Clay County vs St. Louis County

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

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

St. Louis County has the higher population (996,618 vs 255,566 in Clay County). Clay County has the higher median household income ($86,150 vs $81,340 in St. Louis County). St. Louis County has the higher median home value ($260,700 vs $256,400 in Clay County).

Population, income & housing

	Clay County	St. Louis County
Population	255,566	996,618
Median age	37.6 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$86,150	$81,340
Median home value	$256,400	$260,700
Median gross rent	$1,220	$1,164
Housing units	106,689	445,472
Homeownership rate	68.9%	69.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.0%	46.9%
Unemployment rate	3.9%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clay County	St. Louis County
Population	242,516 → 255,566 (+5.4%)	996,919 → 996,618 (-0.0%)
Median household income	$70,510 → $86,150 (+22.2%)	$67,420 → $81,340 (+20.6%)
Median home value	$174,900 → $256,400 (+46.6%)	$198,800 → $260,700 (+31.1%)
Median gross rent	$965 → $1,220 (+26.4%)	$983 → $1,164 (+18.4%)

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. Louis County

Population

996,919996,618

Median household income

$67,420$81,340

Median home value

$198,800$260,700

Median gross rent

$983$1,164

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clay County	St. Louis County
Under 5	6.1%	5.7%
5 to 17	17.7%	16.4%
18 to 24	7.8%	8.4%
25 to 34	14.3%	12.7%
35 to 44	14.3%	12.7%
45 to 54	12.7%	11.8%
55 to 64	12.2%	13.6%
65 to 74	9.0%	10.9%
75 and over	5.9%	7.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clay County	St. Louis County
White (non-Hispanic)	77.8%	62.0%
Black or African American	6.6%	24.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	2.4%	4.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.4%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.6%	5.1%
Hispanic or Latino	7.7%	3.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clay County	St. Louis County
No high school diploma	5.6%	5.6%
High school graduate	26.8%	20.9%
Some college or associate's	31.6%	26.6%
Bachelor's degree	23.6%	26.6%
Graduate or professional degree	12.4%	20.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clay County	St. Louis County
Drove alone	76.3%	73.7%
Carpooled	7.6%	6.2%
Public transit	0.2%	1.4%
Walked	0.8%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.1%
Worked from home	14.0%	16.3%
Other means	1.0%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clay County	St. Louis County
1-unit, detached	71.0%	72.0%
1-unit, attached	5.0%	4.5%
2 to 4 units	5.2%	6.4%
5 to 19 units	10.1%	10.6%
20 or more units	7.0%	6.2%
Mobile home & other	1.7%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Clay County	St. Louis County
Poverty rate	8.5%	9.6%
Average household size	2.50	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	23	23
Median year structure built	1987	1968