Erie County vs Westchester County

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

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

Westchester County has the higher population (996,888 vs 950,044 in Erie County). Westchester County has the higher median household income ($118,411 vs $71,175 in Erie County). Westchester County has the higher median home value ($638,400 vs $217,400 in Erie County).

Population, income & housing

	Erie County	Westchester County
Population	950,044	996,888
Median age	40.3 yrs	41.5 yrs
Median household income	$71,175	$118,411
Median home value	$217,400	$638,400
Median gross rent	$1,037	$1,876
Housing units	439,987	391,861
Homeownership rate	65.5%	62.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.9%	52.5%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	6.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Erie County	Westchester County
Population	919,355 → 950,044 (+3.3%)	968,890 → 996,888 (+2.9%)
Median household income	$58,121 → $71,175 (+22.5%)	$96,610 → $118,411 (+22.6%)
Median home value	$153,400 → $217,400 (+41.7%)	$540,600 → $638,400 (+18.1%)
Median gross rent	$829 → $1,037 (+25.1%)	$1,537 → $1,876 (+22.1%)

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

Westchester County

Population

968,890996,888

Median household income

$96,610$118,411

Median home value

$540,600$638,400

Median gross rent

$1,537$1,876

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Erie County	Westchester County
Under 5	5.3%	5.3%
5 to 17	15.0%	16.2%
18 to 24	9.0%	8.5%
25 to 34	13.9%	11.5%
35 to 44	12.2%	13.1%
45 to 54	11.7%	13.8%
55 to 64	14.1%	13.9%
65 to 74	11.1%	9.9%
75 and over	7.7%	7.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Erie County	Westchester County
White (non-Hispanic)	73.0%	50.0%
Black or African American	12.3%	12.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	4.5%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	1.1%
Two or more races	3.2%	2.9%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	27.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Erie County	Westchester County
No high school diploma	7.6%	10.6%
High school graduate	25.8%	17.9%
Some college or associate's	29.7%	18.9%
Bachelor's degree	20.5%	26.0%
Graduate or professional degree	16.5%	26.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Erie County	Westchester County
Drove alone	74.1%	51.6%
Carpooled	7.5%	7.2%
Public transit	3.0%	17.7%
Walked	2.4%	4.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.2%
Worked from home	11.4%	17.3%
Other means	1.3%	2.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Erie County	Westchester County
1-unit, detached	58.8%	43.5%
1-unit, attached	3.3%	6.6%
2 to 4 units	23.1%	15.0%
5 to 19 units	6.8%	9.8%
20 or more units	6.5%	24.8%
Mobile home & other	1.6%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Erie County	Westchester County
Poverty rate	14.0%	8.9%
Average household size	2.26	2.62
Mean commute (minutes)	21	35
Median year structure built	1957	1958