Population and Change. Over the period from 2000 to 2007, Clay County's population increased by 27,946, going from 184,006 to 211,952. This was a change of 15.2 percent, compared to 5.1 percent for the state.
Components of Change. Natural Increase is defined as births minus deaths. Clay County had 11,230 more births than deaths between 2000 and 2007. Net migration is the difference between the number of people who moved into an area and the number of people who moved out. A negative net migration means a net loss of persons due to migration (more out-movers than in-movers), while a positive value represents a net gain. Between 2000 and 2007, Clay County had an estimated net migration of 16,716.
Age. In 2007, an estimated 10.7 percent of Clay County residents were 65 and older compared to 13.3 percent statewide. At the same time, the Census Bureau estimated that young people (under 18) made up 24.8 percent of the county's population, compared to 24.1 percent for the state.
Racial Diversity. The 2007 vintage estimates from the Census Bureau indicate that 91.7 percent of the population in the county was White (189,868 persons), while the estimated Black population was 8,681 (4.2%). The same set of estimates indicated there were 4,179 Asians (2.0%) and 997 American Indians (0.5%). (These are all "race alone" figures.) Hispanic is not considered to be a race by the Census Bureau/OMB, but rather a separate ethnic category. In 2006, an estimated 9,428 Hispanic persons (4.6%) were living in the county.
Place of Residence. Sub-county estimates for 2007 indicate that 90.3 percent of the county's population lived in incorporated places of 2,500 or more. Those living in smaller places accounted for 2.3 percent of the county's population, while 7.3 percent lived in unincorporated areas.
Housing. According to the 2006 Census Bureau's estimates, there were 83,824 housing units in Clay County. The homeownership rate in 2000 was 70.7 percent compared to 70.3 percent statewide. In 2000, the median value of owner-occupied housing units was $104,900 compared with a statewide figure of $89,900.
Households and Families. There were about 72,613 households in the county according to the 2000 decennial census. Families comprised 69.5 percent of households (50,459). About 26.1 percent of households were married couples with children under 18, which was more than for the state overall (23.3%). Single parent families accounted for 8.3 percent of all Clay County households, compared to 9.1 percent in Missouri.
Families and Children. Median family income for Clay County was $56,772 in 1999, compared to $46,044 for Missouri.
Jobs by Sector. The May 2008 unemployment rate (per BLS, preliminary and not seasonally adjusted) was 5.1 percent, compared with 5.7 percent statewide. According to Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates, in 2006 there were 122,701 jobs in Clay County. Retail Trade accounted for more than 13.6 percent of the total jobs (16,678). Local government (12,414), Manufacturing (12,217) and Professional and technical services (10,261) were the next largest industries for this county.
Agriculture. The 2002 Census of Agriculture reported 683 farms in the county with total sales of $24.501 million and production expenses of $18.561 million. In Clay County, $5.940 million in net farm income was reported with 6.7 percent of all farms having sales of $100,000 or more and 68.7 percent of farms with less than $10,000 in sales.
County Income Patterns. BEA estimates indicate that Clay County generated over $7,058.053 million dollars of total personal income in 2006. Per capita income was $34,109, compared with $32,789 for Missouri. Significant sources of income were:
Commuting. In Clay County, 51.3 percent of workers commuted outside their home county to work in 2000. Statewide, 25.2 percent of workers traveled between 30 and 60 minutes to work, while in Clay County 24.5 percent traveled as long. At the same time, 2.9 percent of workers traveled more than 60 minutes to work, compared with 5.4 percent statewide.
Educational Attainment. In 2000, about 24.9 percent of Clay County residents aged 25 years and over (30,047) were college graduates, compared to 21.6 percent statewide. An additional 38,256 had some college education (31.7%) compared with 27.0 percent of all Missourians over the age of 25.
In 2006, the high school graduation rate in Clay County (88.9%) was higher than the statewide rate (85.8%), as reported by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Disabilities. In 2000, 9,579 persons age 65 and older in Clay County reported having a disability (51.0%). The corresponding Missouri rate was 55.3 percent. Among the working age population (16 to 64) of Clay County, 10,933 reported some work disability, which was 9.0 percent of all persons in that age cohort, compared to a statewide figure of 10.8 percent.
Health Status Indicators. In 2003, over 13 percent of Clay County residents reported their health was “fair or poor” compared with 16.9 percent statewide. While 12.3 percent of Missourians reported having no health coverage, the percent without coverage in Clay County was estimated at 6.8 percent. State health data report the top two prevalence indicators for the county were Current Smoker (22.1%) and High Cholesterol (35 years and older) (37.2%). Missouri reported 26.5 percent and 37.3 percent in those same categories.
Age-adjusted Mortality. The age-adjusted cause-of-mortality rates (per 100,000) significantly higher than the state for Clay County were Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease (56.5) and Diabetes (27.3). The corresponding Missouri rates were 46.0 and 24.1, respectively.
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