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Editor’s note: The N.C. Association of County Commissioners publishes an annual County Map Book, a snapshot into conditions and comparisons of each of the state’s 100 counties. The 2024 edition was released recently. The Cherokee Scout is digging into the data for a multi-part series, “Cherokee County by the numbers.”
Part 2 of series: Demographics
Cherokee County is the big kid on the block compared to most of its neighbors. It’s often where residents of neighboring counties shop, dine, boat and, sometimes, break the law.
Four-lane highways connect Andrews to Tennessee and Murphy to Georgia. Cherokee County is centrally located and just a few hours from Asheville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Knoxville and Nashville.
Its central nature causes some to overlook how small Cherokee County is by population. Out of North Carolina’s 100 counties, 70 have larger populations.
Its small size and small wealth present challenges for local leaders, who are often expected to provide big-county services on a small-county budget. Here are some insights from the County Map Book, along with other facts to help put things in perspective.
Cherokee County is remote
The county is actually closer to five state capitals than it is to its own:
- Atlanta, Ga. – 119 miles.
- Nashville, Tenn. – 223 miles.
- Columbia, S.C. – 229 miles.
- Montgomery, Ala. – 275 miles.
- Frankfort, Ky. – 307 miles.
- Raleigh – 358 miles.
Tallahassee, the state capital of Florida, isn’t much farther at 386 miles. And Charleston, the state capital of West Virginia, is just 396 miles away.
Murphy is the westernmost county seat in North Carolina, while Manteo in Dare County is the easternmost. It and Murphy are connected by U.S. 64.
Cherokee County is growing
Fast-growth areas in North Carolina are in and around Charlotte, Raleigh, the Sandhills region in and around Moore County, surrounding Wilmington on the south coast and just this side of the border from Norfolk, Va., on the north coast.
Vast swaths of the coastal plain, along the Virginia state line and along the South Carolina state line, are shrinking or have little to no growth.
Almost all the counties bordering Tennessee show growth, including Cherokee (7.9%), Haywood (8.1%), Madison (1.5%), Yancey (4.8%), Watauga (11.5%) and Ashe (1.9%). The exceptions are Graham (-9.2%), Swain (-5.4%), Mitchell (-2.6%) and Avery (-2%) counties.
Moderate growth is taking place in neighboring Macon (11.4%) and Clay (11.9%) counties – more robust than Cherokee. Around Asheville, Buncombe (10.7%) and Henderson (Hendersonville) (10.7%) are growing at faster rates than Cherokee.
Cherokee County residents are older
The county has the second-oldest population in North Carolina with a median age of 52.2, just behind Brunswick County on the south coast (53.5). Both have significant retired populations.
In 2014, Cherokee County ranked eighth for median age at 49.4. Since 2014, Cherokee’s median age has increased by three years and overtaken Chatham, Greene, Hyde, Mecklenburg, Orange and Wake counties.
Next door, Clay County is ranked third (51.5), Macon eighth (49.6), Graham 37th (44.0) and Swain coming 72nd (39.9).
Onslow County, home to the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, has the youngest median age in the state at 25.4 – about half that of Cherokee County. Onslow also ranks first in population under age 18.
Cherokee County has among the highest percentages of population ages 65 and older, ranking fourth in the state. Transylvania County ranked first, Clay County second and Brunswick County ranked third.
Just shy of one-third of Cherokee County’s population – 32% – is ages 65 or older.
Predictably, because it ranks second highest for median age and fourth for population ages 65 and older, Cherokee County ranks near the bottom for population under age 18 at 92nd. Clay is behind at 90th, followed by Macon at 79th. With relatively younger populations, Graham County ranked 27th and Swain County ranked ninth.
Cherokee County has a lot of veterans
Counties in and around military bases – Camp Lejeune in Onslow, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Craven, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Wayne and near naval facilities in Norfolk, Va. – lead the state in veteran populations.
However, Cherokee County has the highest concentration of veterans elsewhere in the state and not near military bases. Cherokee County ranks ninth in the state with 10% of its populations being veterans, a higher percentage than Wayne, home to an Air Force base, which ranked 13th with a 9% veteran population.
Clay ranks 20th with 8%, Macon ranks 26th with 7%, Swain ranks 35th with 7% and Graham ranks 85th with 5%.