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Place dossier plate
SheetNM-CLAYTON-NM · Clayton, NM 2,680 pop · income 8th pct · 1 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Clayton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Clayton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
University Pa… · lowest
25,433
University Pa… · lowest
25,433 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #1
Cooper · near
40,189
Cooper · near
40,189 median HH income
54.0% of the leader · rank #2
Clayton · this city
40,192
Clayton · this city
40,192 median HH income
54.0% of the leader · rank #3
Cornelia · near
40,192
Cornelia · near
40,192 median HH income
54.0% of the leader · rank #4
Iuka · near
40,192
Iuka · near
40,192 median HH income
54.0% of the leader · rank #5
South Carroll… · near
40,192
South Carroll… · near
40,192 median HH income
54.0% of the leader · rank #6
La Mesilla · highest
74,385
La Mesilla · highest
74,385 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Clayton on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 2,680.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Clayton - the verdict
Clayton ranks in the 8th percentile for household income and the 42nd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
8th
percentile, household income
14th
percentile, home value
39th
percentile, median rent
42nd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Clayton, NM
2,680 people live in Clayton, New Mexico - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Clayton report a median income of $40,192 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 24.1%. Clayton's housing stock carries a median value of $111,500, and the median resident age is 39.1 years. 13.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 38.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Clayton reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1602.2 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Clayton's yearly average temperature at 53.4°F with 17.9 inches of precipitation per year and 18.8 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in New Mexico run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, New Mexico scores 92.2 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,129 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in New Mexico run around $167, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 58.9 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Clayton's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from within-city variation to work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to reported crime to climate and hazard context to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Clayton, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Within-city variation
What can 1 Census tracts reveal inside Clayton?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
What does the journey to work look like in Clayton?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 87.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -137 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.2% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Clayton?
Within New Mexico, the closest population matches are University Park (2,699 residents, $25,433 income); Chimayo (2,726 residents, $52,305 income); Ruidoso Downs (2,629 residents, $31,413 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Albion, IN (2,680 residents); Tipton, MO (2,680 residents); Helper, UT (2,680 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Clayton?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1602.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 30% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1094.2
Violent rate
508.0
Total reported rate
1602.2
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 53.4°F, with 17.9 inches of precipitation and 18.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for New Mexico is 58.9 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Mean temperature
53.4°F
Annual precipitation
17.9 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
58.9
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 13.6% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
5
Bachelor's degree+
13.6%
Poverty estimate
24.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Clayton?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 24.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$40,192
Home value
$111,500
Value / income
2.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 24.1% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
92.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, New Mexico average
F
City profile score · Clayton, NM
24/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living B+
92.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
508 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$40,192
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
24.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Clayton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 77/100 (B+) · 92.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 16/100 (F) · 13.6%
Violent crime: 15/100 (F) · 508 /100k
Household income: 7/100 (F) · $40,192
Poverty rate: 7/100 (F) · 24.1%
Where Clayton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Clayton's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Clayton highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Clayton, NM (this city): home $111,500, crime 1,602/100k
Albion, IN : home $138,200, crime 675/100k
Helper, UT : home $207,700, crime 1,411/100k
Montpelier, ID : home $185,600, crime 766/100k
Tularosa, NM : home $117,600, crime 497/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Clayton compare to other US cities?
Where Clayton sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income8% higher than other cities
Home value14% pricier than other cities
Median rent39% pricier than other cities
Safety42% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to New Mexico alone, Clayton ranks #17 of 42 New Mexico cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Clayton against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Mexico only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Mexico-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Clayton near the bottom of New Mexico's cities
Among the 409 New Mexico cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Clayton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Clayton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#253 of 324
22nd percentile in New Mexico
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 409
0th percentile in New Mexico
Median Home Value
#239 of 324
26th percentile in New Mexico
Poverty Rate
#110 of 408
73rd percentile in New Mexico
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#240 of 409
41st percentile in New Mexico
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Mexico only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
8th percentile nationally for median household income · 42nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Clayton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Clayton's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Clayton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$111,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 86% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Clayton's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,441 of 15,516
More affordable than 65% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,736 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Clayton sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,441 of 15,516 and #4,736 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$40,192Clayton, NM median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Clayton, NM median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Clayton, NM.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)24.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)38.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,680
Median Income
$40,192
Median Home Value
$111,500
Median Age
39.1
Poverty Rate
24.1%
Labor force participation
38.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1602.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
508.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1094.2
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
53.4°F
Annual Precipitation
17.9"
Annual Snowfall
18.8"
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Clayton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,647 residents
2021
2,663 residents
2022
2,607 residents
2023
2,585 residents
2024
2,569 residents
2025
2,510 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
87.2%
Carpool
2.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
7.5%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
2.4%
Based on 802 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Mexico statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $167
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Mexico at $167 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are New Mexico statewide averages, not a meter reading for Clayton. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Mexico's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Clayton is $1,129/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Mexico statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 58.9 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Mexico statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Clayton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Clayton compares to similar-size New Mexico cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.