Clayton County vs DeKalb County

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

Clayton County and DeKalb County are counties in Georgia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

DeKalb County has the higher population (762,105 vs 298,771 in Clayton County). DeKalb County has the higher median household income ($77,683 vs $58,507 in Clayton County). DeKalb County has the higher median home value ($331,400 vs $194,500 in Clayton County).

Population, income & housing

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
Population	298,771	762,105
Median age	33.3 yrs	36.3 yrs
Median household income	$58,507	$77,683
Median home value	$194,500	$331,400
Median gross rent	$1,307	$1,591
Housing units	114,818	328,614
Homeownership rate	53.2%	58.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.3%	46.7%
Unemployment rate	6.7%	6.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
Population	283,538 → 298,771 (+5.4%)	749,323 → 762,105 (+1.7%)
Median household income	$47,864 → $58,507 (+22.2%)	$62,399 → $77,683 (+24.5%)
Median home value	$108,500 → $194,500 (+79.3%)	$215,600 → $331,400 (+53.7%)
Median gross rent	$991 → $1,307 (+31.9%)	$1,169 → $1,591 (+36.1%)

Clayton County

Population

283,538298,771

Median household income

$47,864$58,507

Median home value

$108,500$194,500

Median gross rent

$991$1,307

DeKalb County

Population

749,323762,105

Median household income

$62,399$77,683

Median home value

$215,600$331,400

Median gross rent

$1,169$1,591

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
Under 5	7.0%	6.6%
5 to 17	20.3%	16.4%
18 to 24	9.6%	8.4%
25 to 34	15.6%	16.4%
35 to 44	13.1%	14.4%
45 to 54	12.6%	12.7%
55 to 64	11.5%	11.7%
65 to 74	7.1%	8.4%
75 and over	3.2%	4.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
White (non-Hispanic)	8.2%	28.1%
Black or African American	68.7%	51.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	4.9%	6.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.6%	0.5%
Two or more races	3.0%	3.6%
Hispanic or Latino	14.3%	10.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
No high school diploma	15.2%	9.2%
High school graduate	32.6%	20.1%
Some college or associate's	30.9%	24.0%
Bachelor's degree	14.1%	25.8%
Graduate or professional degree	7.3%	20.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
Drove alone	71.3%	62.8%
Carpooled	12.9%	9.6%
Public transit	3.2%	4.1%
Walked	1.0%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	9.0%	20.0%
Other means	2.5%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
1-unit, detached	65.3%	56.0%
1-unit, attached	4.1%	8.3%
2 to 4 units	5.9%	4.7%
5 to 19 units	17.9%	16.2%
20 or more units	4.1%	14.1%
Mobile home & other	2.8%	0.6%

Poverty & households

	Clayton County	DeKalb County
Poverty rate	16.8%	13.5%
Average household size	2.79	2.64
Mean commute (minutes)	33	31
Median year structure built	1988	1983