Clay County vs St. Charles County

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

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

St. Charles County has the higher population (409,830 vs 255,566 in Clay County). St. Charles County has the higher median household income ($102,912 vs $86,150 in Clay County). St. Charles County has the higher median home value ($296,800 vs $256,400 in Clay County).

Population, income & housing

	Clay County	St. Charles County
Population	255,566	409,830
Median age	37.6 yrs	39.6 yrs
Median household income	$86,150	$102,912
Median home value	$256,400	$296,800
Median gross rent	$1,220	$1,312
Housing units	106,689	164,594
Homeownership rate	68.9%	80.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.0%	42.4%
Unemployment rate	3.9%	2.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clay County	St. Charles County
Population	242,516 → 255,566 (+5.4%)	394,290 → 409,830 (+3.9%)
Median household income	$70,510 → $86,150 (+22.2%)	$84,978 → $102,912 (+21.1%)
Median home value	$174,900 → $256,400 (+46.6%)	$219,100 → $296,800 (+35.5%)
Median gross rent	$965 → $1,220 (+26.4%)	$1,041 → $1,312 (+26.0%)

Clay County

Population

242,516255,566

Median household income

$70,510$86,150

Median home value

$174,900$256,400

Median gross rent

$965$1,220

St. Charles County

Population

394,290409,830

Median household income

$84,978$102,912

Median home value

$219,100$296,800

Median gross rent

$1,041$1,312

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clay County	St. Charles County
Under 5	6.1%	5.5%
5 to 17	17.7%	17.3%
18 to 24	7.8%	8.1%
25 to 34	14.3%	12.4%
35 to 44	14.3%	14.1%
45 to 54	12.7%	12.5%
55 to 64	12.2%	13.5%
65 to 74	9.0%	9.8%
75 and over	5.9%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clay County	St. Charles County
White (non-Hispanic)	77.8%	83.9%
Black or African American	6.6%	4.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	2.4%	2.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.4%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.6%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	7.7%	4.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clay County	St. Charles County
No high school diploma	5.6%	4.5%
High school graduate	26.8%	22.5%
Some college or associate's	31.6%	30.5%
Bachelor's degree	23.6%	26.8%
Graduate or professional degree	12.4%	15.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clay County	St. Charles County
Drove alone	76.3%	76.2%
Carpooled	7.6%	5.8%
Public transit	0.2%	0.1%
Walked	0.8%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	14.0%	16.0%
Other means	1.0%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clay County	St. Charles County
1-unit, detached	71.0%	74.6%
1-unit, attached	5.0%	7.6%
2 to 4 units	5.2%	3.8%
5 to 19 units	10.1%	7.0%
20 or more units	7.0%	4.3%
Mobile home & other	1.7%	2.8%

Poverty & households

	Clay County	St. Charles County
Poverty rate	8.5%	4.7%
Average household size	2.50	2.54
Mean commute (minutes)	23	25
Median year structure built	1987	1994