City profile · Pennsylvania · Census ACS 2023

Clay, PA

Clay's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

1,576
Residents
$82,094
Median income
$265,300
Median home
$1,225
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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Starting with Clay, PA - add up to three more cities on the compare page.

See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Clay.

Place dossier plate

Sheet PA-CLAY-PA · Clay, PA 1,576 pop · income 64th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-HIGH · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 1,576
  • INC-HIGH $82,094
  • COL-PAR 97.6
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-UPPER 64th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Miamisburg
  • HOME-MID $265,300
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Miamisburg, OH (+ $1 income $)

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 Clay

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Clay on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Clay on ACS population and median household income . 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: 1,576.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $82,094. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Clay - the verdict

Nationally, Clay sits in the 64th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

64th
percentile, household income
59th
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Clay, PA

1,576 people live in Clay, Pennsylvania - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Clay brings in $82,094 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Home values in Clay run a median of $265,300, and the median resident age is 54.1 years. Educational attainment runs 19.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Pennsylvania at 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,225 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Pennsylvania run around $260, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 67.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Clay'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Clay, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

1. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Clay?

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.

Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are East Berlin (1,575 residents, $71,528 income); Haverford College (1,575 residents); Brodheadsville (1,580 residents, $118,602 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Del Norte, CO (1,576 residents); Gilman, IL (1,576 residents); Rowley, MA (1,576 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

2. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Clay?

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.

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Question 3

What does the journey to work look like in Clay?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.

Compare commute patterns →

Population

1,576 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$82,094 /yr

Above median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

97.6 (US=100)

Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average

City profile score · Clay, PA

63/100

4 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.

Poverty rate A+
0.0%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income C+
$82,094

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Cost of living C-
97.6 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
19.1%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Clay profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Poverty rate, Household income, Cost of living, Bachelor's+ share. Poverty rateHousehold incomeCost of livingBachelor's+ share 63 C+
Clay profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
  • Household income: 61/100 (C+) · $82,094
  • Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
  • Bachelor's+ share: 32/100 (F) · 19.1%

How does Clay compare to other US cities?

Here's how Clay stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 64% higher than other cities
Home value 59% pricier than other cities
Median rent 54% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Clay against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Pennsylvania only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Pennsylvania-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Clay near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities

Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Clay ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Clay only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#499 of 1,765
72nd percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#322 of 1,790
82nd percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#1,474 of 1,856
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,077 of 1,861
42nd percentile in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

64thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

64th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Clay's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$265,300 41st percentile more affordable than 41% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). This entry sits in this band. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Clay $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Clay's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,836 of 15,516
More affordable than 49% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,452 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 3.2×, Clay sits in the moderate band: national rank #7,836 of 15,516 and #6,452 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.

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

$82,094 Clay, PA median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Clay, PA Clay, PA's median household income ($82,094) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Clay, PA-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Clay, PA median $82,094/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Clay, PA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Clay, PA.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 19.1%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 0.0%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 59.1%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
1,576
Median Income
$82,094
Median Home Value
$265,300
Median Age
54.1
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
59.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.1%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
78.7%
Carpool
3.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
16.9%

Based on 773 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Pennsylvania statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $260

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Pennsylvania at $260 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $52 ).

These are Pennsylvania statewide averages, not a meter reading for Clay. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Pennsylvania's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Clay is $1,225/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Pennsylvania statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 / 100 (Moderate).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Pennsylvania statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Clay sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Clay compares to similar-size Pennsylvania 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Clay (this city) 1,576 $82,094
East Berlin 1,575 $71,528
Haverford College 1,575 N/A
Brodheadsville 1,580 $118,602
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, 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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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