County Maps US

Clay County, Minnesota

A county in Minnesota, ranked 16 of 87 by population.

CountyFIPS 27027

Within Minnesota
Clay County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Moorhead, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
67,734
+2,376 (+3.6%) since 2020
Land area
1,045
square miles. A further 0.7% of the total area is water
Population density
64.8
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Moorhead
Seat of county government.
Established
1862
163 years ago
Largest city
Moorhead city
Population 46,533.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Clay County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Clay County, Minnesota from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 709 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Clay County ranks

Position among the 87 counties of Minnesota, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MinnesotaNationally
Population67,73416th of 87810th of 3,144
Land area1,045 sq mi19th of 87624th of 3,144
Population density64.8 per sq mi23rd of 871,247th of 3,144
Median household income$81,17219th of 87536th of 3,143

Full data for Clay County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population67,734Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202065,358Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?65,318Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area1,045 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area7.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area1,053 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?64.8 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$81,172American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$265,500American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age33.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households26,442American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units27,559American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+174
729 births, 555 deaths
Net migration
+218
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Clay County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Cass CountyNorth Dakota80 mi201,794
Becker CountyMinnesota31 mi35,497
Norman CountyMinnesota30 mi6,336
Wilkin CountyMinnesota24 mi6,288
Otter Tail CountyMinnesota11 mi61,041
Richland CountyNorth Dakota1.3 mi16,731

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 87 counties of Minnesota

Open the interactive Minnesota county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.