Clay County vs Ritchie County

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

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

Ritchie County has the higher population (8,372 vs 7,946 in Clay County). Ritchie County has the higher median household income ($50,256 vs $42,790 in Clay County). Ritchie County has the higher median home value ($107,800 vs $107,100 in Clay County).

Population, income & housing

	Clay County	Ritchie County
Population	7,946	8,372
Median age	45.3 yrs	47.2 yrs
Median household income	$42,790	$50,256
Median home value	$107,100	$107,800
Median gross rent	$589	$583
Housing units	3,945	4,187
Homeownership rate	79.0%	84.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.8%	12.8%
Unemployment rate	11.8%	1.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clay County	Ritchie County
Population	8,709 → 7,946 (-8.8%)	9,844 → 8,372 (-15.0%)
Median household income	$35,024 → $42,790 (+22.2%)	$43,577 → $50,256 (+15.3%)
Median home value	$80,200 → $107,100 (+33.5%)	$96,700 → $107,800 (+11.5%)
Median gross rent	$495 → $589 (+19.0%)	$608 → $583 (-4.1%)

Clay County

Population

8,7097,946

Median household income

$35,024$42,790

Median home value

$80,200$107,100

Median gross rent

$495$589

Ritchie County

Population

9,8448,372

Median household income

$43,577$50,256

Median home value

$96,700$107,800

Median gross rent

$608$583

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clay County	Ritchie County
Under 5	5.1%	4.8%
5 to 17	17.0%	14.9%
18 to 24	9.2%	6.3%
25 to 34	6.4%	10.0%
35 to 44	12.1%	11.5%
45 to 54	12.9%	13.1%
55 to 64	15.6%	16.1%
65 to 74	13.6%	14.4%
75 and over	8.2%	8.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clay County	Ritchie County
White (non-Hispanic)	97.0%	96.6%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.7%	1.9%
Hispanic or Latino	0.2%	0.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clay County	Ritchie County
No high school diploma	15.9%	15.7%
High school graduate	52.7%	49.2%
Some college or associate's	19.6%	22.3%
Bachelor's degree	7.0%	10.7%
Graduate or professional degree	4.8%	2.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clay County	Ritchie County
Drove alone	75.5%	78.7%
Carpooled	15.2%	10.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	1.4%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.6%	7.9%
Other means	0.3%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clay County	Ritchie County
1-unit, detached	65.5%	72.3%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.9%
2 to 4 units	1.8%	1.3%
5 to 19 units	1.5%	1.6%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	31.2%	23.4%

Poverty & households

	Clay County	Ritchie County
Poverty rate	24.9%	21.7%
Average household size	2.66	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	39	32
Median year structure built	1983	1974