Clay is a somewhat small city located in the state of Alabama. With a population of 10,290 people and two associated neighborhoods, Clay is the 65th largest community in Alabama.

A relatively large number of people in Clay telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.88% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In Clay, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.09 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

As is often the case in a small city, Clay doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

The percentage of adults in Clay who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 20.64% of the adults in Clay have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Clay in 2022 was $31,453, which is upper middle income relative to Alabama, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $125,812 for a family of four. However, Clay contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Clay is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Clay home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Clay residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Clay include English, African, Irish, German, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Clay is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Vietnamese.