Erie County, Pennsylvania

Erie County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States, at the state’s northern tip on
Lake Erie, about 90 miles northeast of Cleveland and 125 miles north of Pittsburgh. It had a
population of 270,876 at the 2020 census, an estimated 265,832 by 2025, and covers 799 square
miles (2,070 km2) of land centred near 42°06′N 80°06′W.

Erie is the county seat and by far its largest city; its postal code is 16501. The county holds
2 cities, 14 boroughs and 22 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 42049.

Towns & Villages in Erie County

Erie County has 38 incorporated municipalities on record: 2 cities, 14 boroughs and 22
townships. Boroughs are self-governing towns with their own elected council; townships cover the
surrounding rural and suburban land and, in Millcreek’s case, some of the county’s densest
suburbs.

Waterford has two entries on the county’s own rolls: the borough of Waterford and the
surrounding Waterford Township are separate municipalities that share a name and a ZIP code,
16441 — a common Pennsylvania pattern where a rural township keeps the same name as the
borough carved out of its middle.

ZIP Codes

• 16501 — Erie (downtown; the city carries a dozen more ZIPs, 16502–16565, for its
  neighborhoods and the two universities)
• 16505 — Millcreek Township (also serves the Millcreek Mall area)
• 16421 — Harborcreek
• 16415 — Fairview
• 16412 — Edinboro
• 16428 — North East
• 16510 — Wesleyville (shared with part of Lawrence Park Township)
• 16423 — Lake City
• 16438 — Union City
• 16417 — Girard (borough and township)
• 16401 — Albion
• 16441 — Waterford (borough and township)
• 16407 — Corry
• 16410 — Cranesville
• 16413 — Elgin
• 16426 — McKean
• 16427 — Mill Village
• 16442 — Wattsburg (also serves Springfield Township)

Summit, Greene, Washington, McKean, Conneaut, Franklin, Amity, Concord, Elk Creek, Greenfield,
LeBoeuf, Union, Venango and Wayne townships, along with Platea borough, have no ZIP code of their
own on the current USPS list; mail there is delivered under a neighboring town’s code.

Geography

Erie County sits on the Lake Erie shore at Pennsylvania’s northern tip, the only county in
the state that touches the Great Lakes. Of its 1,558 square miles, only 799 are land; the
remaining 759, roughly 49 percent, are Lake Erie itself under the county’s jurisdiction.
Presque Isle, a curving sand peninsula enclosing Presque Isle Bay in Millcreek and Erie, is the
county’s best-known natural feature and forms Presque Isle State Park. French Creek and
LeBoeuf Creek drain the county’s southern townships toward the Allegheny River watershed,
while Elk Creek, Walnut Creek and Twentymile Creek run north into the lake.

Chautauqua County, New York, borders Erie County to the northeast across the state line; Warren
County, Pennsylvania, lies to the southeast; Crawford County, Pennsylvania, to the south; and
Ashtabula County, Ohio, to the southwest. Lake Erie and the Canadian border lie to the north.
Chautauqua County,
Warren County,
Crawford County and
Ashtabula County all border Erie
directly.

Demographics

Erie County had a population of 270,876 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 265,832 residents. Erie and Millcreek Township together hold well over half the
county’s population. Density works out to about 339 people per square mile of land —
concentrated almost entirely around the city and its immediate suburbs, since the outlying
townships stay rural. German, Polish, Italian and Irish ancestry are the four most commonly
reported in the county, reflecting its 19th- and 20th-century immigration as a lake port and
manufacturing center.

Economy & Local Life

Erie Insurance Group, headquartered downtown, and Wabtec’s Erie locomotive plant —
built by General Electric in Lawrence Park Township in 1910 and still one of North America’s
largest locomotive factories — are the county’s two best-known employers. UPMC Hamot
and Saint Vincent Health System run the region’s major hospitals, and Gannon University,
Mercyhurst University and Pennsylvania Western University Edinboro give the county four
four-year colleges within its borders (Penn State Behrend, in Harborcreek, is the fourth).
Millcreek Township’s Millcreek Mall anchors much of the county’s retail trade, and
Waldameer & Water World, one of the country’s oldest amusement parks, has operated on
the Presque Isle peninsula since 1896. North East, at the county’s eastern edge, sits at the
center of Lake Erie Wine Country and holds a Cherry Festival every summer and a Wine Country
Harvest Festival every autumn.

History

Pennsylvania purchased the Erie Triangle from the federal government in 1792, resolving
competing claims from New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut and giving the state its Lake Erie
shoreline. The legislature laid out Erie County on 12 March 1800 and organized it for local
government on 7 November 1803. The county and its seat both take their name from the Erie people,
who lived along the lake’s southern shore until the mid-17th century.

Erie’s harbor made it the base for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s fleet during the
Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813, a decisive American naval victory in the War of 1812 that
Perry reported with the line “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” Corry, in the
county’s southeast, grew around the Climax Manufacturing Company’s geared steam
locomotives, built there for logging railroads from the 1880s into the 20th century.

Getting There

Interstate 79 runs north into Erie from Pittsburgh and Interstate 90 crosses the county’s
lakeshore townships east–west; Interstate 86 enters from New York in the northeast corner.
US 6, US 19 and US 20 also cross the county.

• Cleveland, Ohio — about 90 miles southwest
• Buffalo, New York — about 80 miles northeast
• Pittsburgh — about 125 miles south
• Jamestown, New York — about 45 miles east

Erie International Airport, in Millcreek Township, is the county’s commercial airport,
with direct service to several East Coast and Midwest hubs. There is no Amtrak station in Erie
County; the nearest stops are in Cleveland and Buffalo, both served by the Lake Shore Limited.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Erie County located?
It sits at Pennsylvania’s northern tip on Lake Erie, bordered by Chautauqua County, New
York; Warren and Crawford counties, Pennsylvania; and Ashtabula County, Ohio.

What is the population of Erie County?
270,876 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 265,832.

How big is Erie County?
1,558 square miles (4,040 km2) in total, of which 799 square miles are land; the rest is Lake
Erie.

What is the county seat of Erie County?
Erie is the county seat and largest city, with 94,831 residents at the 2020 census.

How many towns and cities are in Erie County?
Two cities — Erie and Corry — plus 14 boroughs including Edinboro, North East,
Girard, Union City and Waterford, and 22 townships.

What ZIP codes does Erie County use?
16501 and its extended range for the city of Erie, plus separate codes for each borough and
larger township, including 16505 (Millcreek), 16428 (North East) and 16412 (Edinboro).

What is Erie County known for?
Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie, the Wabtec locomotive plant in Lawrence Park Township, and
Lake Erie Wine Country around North East.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Pennsylvania.