Clay County vs Houston County

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

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

Houston County has the higher population (8,293 vs 7,621 in Clay County). Houston County has the higher median household income ($54,475 vs $44,712 in Clay County). Houston County has the higher median home value ($150,100 vs $136,900 in Clay County).

Population, income & housing

	Clay County	Houston County
Population	7,621	8,293
Median age	48.8 yrs	44.2 yrs
Median household income	$44,712	$54,475
Median home value	$136,900	$150,100
Median gross rent	$546	$685
Housing units	3,987	3,960
Homeownership rate	77.6%	81.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.0%	13.7%
Unemployment rate	5.2%	6.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clay County	Houston County
Population	7,654 → 7,621 (-0.4%)	8,164 → 8,293 (+1.6%)
Median household income	$32,167 → $44,712 (+39.0%)	$42,711 → $54,475 (+27.5%)
Median home value	$98,200 → $136,900 (+39.4%)	$103,700 → $150,100 (+44.7%)
Median gross rent	$479 → $546 (+14.0%)	$642 → $685 (+6.7%)

Clay County

Population

7,6547,621

Median household income

$32,167$44,712

Median home value

$98,200$136,900

Median gross rent

$479$546

Houston County

Population

8,1648,293

Median household income

$42,711$54,475

Median home value

$103,700$150,100

Median gross rent

$642$685

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clay County	Houston County
Under 5	4.2%	4.5%
5 to 17	15.5%	16.8%
18 to 24	7.1%	7.7%
25 to 34	6.9%	10.9%
35 to 44	12.3%	11.9%
45 to 54	13.6%	13.7%
55 to 64	15.4%	14.4%
65 to 74	14.7%	11.7%
75 and over	10.4%	8.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clay County	Houston County
White (non-Hispanic)	94.1%	90.6%
Black or African American	0.9%	2.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.3%
Asian	1.0%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.7%	2.9%
Hispanic or Latino	2.0%	3.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clay County	Houston County
No high school diploma	16.2%	12.7%
High school graduate	48.1%	46.0%
Some college or associate's	23.7%	27.7%
Bachelor's degree	6.3%	8.8%
Graduate or professional degree	5.7%	4.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clay County	Houston County
Drove alone	85.4%	80.5%
Carpooled	5.9%	15.4%
Public transit	0.6%	0.4%
Walked	0.1%	0.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	4.2%	2.7%
Other means	3.9%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clay County	Houston County
1-unit, detached	62.6%	74.3%
1-unit, attached	0.4%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	2.4%	2.1%
5 to 19 units	3.3%	1.3%
20 or more units	1.0%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	30.2%	21.1%

Poverty & households

	Clay County	Houston County
Poverty rate	21.7%	13.8%
Average household size	2.35	2.54
Mean commute (minutes)	28	41
Median year structure built	1982	1981