48,729 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.5% since 2020)
749 square miles of land · 65 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
24 active community water systems list Cherokee County in the area they serve, reporting 33,793 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| TAHLEQUAH PWA surface water · local government · OK1021701 | 14,458 served |
| CHEROKEE CO. RWD #11 surface water · local government · OK1221637 | 3,395 served |
| STICKROSS MOUNTAIN WATER CO buys surface water · private · OK4001118 | 3,250 served |
| CHEROKEE CO. RWD #3 (GRANDVIEW) buys surface water · local government · OK4001117 | 2,300 served |
| PEGGS WATER COMPANY surface water · local government · OK1221630 | 1,925 served |
| CHEROKEE CO. RWD #13 surface water · local government · OK1021721 | 1,640 served |
| CHEROKEE CO. RWD #2 (KEYS) surface water · local government · OK1021711 | 1,493 served |
| HULBERT PWA surface water · local government · OK1021620 | 1,007 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 56 people were held in Cherokee County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 180 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 114.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
11 school districts have their office in Cherokee County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $51.2 million — $43.3 million to run schools, about $12,004 per student, plus $7.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.2 million local (mostly property tax), $26.7 million state, $12.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.6 million.
Spent $8.8 million — $8.4 million to run schools, about $11,153 per student, plus $323,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.1 million local (mostly property tax), $4.5 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.4 million.
Spent $7.9 million — $7.9 million to run schools, about $14,367 per student, plus $32,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $404,000.
Spent $8.3 million — $7.2 million to run schools, about $14,390 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3.6 million state, $3.3 million federal.
Spent $6.4 million — $4.4 million to run schools, about $10,542 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $921,000 local (mostly property tax), $2.8 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $465,000.
Spent $4.7 million — $4.2 million to run schools, about $11,047 per student, plus $403,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $725,000 local (mostly property tax), $3 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $390,000.
Spent $3.2 million — $3 million to run schools, about $15,391 per student, plus $147,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $549,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.6 million state, $1.2 million federal.
Spent $3 million — $3 million to run schools, about $15,791 per student, plus $70,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $661,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.6 million state, $610,000 federal.
And 3 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Cherokee County about $28.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
205 bridges in Cherokee County: 74 in good condition, 110 fair, and 21 poor (10.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| 1146C/ E0845 over LITTLE GREEN LEAF CREEK · built 1930 | 450 vehicles a day |
| N4495 over CREEK · built 1984 | 450 vehicles a day |
| E0720/ JONES RD. over CREEK · built 1968 | 300 vehicles a day |
| E0690 over CREEK · built 1939 | 265 vehicles a day |
| N4472 (SHILOH RD) over CREEK · built 2000 | 265 vehicles a day |
| 1104C/ N4504 over THOMPSON CREEK · built 2000 | 227 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $205.9 million of work in Cherokee County in fiscal 2025, about $4,374 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Oklahoma are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Cherokee County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Cherokee County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Oklahoma: the state government and every county in Oklahoma.
Nearby counties: Adair County (19 mi) · Wagoner County (29 mi) · Muskogee County (29 mi) · Mayes County (31 mi) · Sequoyah County (31 mi) · Delaware County (35 mi).