county

Clay County, IL

Demographic and economic profile of Clay County, IL, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Clay County, IL is a small rural county of 13,173 residents with a labor force participation rate of 56.6% and a workforce where 87.7% hold a high school diploma but only 15.6% have a bachelor's degree or higher, keeping median worker earnings at $39,029. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $94,300 and median gross rent of $709 per month, against a median household income of $60,417. The county carries a 5.9% unemployment rate, a 16.7% poverty rate, and shed 1.2% of its population over the past five years.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

13,173

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$60,417

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.2% since 2018

Clay County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone12,431 (95.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races299 (2.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race181 (1.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone60 (0.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone38 (0.3%)
  • Asian Alone28 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish112
  2. 2.Vietnamese11
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)7
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic6
  5. 5.Other Indo-European1

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

56.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

880

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$47,009

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,212

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

16.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,400
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,214
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)607
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services368
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services366

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,864
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,063
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations912
  4. 4.Service Occupations879
  5. 5.Sales & Office Occupations867

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.07×)365
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 2.46×)1,374
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.17×)309
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.10×)674
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.01×)1,332

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$94,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$709/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

79.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $70,000 to $79,999442 (10.5%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999438 (10.4%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999325 (7.7%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999276 (6.6%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999274 (6.5%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999257 (6.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

15.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

87.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

56.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,029

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

25.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,750 (85.6%)
  • Carpooled505 (9.1%)
  • Worked At Home244 (4.4%)
  • Walked33 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit17 (0.3%)
  • Taxi0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.