Erie County vs Luzerne County

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

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

Luzerne County has the higher population (325,978 vs 269,544 in Erie County). Luzerne County has the higher median household income ($62,321 vs $61,476 in Erie County). Erie County has the higher median home value ($169,500 vs $163,800 in Luzerne County).

Population, income & housing

	Erie County	Luzerne County
Population	269,544	325,978
Median age	40.1 yrs	42.1 yrs
Median household income	$61,476	$62,321
Median home value	$169,500	$163,800
Median gross rent	$876	$958
Housing units	120,019	151,012
Homeownership rate	68.3%	67.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.6%	25.0%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	5.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Erie County	Luzerne County
Population	273,835 → 269,544 (-1.6%)	317,663 → 325,978 (+2.6%)
Median household income	$51,529 → $61,476 (+19.3%)	$53,473 → $62,321 (+16.5%)
Median home value	$134,100 → $169,500 (+26.4%)	$127,000 → $163,800 (+29.0%)
Median gross rent	$753 → $876 (+16.3%)	$785 → $958 (+22.0%)

Erie County

Population

273,835269,544

Median household income

$51,529$61,476

Median home value

$134,100$169,500

Median gross rent

$753$876

Luzerne County

Population

317,663325,978

Median household income

$53,473$62,321

Median home value

$127,000$163,800

Median gross rent

$785$958

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Erie County	Luzerne County
Under 5	5.2%	5.3%
5 to 17	15.7%	15.0%
18 to 24	9.9%	8.5%
25 to 34	12.6%	12.6%
35 to 44	11.9%	12.0%
45 to 54	11.8%	12.7%
55 to 64	13.7%	14.0%
65 to 74	11.5%	11.5%
75 and over	7.7%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Erie County	Luzerne County
White (non-Hispanic)	82.3%	75.9%
Black or African American	6.6%	4.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	2.0%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more races	4.0%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	4.6%	15.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Erie County	Luzerne County
No high school diploma	7.4%	9.3%
High school graduate	37.5%	37.1%
Some college or associate's	25.4%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	18.6%	15.3%
Graduate or professional degree	11.1%	9.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Erie County	Luzerne County
Drove alone	76.4%	76.0%
Carpooled	9.3%	10.1%
Public transit	1.1%	0.7%
Walked	3.2%	2.6%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.1%
Worked from home	8.2%	9.3%
Other means	1.5%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Erie County	Luzerne County
1-unit, detached	68.0%	64.1%
1-unit, attached	4.1%	13.5%
2 to 4 units	12.2%	11.0%
5 to 19 units	5.2%	3.8%
20 or more units	5.6%	4.4%
Mobile home & other	4.9%	3.1%

Poverty & households

	Erie County	Luzerne County
Poverty rate	15.4%	15.4%
Average household size	2.33	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	20	24
Median year structure built	1963	1959