Cherokee County is a U.S. county located in Southeast Kansas. Its county seat is Columbus, and its most populous city is Baxter Springs. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 19,362. The county was named for the Cherokee tribe.

Baxter Springs is a city in Cherokee County, Kansas, United States, and located along Spring River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,888.