Erie County, Ohio

A county in Ohio, ranked 35 of 88 by population.

CountyFIPS 39043

Within Ohio
Erie County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Sandusky, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
73,296
-2,175 (-2.9%) since 2020
Land area
251.3
square miles. A further 59.8% of the total area is water
Population density
292
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Sandusky
Seat of county government.
Established
1838
187 years ago
Largest city
Sandusky city
Population 24,001.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Erie County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Erie County, Ohio from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 665 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Erie County ranks

Position among the 88 counties of Ohio, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn OhioNationally
Population73,29635th of 88766th of 3,144
Land area251.3 sq mi87th of 882,908th of 3,144
Population density292 per sq mi21st of 88446th of 3,144
Median household income$71,99334th of 881,047th of 3,143

Full data for Erie County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population73,296Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202075,471Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?75,616Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area251.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area374.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area625.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?292 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$71,993American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$199,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age45.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households32,482American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units38,534American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-363
595 births, 958 deaths
Net migration
+15
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 4 areas bordering Erie County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Ottawa CountyOhio37 mi39,481
Lorain CountyOhio29 mi323,219
Huron CountyOhio26 mi58,250
Sandusky CountyOhio17 mi58,655

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 88 counties of Ohio

Open the interactive Ohio county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.