Erie County vs Nassau County

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

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

Nassau County has the higher population (1,388,138 vs 950,044 in Erie County). Nassau County has the higher median household income ($143,408 vs $71,175 in Erie County). Nassau County has the higher median home value ($658,700 vs $217,400 in Erie County).

Population, income & housing

	Erie County	Nassau County
Population	950,044	1,388,138
Median age	40.3 yrs	41.8 yrs
Median household income	$71,175	$143,408
Median home value	$217,400	$658,700
Median gross rent	$1,037	$2,195
Housing units	439,987	477,860
Homeownership rate	65.5%	81.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.9%	48.7%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	4.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Erie County	Nassau County
Population	919,355 → 950,044 (+3.3%)	1,356,509 → 1,388,138 (+2.3%)
Median household income	$58,121 → $71,175 (+22.5%)	$116,100 → $143,408 (+23.5%)
Median home value	$153,400 → $217,400 (+41.7%)	$493,500 → $658,700 (+33.5%)
Median gross rent	$829 → $1,037 (+25.1%)	$1,772 → $2,195 (+23.9%)

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

Nassau County

Population

1,356,5091,388,138

Median household income

$116,100$143,408

Median home value

$493,500$658,700

Median gross rent

$1,772$2,195

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Erie County	Nassau County
Under 5	5.3%	5.3%
5 to 17	15.0%	16.3%
18 to 24	9.0%	8.4%
25 to 34	13.9%	11.7%
35 to 44	12.2%	12.4%
45 to 54	11.7%	13.3%
55 to 64	14.1%	14.4%
65 to 74	11.1%	10.5%
75 and over	7.7%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Erie County	Nassau County
White (non-Hispanic)	73.0%	55.4%
Black or African American	12.3%	10.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	4.5%	11.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.9%
Two or more races	3.2%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	18.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Erie County	Nassau County
No high school diploma	7.6%	7.9%
High school graduate	25.8%	21.0%
Some college or associate's	29.7%	22.4%
Bachelor's degree	20.5%	26.5%
Graduate or professional degree	16.5%	22.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Erie County	Nassau County
Drove alone	74.1%	62.2%
Carpooled	7.5%	7.3%
Public transit	3.0%	13.0%
Walked	2.4%	2.1%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.2%
Worked from home	11.4%	13.8%
Other means	1.3%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Erie County	Nassau County
1-unit, detached	58.8%	76.3%
1-unit, attached	3.3%	3.2%
2 to 4 units	23.1%	7.6%
5 to 19 units	6.8%	3.9%
20 or more units	6.5%	8.8%
Mobile home & other	1.6%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Erie County	Nassau County
Poverty rate	14.0%	5.3%
Average household size	2.26	3.00
Mean commute (minutes)	21	36
Median year structure built	1957	1955