ROOM AT THE TABLE - Intersight - University at Buffalo

the county’s urban area. The atest data suggests that 91 percent of residents
(864,632 people) live in urban areas and the remaining 9 percent (85,644
people) in rural areas. 2 Despite being relatively urban, the county is home to
an active farming sector.
AGE AND SEX
Erie County’s population is aging. Between 2000 and 2010, the
median age increased from 38 to 40. 3 Most residents belong to the age
groups of 15­25 years or 45­60 years (See Figure 1.1).
Female and male populations comprise relatively equal shares of the
population in Erie County, with women slightly outnumbering men. About
52 percent of the county’s population is female (476,069), while 48 percent
is male (442,971). 4
DIVERSITY
Whites constitute a majority of the population in Erie County
(80%). African­Americans comprise the second largest group (13%). 5
The county as a whole is becoming more diverse, with the percentage of
Whites residents decline during the recent decade. In 2000, 82 percent
of the population was White, while in 2010, their proportion dropped to
80 percent. In part, this drop is attributable to an increase in the county’s
Asian population from 1 percent to 3 percent between 2000 and 2010
(See Figure 1.2). 6
Erie County’s growing diversity further derives from the increase of
its foreign­born residents. From 2000 to 2010, the foreign­born population
in the county increased by 2.2 percentage points (from 4.5% to 6.7%). 7
Among foreign­born residents, the proportion of those born in Asia shows
the most rapid increase in the last decade. Asians comprised 28 percent
of the county’s foreign­born population in 2000, and 43 percent in 2010,
representing an increase of 15 percentage points.
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Figure 1.1 – Population Pyramid, Erie County, 2010
Percentage of the Population
(Source: U.S. Census 2010, Summary File 1)
Figure 1.2 – Racial Composition of the Total
Population, Erie County, 2010
(Source: U.S. Census 2010, Summary File 1)