For many years, Yeruham was economically depressed and suffered from image problems, but major efforts to improve the quality of life took place during the early 2000s.

[citation needed] During the Nabatean, Roman and Byzantine periods there was a village in the western outskirts of the town and its ruins can be seen today.

[6] At the head of the settlement was Pinchas Maanit (Muchnik), one of the founders of Nahalal, who moved to the place with his family after Ben-Gurion request to assist and help to settle and establish new home to Israeli new-comers.

[7] Because of these factors, in addition to Yeruham's distance from the center of the country, many young people left its territory and it suffered for many years from negative immigration.

young couples and families from other localities have moved to Yeruham, and some have purchased lots and built their homes in the town's new neighborhoods.

North American students from Nativ College Leadership Program engage in volunteer community service in Yeruham every spring.

Most of those are employed in industry work in local factories such as Agis-Perrigo (Careline cosmetics and pharmaceuticals), Negev Ceramics, Phoenicia Glass Works (which moved to Yeruham from Haifa in 1968)[9] Brand Metals, Ackerstein, Yehu Clays, TTK electronics, and Tempo (some of which utilize raw materials from the region).

In anticipation of military personnel moving into Yeruham to server in the future adjacent City of Training Bases, land had been released for private for-profit construction.

[10] In 2015, a tech incubator, MindCET, was established in Yeruham as a center for leadership and innovation in educational technology to foster specialized cooperation between entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers and students.

Midreshet Be'er offers a post-high school track for young religious women that combines study with community volunteering.

The library has 60,000 books in Hebrew, Russian and English, and offers enrichment activities for pre-school and elementary school students, meetings with authors, computer training, workshops for parents and children and creative writing groups.

Other cultural programs are the Teudat Zehut Yeruham project for community empowerment through documentation and the Bamidbar Regional Center for creative, pluralistic Judaism.