Cheney is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Cheney area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Cheney maintain a good economy.
Cheney, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.
Despite the fact that it is a small city, Cheney has quite a few people who take public transportation – mostly the bus - for their daily commute to work. This helps to fill a real need in the city for affordable transportation.
The citizens of Cheney are among the most well-educated in the nation: 41.65% of adults in Cheney have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Cheney in 2022 was $24,693, 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 $98,772 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 33.29% 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 11.62% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Cheney include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Norwegian.
The most common language spoken in Cheney is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.
