Town · Cherokee County, Alabama

Cedar Bluff, Alabama

Cedar Bluff is a town in Cherokee County, Alabama. It has 1,629 residents. Cedar Bluff, Alabama has a quality-of-life score of 5 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,799 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Alabama it ranks #257 of 319 cities and towns. It ranks best on homicide rate (low), child care cost burden (low) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on access to exercise opportunities (low), dentists (low) and preventable hospital stays (high).

5Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,799 of 15,651 cities and towns
Alabama: #257 of 319 in AL
Population: 1,629 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 338.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 0112760

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety31#10,800/15,637
Economy11#13,981/15,631
Housing73#4,059/14,977
Health6#14,671/15,609
Healthcare8#14,438/15,650
Environment32#10,445/15,453
Education5#14,929/15,649
Infrastructure7#14,511/15,650
Community5#14,824/15,651
Leisure & amenities24#11,945/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Cedar Bluff, Alabama ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Cherokee 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

Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Alabama 9.8 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCherokee County value
Child care cost burden · low21.3%
91/100Alabama 25.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low123 min
86/100Alabama 155 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCherokee County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Alabama 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.56%
83/100Alabama 0.37%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Rent-burdened households · low38.0%
76/100Alabama 48.8%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Access to exercise opportunities · low30.0%
2/100Alabama 61.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Dentists · low16 /100k
3/100Alabama 49 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,640 /100k
3/100Alabama 3,481 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Math scores · low2.50
3/100Alabama 2.65United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Alabama 3.3 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyCherokee County value
Child poverty rate · high64.8%
4/100Alabama 20.4%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,999 (2015-2019) → 1,629 (2020-2024)
−19%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
13.6% (2015-2019) → 64.8% (2020-2024)
+51 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
11.8% (2015-2019) → 29.3% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
New homes permittedImproving
2.4 /1k (2021) → 4.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+83%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$32,000 (2015-2019) → $52,500 (2020-2024)
+64%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.3% (2015-2019) → 85.4% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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.

Over about five years, Cedar Bluff, Alabama improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Household income+64%$32,000 → $52,500
Broadband+10 points75.3% → 85.4%

Declined1

Poverty+18 points11.8% → 29.3%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Cedar Bluff, Alabama between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.6 min2015-2019	23.6 min2020-2024	−1.1 min	Within the margin of error	60%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.5%2015-2019	15.7%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Broadband subscriptions	75.3%2015-2019	85.4%2020-2024	+10 points	Improved	60%
High school diploma or higher	81.2%2015-2019	84.4%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.9×2020-2024	+1.2×	Within the margin of error	15%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4002015-2019	0.4382020-2024	+0.037	Within the margin of error	22%
Median household income	$32,0002015-2019	$52,5002020-2024	+64%	Improved	92%
Poverty rate	11.8%2015-2019	29.3%2020-2024	+18 points	Declined	1%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	24.6%2015-2019	25.5%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Rent-burdened households	42.2%2015-2019	38.0%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.8%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	49%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Cedar Bluff, Alabama five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Cedar Bluff, Alabama 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.

For comparison, Cedar Bluff, Alabama itself moved −2.7 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

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

1,629 residents (±353)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

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

Household income

622 households (±124)

Cedar Bluff, Alabama
Alabama share

Under $25k26%†164
$25k–50k23%†143
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

622 households (±124)

Cedar Bluff, Alabama
Alabama share

Own69%428
Rent31%†194

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

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

583 workers (±153)

Cedar Bluff, Alabama
Alabama share

Drive alone87%509
Carpool6.5%†38
Public transit0.0%0

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 Cherokee County, the county holding most of Cedar Bluff's residents.

Cherokee County has 391 employer establishments, 152 for every 10,000 residents (0.61× the US rate of 248; 0.74× Alabama's), with 4,338 paid employees at an average annual pay of $38,677. The Census Bureau also counts 1,991 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 391; 1,991 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 152; US 248 · Alabama 207
Paid employees: 4,338
Average annual pay: $38,677; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	46	17.9	0.86×About typical	433	$56,349	61
Offices of physicians	34	13.3	2.05×More than typical	376	$55,968	6
Restaurants and other eating places	30	11.7	0.64×Fewer than typical	558	$16,013	19
Religious organizations	20	7.8	1.41×More than typical	76	$17,737	—
Specialty trade contractors	20	7.8	0.50×Fewer than typical	123	$56,707	269
Truck transportation	18	7	1.39×More than typical	93	$38,376	64
Gasoline stations	17	6.6	2.04×More than typical	95	$28,958	—
Limited-service restaurants	15	5.8	0.73×Fewer than typical	347	$17,383	4
Building equipment contractors	14	5.5	0.91×About typical	100	$60,060	58
Full-service restaurants	14	5.5	0.71×Fewer than typical	210	$13,657	10
General merchandise stores	13	5.1	2.87×More than typical	352	$27,526	21
Lessors of real estate	11	4.3	0.35×Fewer than typical	15	$73,267	122

Rank places for an industry Open Cherokee County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,650 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Cedar Bluff is mostly in Cherokee County.

See federal money in Cherokee 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.

Cedar Bluff, Alabama is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike RogersR-AL-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 3.1%

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.

Cherokee County9100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Cherokee 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty 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/0112760

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends