Cheney is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Cheney to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
The population of Cheney is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 36.77% of adults in Cheney have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Cheney in 2022 was $26,001, which is low income relative to Washington, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $104,004 for a family of four. However, Cheney contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Cheney also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 34.59% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Cheney is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Cheney home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Cheney residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Cheney also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.48% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Cheney include German, Irish, English, Scottish, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Cheney is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.
