Clay County vs Washington County

A side-by-side comparison of Clay County and Washington County: population, income, housing, and more.

Clay County and Washington County are counties in Alabama. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Washington County has the higher population (15,270 vs 14,188 in Clay County). Washington County has the higher median household income ($60,503 vs $51,852 in Clay County). Washington County has the higher median home value ($152,800 vs $144,700 in Clay County).

Population, income & housing

	Clay County	Washington County
Population	14,188	15,270
Median age	43.8 yrs	44.1 yrs
Median household income	$51,852	$60,503
Median home value	$144,700	$152,800
Median gross rent	$624	$628
Housing units	7,072	7,774
Homeownership rate	77.7%	85.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.2%	16.2%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	6.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clay County	Washington County
Population	13,337 → 14,188 (+6.4%)	16,541 → 15,270 (-7.7%)
Median household income	$40,845 → $51,852 (+26.9%)	$41,370 → $60,503 (+46.2%)
Median home value	$107,800 → $144,700 (+34.2%)	$89,100 → $152,800 (+71.5%)
Median gross rent	$535 → $624 (+16.6%)	$730 → $628 (-14.0%)

Clay County

Population

13,33714,188

Median household income

$40,845$51,852

Median home value

$107,800$144,700

Median gross rent

$535$624

Washington County

Population

16,54115,270

Median household income

$41,370$60,503

Median home value

$89,100$152,800

Median gross rent

$730$628

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clay County	Washington County
Under 5	5.2%	5.5%
5 to 17	15.4%	15.2%
18 to 24	7.0%	9.0%
25 to 34	12.1%	9.3%
35 to 44	11.5%	11.7%
45 to 54	12.9%	12.6%
55 to 64	15.3%	16.3%
65 to 74	11.5%	12.2%
75 and over	9.0%	8.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clay County	Washington County
White (non-Hispanic)	79.3%	65.6%
Black or African American	13.0%	22.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	6.4%
Asian	0.3%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.1%
Two or more races	3.9%	3.3%
Hispanic or Latino	3.2%	1.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clay County	Washington County
No high school diploma	17.2%	11.3%
High school graduate	37.0%	40.9%
Some college or associate's	30.5%	31.6%
Bachelor's degree	11.2%	8.5%
Graduate or professional degree	4.0%	7.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clay County	Washington County
Drove alone	80.4%	85.7%
Carpooled	9.5%	6.1%
Public transit	0.4%	0.1%
Walked	1.3%	0.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	4.6%	5.2%
Other means	3.9%	2.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clay County	Washington County
1-unit, detached	65.0%	70.5%
1-unit, attached	0.1%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	7.6%	1.6%
5 to 19 units	1.8%	0.2%
20 or more units	0.3%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	25.1%	26.9%

Poverty & households

	Clay County	Washington County
Poverty rate	16.5%	18.4%
Average household size	2.42	2.67
Mean commute (minutes)	27	35
Median year structure built	1983	1983