Cherokee County, Alabama

County Distress Index: Elevated · 50.5 | 25,666 people · 52nd most distressed in Alabama

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Cherokee County, AL registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 50.5 — 1549th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where residents carry heavy debt burdens with elevated delinquency and collections rates. Within Alabama, it ranks 52nd of 67 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Cherokee County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 81.6 — worse than roughly 82% of U.S. counties.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 81.6
Debt in Collections 80
Medical Debt 91
Student Loan Delinquency 74
Auto Loan Delinquency 76
Credit Card Delinquency 81
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 86
Community Vulnerability 68.4
Uninsured Rate 58
Disability Rate 79
Income & Poverty 53.6
Poverty Rate 65
Income vs. State Median 33
Child Poverty Rate 63
Employment & Wages 35.4
Unemployment Rate 3
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 28
Business Formation Rate 76
Housing Cost Burden 13.7
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 14
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 2
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 12
Homeownership Rate 21
Rent-to-Income Ratio 19

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Cherokee County compares to its 7 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Cherokee County
Cherokee County, AL 50.5 Elevated
Chattooga County, GA 72.2 Serious +21.7
Floyd County, GA 68.4 Serious +17.9
Polk County, GA 68.2 Serious +17.7
Calhoun County, AL 65.8 Serious +15.2
Etowah County, AL 63.5 Elevated +12.9
DeKalb County, AL 56.1 Elevated +5.6
Cleburne County, AL 49.3 Normal -1.3

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Cherokee County
Yates County, NY 50.5 Elevated -0.1
Henry County, AL 50.5 Elevated -0.1
Jones County, GA 50.5 Elevated -0.1
Schoharie County, NY 50.5 Elevated -0.1
Noble County, OH 50.5 Elevated -0.1

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