County profile
Clay County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#2660 of 3,127 US counties by GDP44th-percentile growthmore diversified than 45% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$328.2M
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+3.9%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
1,822
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
252
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$46.0k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
12,239
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.5%
Median HH income
$57.0k±$8.9k
Bachelor's degree+
31.8%±4.2%
Poverty rate
12.9%±3.5%
Business applications
146 · 2025
Retail establishments
37
30.9/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Retail trade28%
Health care22%
Food & accommodation18%
Construction14%
Manufacturing10%
Other services9%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
12,239
residents · 2025 · +9.9% since 2020
Income per capita $50.5k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+1,455
International migration+8
Natural change−371
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$236.9M2019
$235.2M2020
$244.9M2021
$278.5M2022
$316.0M2023
$328.2M2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$278.4k±$32.8k
Median gross rent
$804/mo±$238/mo
Vacancy rate
32.2%±4.3%
Affordability
6.0× wages
Residential permits
$42.1M
108 units · 8.8/1k pop
FEMA risk score
26.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.0k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Landslide 92Wildfire 64Cold wave 55
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
1522016
1572017
1612018
1672019
1772020
2012021
2622022
2722023
3102024
3152025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 24% since 2021872021
1242022
1282023
1432024
1082025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
82.5 km
I-985
Nearest freight rail
16.5 km
GSM
Nearest port
74.2 km
C. REED DAVIS CONTRACTORS,PORT OF TELLICO BGE WHF
Nearest commercial airport
86.7 km
MC GHEE TYSON
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$46.0k
avg. annual pay · +38% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Clay?
Clay's economy produced $328.2M in 2024, growing 3.9% year over year — about the middle of the pack among US counties. Its largest employment sector is retail trade.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.