Clayton vs Smithfield

A side-by-side comparison of Clayton and Smithfield: population, income, housing, and more.

Clayton and Smithfield are places in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Clayton has the higher population (28,043 vs 11,798 in Smithfield). Clayton has the higher median household income ($73,348 vs $37,827 in Smithfield). Clayton has the higher median home value ($292,400 vs $217,000 in Smithfield).

Population, income & housing

	Clayton	Smithfield
Population	28,043	11,798
Median age	32.7 yrs	42.7 yrs
Median household income	$73,348	$37,827
Median home value	$292,400	$217,000
Median gross rent	$1,542	$601
Housing units	10,927	5,447
Homeownership rate	64.3%	49.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.6%	26.0%
Unemployment rate	2.0%	8.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clayton	Smithfield
Population	21,681 → 28,043 (+29.3%)	12,400 → 11,798 (-4.9%)
Median household income	$62,676 → $73,348 (+17.0%)	$36,335 → $37,827 (+4.1%)
Median home value	$192,900 → $292,400 (+51.6%)	$142,200 → $217,000 (+52.6%)
Median gross rent	$1,083 → $1,542 (+42.4%)	$688 → $601 (-12.6%)

Clayton

Population

21,68128,043

Median household income

$62,676$73,348

Median home value

$192,900$292,400

Median gross rent

$1,083$1,542

Smithfield

Population

12,40011,798

Median household income

$36,335$37,827

Median home value

$142,200$217,000

Median gross rent

$688$601

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clayton	Smithfield
Under 5	6.9%	4.2%
5 to 17	21.2%	19.1%
18 to 24	8.6%	6.8%
25 to 34	15.6%	10.4%
35 to 44	14.3%	11.1%
45 to 54	12.7%	13.0%
55 to 64	9.8%	15.8%
65 to 74	6.8%	12.4%
75 and over	4.1%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clayton	Smithfield
White (non-Hispanic)	54.2%	52.9%
Black or African American	27.0%	26.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.3%
Asian	0.5%	1.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.8%	0.2%
Two or more races	2.8%	0.8%
Hispanic or Latino	13.7%	17.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clayton	Smithfield
No high school diploma	5.3%	21.2%
High school graduate	25.3%	29.2%
Some college or associate's	33.9%	23.7%
Bachelor's degree	23.8%	18.0%
Graduate or professional degree	11.7%	8.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clayton	Smithfield
Drove alone	76.2%	84.1%
Carpooled	8.1%	7.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	0.3%	2.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	14.6%	4.9%
Other means	0.8%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clayton	Smithfield
1-unit, detached	70.2%	58.7%
1-unit, attached	6.3%	5.2%
2 to 4 units	5.4%	12.3%
5 to 19 units	7.5%	6.3%
20 or more units	7.9%	12.3%
Mobile home & other	2.7%	5.3%

Poverty & households

	Clayton	Smithfield
Poverty rate	8.0%	31.4%
Average household size	2.70	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	32	24
Median year structure built	2006	1973