county

Clay County, TN

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

AI Overview

Clay County, TN is a small rural county of 7,621 residents with a median age of 48.5 and a notably low labor force participation rate of 46.4%, reflecting an older, less economically active population. The workforce skews toward lower educational attainment—only 12.0% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—while median worker earnings of $36,144 and a GDP per capita of $26,558 indicate a modest economic base with a poverty rate of 21.7%. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $136,900 and median gross rent of $546/month, though the county has seen a slight population decline of 0.8% over five years and carries a 5.2% unemployment rate.

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

Population

7,621

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$39,972

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

48.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.8% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone7,214 (94.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone256 (3.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races136 (1.8%)
  • Asian Alone41 (0.5%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone20 (0.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race3 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish187
  2. 2.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)81
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic20
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)2

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

55.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

25.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

473

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$26,558

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$23,401

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

21.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance592
  2. 2.Construction (Group)406
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)399
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)219
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services212

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations743
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations563
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations525
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations474
  5. 5.Service Occupations327

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.90×)215
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 2.30×)437
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.66×)216
  4. 4.Manufacturing (LQ 1.65×)452
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 0.97×)125

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$136,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$546/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

74.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999307 (11.8%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999266 (10.3%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999223 (8.6%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999177 (6.8%)
  • $90,000 to $99,999157 (6.1%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999147 (5.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

12.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

83.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

46.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,144

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

27.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

8.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,182 (85.0%)
  • Carpooled189 (7.4%)
  • Worked At Home162 (6.3%)
  • Other17 (0.7%)
  • Public Transit14 (0.5%)
  • Walked4 (0.2%)

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.