Erie, Pennsylvania: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+13%. Republican peak: R+50 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+13MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 389,6882024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,4632024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+36 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Erie, PAOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 86,526 | 112,896 | 201,770 | ||
| R | 87,276 | 109,665 | 199,737 | ||
| R | 74,228 | 97,533 | 181,548 | ||
| D | 88,914 | 79,936 | 171,988 | ||
| D | 101,092 | 80,786 | 184,342 | ||
| D | 91,978 | 90,336 | 183,493 | ||
| D | 80,186 | 77,175 | 163,215 | ||
| D | 77,742 | 61,599 | 157,304 | ||
| D | 76,166 | 59,980 | 170,858 | ||
| R | 73,724 | 74,546 | 149,923 | ||
| R | 71,507 | 86,879 | 159,682 | ||
| R | 63,284 | 74,635 | 150,045 | ||
| D | 77,509 | 73,450 | 154,219 | ||
| R | 56,270 | 89,953 | 149,449 | ||
| D | 69,317 | 67,014 | 144,041 | ||
| D | 101,754 | 48,022 | 150,534 | ||
| R | 72,298 | 81,890 | 154,644 | ||
| R | 47,611 | 85,462 | 133,543 | ||
| R | 50,935 | 79,470 | 131,130 | ||
| R | 41,436 | 56,345 | 99,394 | ||
| R | 46,568 | 59,728 | 107,022 | ||
| R | 47,757 | 63,515 | 111,869 | ||
| D | 54,325 | 49,510 | 112,311 | ||
| R | 34,228 | 37,161 | 75,306 | ||
| R | 28,831 | 59,691 | 89,142 | ||
| R | 8,632 | 38,900 | 61,075 | ||
| R | 12,666 | 37,288 | 58,642 | ||
| D | 18,083 | 17,833 | 40,191 | ||
| O | 11,227 | 9,019 | 37,813 | ||
| R | 13,895 | 23,179 | 41,556 | ||
| R | 9,986 | 24,138 | 38,546 | ||
| R | 16,781 | 25,130 | 44,270 | ||
| R | 20,641 | 24,516 | 46,458 | ||
| R | 16,490 | 19,908 | 40,439 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.2%
Irish
13.6%
English
9.7%
Italian
9.5%
Polish
8.3%
American
4.9%
Scottish
1.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 41.7 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$62,463
Erie ranks near the middle of US counties.
Erie$62,463
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.7%
Working age (18–64)13.1%
Seniors (65+)12.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.7%
speak English only
Other Indo-European3.2%
Spanish1.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other languages0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Erie's media market spans northwestern Pennsylvania into Ohio and New York, and its blue-collar electorate has swung between parties by single digits in consecutive cycles, making it a reliable bellwether for statewide Pennsylvania results.
The Democratic margin in Erie peaked at thirty-six points in 1964. By 2016 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $62,463 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Erie, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/516/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Erie, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Erie, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 13.1 points (R+13), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 201,770 votes cast, 86,526 went Democratic and 112,896 went Republican.
What is Erie, Pennsylvania's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Erie, Pennsylvania as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 11 times, Republican 22 times, and other 1 times.
When did Erie, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Erie, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Erie, Pennsylvania?
Erie, Pennsylvania has a population of 389,688 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Erie, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Erie, Pennsylvania is $62,463 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Erie, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Erie, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.