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Towns / Kentucky

Clay, Kentucky

Clay is a small town of about 1,000 people in Webster County, Kentucky. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.2 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Nashville, is about 107 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,004
down 2.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$74,400
Webster County prices up 12% since 2022
Household income
$61,250
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Kentucky
85.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
12 miles
Morganfield, KY
To Nashville
107 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.7% below the U.S. average in the parts of Kentucky outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 2 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Webster County High School, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMethodist Hospital Union County in Morganfield, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNashville is about 107 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Clay meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$74,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Webster County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$772 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$61,250U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
66%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$805 a yearKentucky: $1,544
Homes built before 1940
9%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.3U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Kentucky outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 12% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Kentucky outside metro areas, not Clay alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,0042020: 1,025
Median age
36 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
21%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
19%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
10%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (30%); construction (14%); manufacturing (13%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
10%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Methodist Hospital Union County, Morganfield, KY, about 12 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Baptist Health Deaconess Madisonville, Madisonville, KY, about 20 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Clay, run by Webster County. The nearest public high school is Webster County High School, about 6 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Kentucky's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
62%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
85%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
25°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
56 a year
Nights at or below freezing
93 a year
Rain and melted snow
47.5 inches a year
Snow
10 inches a year
Elevation
381 feet

Weather stations: Providence (6 miles away) and Sebree 1 E (19 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Methodist Hospital Union County, Evansville, Nashville.

Webster County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 9, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

15 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

Read about Clay's history on Wikipedia.

Know Clay?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Wheatcroft, KY100 people, 2 miles
  • Dixon, KY920 people, 8 miles
  • Nebo, KY211 people, 12 miles
  • Breckinridge Center, KY (unincorporated)1,467 people, 15 miles
  • Poole, KY (unincorporated)256 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.