Cherokee County, South Carolina

Cherokee County population, land area and income

Cherokee County had 57,770 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 393.0 square miles of land. It ranks 24th of 46 in South Carolina by population and 44th by land area. That works out to 147.0 people per square mile, 1.5 times the US average of 96.3, and in the top quarter nationally.

The median county-equivalent in South Carolina has 60,098 residents, about the same as Cherokee County.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $57,768 is below the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Cherokee County's population changed since 2020

Cherokee County gained 1,544 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 2.7%. That ranks 25th of 46 in South Carolina for growth. The median South Carolina county changed by +2.9%, and the state as a whole by +6.8%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Cherokee County recorded 2,642 births and 3,412 deaths, a natural change of -770. Net international migration added +413 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +1,852. The largest single component was domestic migration, which added 1,852 people.

Where Cherokee County is

The Census internal point of Cherokee County is at 35.049800, -81.607600. It sits in UTM zone 17N. The map shades South Carolina's 46 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Cherokee County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Cherokee County

2 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Cherokee County, 14,500 people together, or 25% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Cherokee County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Gaffney with 12,546.

Counties bordering Cherokee County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 5 neighbors for Cherokee County, including 2 across a state line. The most populous is Spartanburg County, SC, with 369,256 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Spartanburg County

  369,256 people

  23 mi WSW

• York County

  303,001 people

  25 mi ESE

• NC

  Cleveland County, NC

  102,194 people

  20 mi N

• NC

  Rutherford County, NC

  65,587 people

  30 mi NW

• Union County

  26,678 people

  25 mi S

Distance to Columbia and the nearest big city

Columbia is 79.5 miles SSE of Cherokee County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Charlotte, NC (population 943,476), 45.2 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Gaffney, SC (population 12,546), 3.5 miles away.

Cherokee County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Cherokee County is 45021: state code 45 for South Carolina plus county code 021. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $57,768.