Clay County vs Thomas County

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

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

Clay County has the higher population (8,071 vs 7,913 in Thomas County). Thomas County has the higher median household income ($73,575 vs $63,136 in Clay County). Thomas County has the higher median home value ($165,900 vs $149,600 in Clay County).

Population, income & housing

	Clay County	Thomas County
Population	8,071	7,913
Median age	43.1 yrs	35.3 yrs
Median household income	$63,136	$73,575
Median home value	$149,600	$165,900
Median gross rent	$911	$753
Housing units	3,940	3,580
Homeownership rate	73.2%	76.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.4%	30.2%
Unemployment rate	1.1%	0.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clay County	Thomas County
Population	8,082 → 8,071 (-0.1%)	7,810 → 7,913 (+1.3%)
Median household income	$53,929 → $63,136 (+17.1%)	$60,124 → $73,575 (+22.4%)
Median home value	$98,000 → $149,600 (+52.7%)	$129,700 → $165,900 (+27.9%)
Median gross rent	$607 → $911 (+50.1%)	$638 → $753 (+18.0%)

Clay County

Population

8,0828,071

Median household income

$53,929$63,136

Median home value

$98,000$149,600

Median gross rent

$607$911

Thomas County

Population

7,8107,913

Median household income

$60,124$73,575

Median home value

$129,700$165,900

Median gross rent

$638$753

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clay County	Thomas County
Under 5	6.0%	6.9%
5 to 17	17.2%	17.3%
18 to 24	6.2%	13.4%
25 to 34	9.9%	11.9%
35 to 44	12.3%	10.5%
45 to 54	10.8%	10.1%
55 to 64	12.9%	12.0%
65 to 74	13.4%	10.2%
75 and over	11.2%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clay County	Thomas County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.4%	90.1%
Black or African American	2.3%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.6%	0.0%
Asian	0.6%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.2%
Two or more races	1.8%	1.0%
Hispanic or Latino	3.3%	8.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clay County	Thomas County
No high school diploma	6.8%	6.5%
High school graduate	35.1%	20.9%
Some college or associate's	34.7%	42.3%
Bachelor's degree	17.4%	21.2%
Graduate or professional degree	5.9%	9.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clay County	Thomas County
Drove alone	78.1%	81.8%
Carpooled	11.1%	6.2%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	1.6%	3.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	7.6%	8.3%
Other means	1.6%	0.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clay County	Thomas County
1-unit, detached	85.2%	80.9%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	4.6%	5.4%
5 to 19 units	2.2%	5.6%
20 or more units	3.1%	0.8%
Mobile home & other	3.0%	5.8%

Poverty & households

	Clay County	Thomas County
Poverty rate	12.9%	6.9%
Average household size	2.17	2.41
Mean commute (minutes)	23	11
Median year structure built	1961	1965