Cullman is a "moist" county in terms of availability of alcoholic beverages; the cities of Cullman, Good Hope, and Hanceville allow sale of alcohol and are "wet" and the rest of the county is dry.

This area was inhabited for thousands of years by varying cultures of indigenous peoples.

[3] Cullman County was organized in 1877 primarily by German American immigrants who had moved down from Cincinnati, Ohio.

However, hard geographical and social realities clashed with the often impractical vision of colonizer John G. Cullmann.

His Germans, with their traditional work ethic and willingness to experiment with such new products as wine and strawberries, tried to make practical changes in southern farming.

[4] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 87,866 people, 32,090 households, and 23,212 families residing in the county.

25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

24.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

[15] Private educational institutions in the county include: Cullman is also the home of Wallace State Community College in Hanceville.

Wallace State offers hundreds of degree and certificate options in dozens of programs in its Academic, Health and Technical Divisions.

The college offers early enrollment through its Dual Enrollment, Fast Track Academy and Fast Track for Industry programs, the latter of which is funded through grants that allow free tuition for qualified students entering the technical, academic and health programs included in the program.

The college also has a robust intramural sports department offering volleyball, flag football, pickleball, basketball, wallyball, indoor soccer, ping pong, pool, disc golf, tennis, and cornhole.

The last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election is Jimmy Carter, who won it by a slim majority in 1980 despite losing the state of Alabama to Ronald Reagan.