county

Clay County, MS

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

AI Overview

Clay County, MS is a small manufacturing-oriented rural county with a population of 18,462 that has contracted by 6.8% over five years. The labor force is limited, with a 51.3% participation rate, 6.7% unemployment, and only 18.2% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher, though median worker earnings of $34,243 and a median home value of $115,600 reflect a low-cost operating environment. A 24.8% poverty rate and per capita income of $24,734 signal constrained household purchasing power, while a median gross rent of $718/month and 71.3% homeownership rate indicate affordable and predominantly owner-occupied housing stock.

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

Population

18,462

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$43,125

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

39.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-6.8% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • Black or African American Alone11,058 (60.2%)
  • White Alone6,782 (36.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races356 (1.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race165 (0.9%)
  • Asian Alone20 (0.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish64
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island47
  3. 3.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)13

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

871

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$28,837

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$24,734

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

24.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,720
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,566
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)846
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services645
  5. 5.Construction (Group)534

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,001
  2. 2.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,991
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,559
  4. 4.Service Occupations1,339
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations625

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.96×)1,369
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.73×)194
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.26×)519
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.07×)820
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.00×)487

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$115,600

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$718/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999637 (11.4%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999479 (8.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999432 (7.8%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999413 (7.4%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999406 (7.3%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999404 (7.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

82.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

51.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$34,243

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

21.8 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone6,487 (87.8%)
  • Carpooled464 (6.3%)
  • Worked At Home415 (5.6%)
  • Walked19 (0.3%)
  • Other1 (0.0%)
  • Public Transit0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Clay County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

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