41.2%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Erie County	Monroe County
Population	919,355 → 950,044 (+3.3%)	743,341 → 754,068 (+1.4%)
Median household income	$58,121 → $71,175 (+22.5%)	$60,075 → $74,409 (+23.9%)
Median home value	$153,400 → $217,400 (+41.7%)	$148,400 → $197,100 (+32.8%)
Median gross rent	$829 → $1,037 (+25.1%)	$927 → $1,126 (+21.5%)

Erie County

Population

919,355950,044

Median household income

$58,121$71,175

Median home value

$153,400$217,400

Median gross rent

$829$1,037

Monroe County

Population

743,341754,068

Median household income

$60,075$74,409

Median home value

$148,400$197,100

Median gross rent

$927$1,126

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Erie County	Monroe County
Under 5	5.3%	5.3%
5 to 17	15.0%	15.3%
18 to 24	9.0%	9.7%
25 to 34	13.9%	13.8%
35 to 44	12.2%	12.3%
45 to 54	11.7%	11.7%
55 to 64	14.1%	13.7%
65 to 74	11.1%	10.7%
75 and over	7.7%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Erie County	Monroe County
White (non-Hispanic)	73.0%	68.4%
Black or African American	12.3%	13.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	4.5%	3.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.2%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	9.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Erie County	Monroe County
No high school diploma	7.6%	8.2%
High school graduate	25.8%	22.9%
Some college or associate's	29.7%	27.7%
Bachelor's degree	20.5%	22.8%
Graduate or professional degree	16.5%	18.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Erie County	Monroe County
Drove alone	74.1%	72.9%
Carpooled	7.5%	7.6%
Public transit	3.0%	1.8%
Walked	2.4%	2.4%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.4%
Worked from home	11.4%	13.7%
Other means	1.3%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Erie County	Monroe County
1-unit, detached	58.8%	62.1%
1-unit, attached	3.3%	6.4%
2 to 4 units	23.1%	12.9%
5 to 19 units	6.8%	9.2%
20 or more units	6.5%	8.4%
Mobile home & other	1.6%	0.9%

Poverty & households

	Erie County	Monroe County
Poverty rate	14.0%	13.1%
Average household size	2.26	2.30
Mean commute (minutes)	21	20
Median year structure built	1957	1965