Census-designated place · Erie County, Pennsylvania

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania

Penn State Erie (Behrend) is a census-designated place in Erie County, Pennsylvania, part of the Erie, PA metro area. It has 1,607 residents. Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 68 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,057 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #393 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on hot days (low), public transit commuters (high) and new business applications (high). It ranks worst on unemployment rate (high), hospital quality rating (low) and distance to an airport (high).

68High

Quality-of-life score: #5,057 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #393 of 997 in PA
Population: 1,607 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 2,053.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 4259212

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 63 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety56#6,908/15,637
Economy—
Housing—
Health27#11,341/15,609
Healthcare68#4,955/15,650
Environment89#1,669/15,453
Education76#3,784/15,649
Infrastructure58#6,547/15,650
Community51#7,608/15,651
Leisure & amenities54#7,255/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Erie County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Hot days · low1 days
97/100Pennsylvania 7 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationErie County value
Public transit commuters · high7.1%
96/100Pennsylvania 3.6%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
New business applications · high20.7 /1k
91/100Pennsylvania 12.4 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauErie County value
Natural hazard risk · low5.6
91/100Pennsylvania 22.42025Federal Emergency Management AgencyErie County value
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationErie County value
Median Air Quality Index · low34
88/100Pennsylvania 432025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyErie County value

Weaknesses

Unemployment rate · high10.5%
8/100Pennsylvania 4.3%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Pennsylvania 3.5United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesErie County value
Distance to an airport · high89 mi
13/100Pennsylvania 36 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauErie County value
Food environment index · low7.0
15/100Pennsylvania 8.5United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteErie County value
Physical inactivity · high31.0%
18/100Pennsylvania 20.8%United States 26.5%2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Child care cost burden · high36.2%
19/100Pennsylvania 34.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteErie County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
100.0% (2016-2020) → 77.1% (2020-2024)
−23 pts4 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.9% → 35.7%
Public transit commutersImproving
1.6% (2015-2019) → 7.1% (2020-2024)
+5.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%
Average commute timeWorsening
14.3 min (2015-2019) → 17.2 min (2020-2024)
+20%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Unemployment rateWorsening
7.2% (2015-2019) → 10.5% (2020-2024)
+3.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
2.8% (2015-2019) → 4.5% (2020-2024)
+1.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

There is not enough history to compare Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania over five years.

Cities and towns like Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

No place that looked like Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,607 residents (±158)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69
50–59
40–49
30–39
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 10–19 men (−25.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,607 residents (±158)

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

White77%1,236
Black9.0%†145
Hispanic or Latino4.7%†75

Education

35 residents (±53)

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

No high school diploma0.0%0
High school or GED0.0%0
Some college17%†6

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

The Census Bureau publishes no detailed tables for Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Age of homes

4 homes (±6)

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

2010 or later0.0%0
2000–20090.0%0
1980–19990.0%0
1960–1979100%†4
1940–19590.0%0
Before 19400.0%0

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25034View table on data.census.gov

Size of homes

4 homes (±6)

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom0.0%0
2 bedrooms100%†4

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

539 workers (±125)

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone25%†135
Carpool5.8%†31
Public transit7.0%†38
Walk40%†213
Bike0.0%0
Work from home21%†112
Other1.9%†10

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

427 workers (±104)

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under 15 min69%†296
15–29 min9.4%†40
30–44 min11%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Erie, PA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Erie County, the county holding most of Penn State Erie (Behrend)'s residents.

Erie County has 6,103 employer establishments, 228 for every 10,000 residents (0.92× the US rate of 248; 0.97× Pennsylvania's), with 114,339 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,456. The Census Bureau also counts 15,792 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,103; 15,792 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 228; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 114,339
Average annual pay: $51,456; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Erie County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	537	20.1	0.96×About typical	9,335	$77,635	773
Restaurants and other eating places	458	17.1	0.93×About typical	8,442	$18,753	78
Specialty trade contractors	322	12	0.78×Fewer than typical	2,413	$66,105	1,002
Limited-service restaurants	211	7.9	0.98×About typical	4,075	$16,737	31
Religious organizations	193	7.2	1.30×More than typical	1,242	$23,357	—
Full-service restaurants	186	6.9	0.90×About typical	3,875	$20,481	32
Offices of physicians	183	6.8	1.06×About typical	4,136	$114,119	154
Services to buildings and dwellings	166	6.2	0.92×About typical	1,230	$35,686	756
Personal care services	165	6.2	1.29×More than typical	732	$27,152	496
Automotive repair and maintenance	159	5.9	1.18×About typical	674	$41,690	225
Offices of other health practitioners	151	5.6	0.93×About typical	871	$42,588	410
Lessors of real estate	148	5.5	0.45×Fewer than typical	596	$47,579	1,721

Rank places for an industry Open Erie County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 267,628 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $6.81 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania: $0.00 per resident (US $2,007).

Obligations: $6.81; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.00; US $2,007
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.7%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of State$6.81100%

Top recipients

PARAGON PRINT SYSTEMS INC$6.81100%

Spending by fiscal year

3.1KFY2017
5.4KFY2018
6.4KFY2019
5.3KFY2020
6.8KFY2021
1.9KFY2022
438.9FY2023
718.8FY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$6.81100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania, so they do not add up across cities.

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Erie County, PA ($100.9M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Penn State Erie (Behrend) is mostly in Erie County.

See federal money in Erie County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike KellyR-PA-16 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 1.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Erie County70100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Erie, PA72

Other cities and towns in Erie County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4259212

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends

What changed in five years

Cities and towns like Penn State Erie (Behrend), Pennsylvania five years ago that improved