Clay is a tiny town located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 375 people and just one neighborhood, Clay is the 217th largest community in West Virginia.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Clay is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Clay is a town of service providers, transportation and shipping workers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Clay who work in office and administrative support (21.05%), healthcare suport services (13.16%), and management occupations (10.53%).
The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Clay has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Clay a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
One of the benefits of Clay is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.09 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
Clay is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
The citizens of Clay have a very low rate of college education: just 8.02% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, compared to a national average of 21.84% for all cities.
The per capita income in Clay in 2022 was $7,319, which is low income relative to West Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $29,276 for a family of four. Clay also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 75.74% of its population below the federal poverty line.
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 Irish, German, Scots-Irish, Italian, and English.
The most common language spoken in Clay is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Clay, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
The government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 23.0% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 99.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 16.3% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.0% of all neighborhoods in America.
Despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 35.3%, which is higher than 96.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, the real estate in this neighborhood consists of more mobile homes than 96.0% of all neighborhoods in America, with 32.5% of the occupied housing here being classified as mobile homes. So if you are looking for a mobile home, or you like the look and feel of mobile home parks, this neighborhood might have the setting you desire.
Furthermore, uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 21 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 94.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more English and Eastern European ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 30.7% of this neighborhood's residents have English ancestry and 1.5% have Eastern European ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Clay are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 91.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 37.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 87.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 34.0% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 32.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions (23.0%), and 22.9% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 99.2% of households.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Clay, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (30.7%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (26.5%), and residents who report Irish roots (10.8%), and some of the residents are also of Scots-Irish ancestry (2.3%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (2.1%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans. However, there is also a significant group of residents (16.3%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (79.2%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (10.0%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.